Even though Diane does not work in the Pentagon (she works for a law firm within walking distance of the Pentagon), the building that she worked in was one of those ordered evacuated that morning following the September 11 attack.

Diane's mother worked in the Pentagon, and she was one of the 189 who were killed that morning. Moments before the attack, Diane had been sitting at her desk when she received a phone call from her mother, a Secretary at the Pentagon. According to Diane, her mother was upset as she told her about two airplanes that had crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City.

She recalled that she tried to reassure her mother, who expressed concern about the people trapped in the World Trade Center’s towers. But instead of feeling comforted, she said her mother grew more anxious and told Diane she had "to go" and hung up without saying goodbye. Diane recalled, "I was concerned. My mother has never hung up the phone on me.” So, she called her mom back, but remembers the phone going unanswered as it, “just rang and rang."

That was when one of Diane's co-workers entered her office shouting, "Everybody get out! Get out now!" As Diane exited the building, she began to smell the fumes of burning oil from the attack on the Pentagon, and her supervisor told her that the Pentagon had "been hit." Diane says she was standing in the middle of the street when she dropped to her knees and began screaming, "My mom. My mom!" She said, "That's when it clicked ... something had happened to her."

Before becoming a military analyst for the U.S. government, Scout was an officer in the U.S. Army. After learning of the attacks on the World Trade Center, he called his wife, and then he and his co-workers began discussing whether or not the Pentagon may be a target. It was during hese talks that Scout recalled hearing the high-pitched scream of jet engines followed by "an indescribable crashing sound."

Immediately, he said he shouted for his co-workers to "Dive! Take cover! Stay down!" After making it out of the building, one of the first sensations Scout recalled was fear. "The fear was palpable," he said. But instead of leaving, Scout and a co-worker decided to climb a fence and go back into the building to help those who were trapped inside. He recalled that, "One of the renovation guys was fumbling with a big ring of keys [to unlock the gate at the fence]. You know, it was almost comical. I got frustrated.”

Eventually, his co-worker helped him climb the chain-link fence to the “other side” so that he could help others. That morning, after having successfully exited the burning building, Scout would make two entries into the building to help others. He did this amid falling debris, smoke, and fire, along with what he called “an ad hoc team of strangers.” He told me: "I was on a mission; the mission was to help. The only thing I thought about was, 'there's got to be somebody here that I can help.'" Later, covered in soot and down to his T-shirt – which he had torn to make masks to shield himself and others from the smoke- he volunteered for the Litter team.

He recalled being taunted with thoughts of his family and wondering if he was “doing the right thing” by risking his life for others instead of going home to his family. But he says, "I know if I had left, I would have felt a traitor to everything that I ever said was important. It would be impossible for me to speak with any sense of conviction about anything. I made the right decision... had I left, I would have been haunted. And September 11 would have been even harder for me to deal with. In a moment of sad levity,

Scout joked about how his experience on September 11 had given him a newfound love for Flashlights; he said: "Because of the darkness that I had been in, I went out and bought a flashlight that night ... one of those big police flashlights. I slept with it. I went to dinner with it. I felt like I was a soldier on the battlefield, and like having a rifle, I didn't want to be anywhere without my flashlight."

Before becoming a military analyst for the U.S. government, Scout was an officer in the U.S. Army. After learning of the attacks on the World Trade Center, he called his wife, and then he and his co-workers began discussing whether or not the Pentagon may be a target. It was during these talks that Scout recalled hearing the high-pitched scream of jet engines followed by "an indescribable crashing sound."

Immediately, he said he shouted for his co-workers to "Dive! Take cover! Stay down!" After making it out of the building, one of the first sensations Scout recalled was fear. "The fear was palpable," he said. But instead of leaving, Scout and a co-worker decided to climb a fence and go back into the building to help those who were trapped inside. He recalled that, "One of the renovation guys was fumbling with a big ring of keys [to unlock the gate at the fence]. You know, it was almost comical. I got frustrated.”

