Cooperative Living September 2021 - 33

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
dashed from his office to the crash
scene to assess and help.
Miraculously, Blunt and his crew
were en route to nearby Rosslyn when
t
they saw the low-flying plane
an explosion. His fire tr
U-turn and arrived at the
U
triage and transpor areas
re truck made a
-turn and arrived at the Pentagon
within minutes.
A At 9:42, Blunt began se
t 9:42, Blunt began setting up
triage and transport areas as emergency
medical services supervisor
,
worrying that his wife, Kay, was on the
fl
and other firefighters had to restrain
m
tthe inferno to " save their buddies
the scene.
intoi
Other first responders hurried to
the scene. A Reagan National Airpo
firefighter crew esponding to an au
he inferno to " save their buddies. "
Other first esponders hurried
Reagan National Airport
firefighter crew responding to an auto
accident near the Pentagon jumped
western façade. The jet fuel exploded
into a fireball. Everyone on board died,
along with 125 military and civilian
workers inside the building, including
Bud Boone.
Wallace and other Fort Myer
firefighters rushed to help people
stumbling and jumping from the
building.
After hearing a " low, loud rumble "
and seeing ceiling lights vibrate, Jester
realized the Pentagon had been hit.
He ran from his office to the Defense
Protective Service Communications
Center. Every phone was ringing.
nto action. Chief Bonzano and other
ACFD officers at the seminar went
to the site. Police and firefighters
throughout the Washington, D.C., area
arrived as soon as they could. Even
retired firefighters reported for duty.
Providentially, ACFD and Jester's
Defense Protection Service had drilled
in 2000 for a possible plane crash at
the Pentagon. They knew each other
and they knew what to do.
Two decades later, Bonzano says,
" Everyone stepped up to help. Our
first responders, including 20 rookies,
risked their lives to save others. We
saw a lot of awful stuff, but that's what
we were trained to do. "
Greg Mathieson rushed from the
action. Chief Bonzano and other
Correspondents Corridor. Today, he
recalls finding aircraft debris in the
parking lot. " I saw the building in flames
and fire trucks arriving. I walked around
the entire building as things were
developing, photographing everything. "
When President George W. Bush
returned to the White House on 9/11,
Greg E. Mathieson Sr., facing the
camera, took photos of the president
addressing the nation.
ight. Fortunately, she was not. Blunt
ilitary personnel trying to run into
medical services supervisor all the time
worrying that his wife, Kay
flight. Fortunately, she was no
and other firefighters had to re
military personnel trying to run
wer en oute to nearby Rosslyn when
an explosion. His
hey saw the low-flying plane, and then
No one knew if another
commandeered plane would strike.
Jester says
commandeered plane
F-16
in
cheered.
The attack could have killed and
injured more people. The Pentagon's
strong concrete structure, reinforced
with spiral rebar, allowed time for
workers on the upper floors to escape
before the five floors " pancaked "
30 minutes after the crash.
Furthermore, the jet struck
the section under renovation. " We
were fortunate the plane hit where
we had the fewest employees at the
building because of the renovation
work, " Jester says.
Mathieson headed to Capitol Hill.
" I found U.S. marshals armed with
automatic weapons standing in the
middle of Pennsylvania Avenue. "
Firefighters put out the infernono
pt.
around 3 p.m. on Sept. 13.
13.
'FLAGS WERE EVERYWHERE'
As I approached my Virginia Run
home after work on Sept. 12, I saw
our large American flag, which had
flown over the U.S. Capitol, stapled
to our garage roof. My 14-year-old
son, Eric Knight, and his Eagle Scout
friend, Mark Ziegler, had been busy.
Knowing flag protocol calls for lighting
a displayed standard at night, I set
up our Christmas floodlight.
With few streetlights, Virginia Run
normally looked like a quiet neighborhood
beneath a Dulles Airport flight
path. Not that week. My eyes popped
when I saw our illuminated starspangled
banner on the evening news.
Several nights later, a young man
rang our doorbell. When I opened the
door, the man said he was John Jester's
son. John David Jester said his father,
who lived across the street, had just
come home after working 18- to 20-hour
days at the Pentagon. He said his father
had not slept much or had time to
watch news coverage. Jester's son said,
as I recall, " I can't tell you how much
your flag means to my father. When
he turned the corner and saw your flag,
he cried. He didn't realize how much
(continued on page 32)
co-opliving.com
September 2021 | Cooperative Living | 31
J
ester says in 2021, " It wasn't until an
F-16 fighter jet flew over that we knew
the danger had passed. " Firefighters
PHOTO COURTESTY AIR FORCE TECH. SGT. CEDRIC H. RUDISILL
PHOTO COURTESY ERIC DRAPER
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