Eventually, his co-worker helped him climb the chain-link fence to the “other side” so that he could help others. That morning, after having successfully exited the burning building, Scout would make two entries into the building to help others. He did this amid falling debris, smoke, and fire, along with what he called “an ad hoc team of strangers.” He told me: "I was on a mission; the mission was to help. The only thing I thought about was, 'there's got to be somebody here that I can help.'" Later, covered in soot and down to his T-shirt – which he had torn to make masks to shield himself and others from the smoke- he volunteered for the Litter team.

He recalled being taunted with thoughts of his family and wondering if he was “doing the right thing” by risking his life for others instead of going home to his family. But he says, "I know if I had left, I would have felt a traitor to everything that I ever said was important. It would be impossible for me to speak with any sense of conviction about anything. I made the right decision... had I left, I would have been haunted. And September 11 would have been even harder for me to deal with. In a moment of sad levity,

Scout joked about how his experience on September 11 had given him a newfound love for Flashlights; he said: "Because of the darkness that I had been in, I went out and bought a flashlight that night ... one of those big police flashlights. I slept with it. I went to dinner with it. I felt like I was a soldier on the battlefield, and like having a rifle, I didn't want to be anywhere without my flashlight."

On September 11, Eagle was leaving a voicemail to her husband—a fellow government employee—when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. In seconds, a ball of fire consumed her. Hear her firsthand account of survival, trauma, and the moments that changed a nation. The 9/11 Pentagon Podcast Project brings the voices of Pentagon workers who lived through America's darkest day.

Terp was a soldier-turned-military consultant working at the Pentagon when 9/11 happened. That morning, after an early jog and shower, he sat at his desk and began hearing murmurs of an attack. While watching the televised broadcasts of the World Trade Center in disbelief, Terp confronted an unthinkable question: what did this mean for America's military heart? In this deeply personal 9/11 survivor story, hear how one Pentagon worker processed the terrorist attacks in real time and the weight of witnessing history from inside the building that would soon be targeted itself.

When the September 11 attack on the Pentagon occurred, Andrew was an active-duty military officer with 25 years under his belt. When the plane breached the Pentagon, Andrew was not aware of the attacks that occurred in New York City. After feeling the jolt to the building, he recalled joining thousands of others who walked down dark corridors “towards the light” under orders to exit immediately. Following the attack, Andrew described his feelings as muted and disoriented. But more than anything, he remembers feeling embarrassed, because he had left his hat at his desk and was “out of uniform.” Once he made his way home, Andrew’s pets seemed to sense a deeper emotion in him, as they showed heightened levels of devotion.

On September 11, 2001, Alan narrowly escaped the Pentagon attack—he was scheduled to be in the building that morning. In the devastating hours that followed, he became a crucial liaison between grieving families and the U.S. government, confronting unimaginable loss while helping others through theirs. This is his story of survival, duty, and post-traumatic growth. A 9/11 survivor story from the Pentagon that reveals the hidden heroism in grief support.

On the morning of the September 11 attack on the Pentagon, Mary was a soldier in the U.S. Army as she sat at her desk with her two-month-old baby girl in a stroller beside her. Mary says it was when she reached to press the “power on” button for her computer that it exploded in her face, and she immediately thought: "bomb.” Then, during what she described as a "slow period," she saw her daughter blown out of her stroller, flames arising from everywhere, and falling debris which, for a moment, pinned her to the floor. As she frantically worked to free herself and begin the search for her daughter, Mary listened to her colleagues' screams for help and yelled back to them: "Help me find my daughter! I'll help you! But help me find my daughter!"

Voices from Fort America

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SEPTEMBER 11TH
ATTACK ON THE PENTAGON?

Join Dr. Imani Michelle Scott for a preview of the 9.11 Pentagon Podcast Project. Meet the creators of the podcast. Learn about the survivors and the actors who played them.