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I. Initial reports of Flight 93 were garbled, claiming that Camp David, the presidential retreat along the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, had been targeted.
“Bin Laden comes to mind”
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Among Those Who Knew
While the country absorbed the news and horror of the terrorist attacks in Washington, New York, and Pennsylvania, TV anchors and reporters turned to experts who could explain the attacks—which to most Americans seemed to come out of nowhere. Few Americans knew the name Osama bin Laden. Midday on 9/11, Washington NBC-4 TV anchors brought into their studio a man who knew the background of the attacks.
Doreen Gentzler, anchor, NBC-4: We want to turn now to a guest who is joining us in the studio. It’s Paul Bremer. I want to make sure I’m getting your name right because I’m just meeting you. You’re a terrorism expert?
L. Paul Bremer III, former chair, 1999 National Commission on Terrorism: Counterterrorism, I hope.
Doreen Gentzler: And can you talk to us a little bit about who could . . . I mean there are a limited number of groups who could be responsible for something of this magnitude. Right?
Paul Bremer: Yes, this is a very well planned, very well coordinated attack, which suggests it’s very well organized centrally. And there are only three or four candidates in the world really who could have conducted this attack.
Jim Vance, anchor, NBC-4: Bin Laden comes to mind right away, Mr. Bremer.
Paul Bremer: Indeed, he certainly does.
Since the mid-1990s, two squads of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York, known as I-49 and I-45, had been carefully tracking the rise of a terrorist group known as al-Qaeda. Even though his name was new to most Americans on September 11, the organization’s leader, Osama bin Laden, had been on the FBI’s radar for some time, having been added to its Ten Most Wanted list in June 1999 for his role in planning and financing the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. In 1999, careful work by law enforcement intercepted an al-Qaeda plot to attack the United States during the Millennium celebrations, and in 2000, al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors. The State Department’s ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism, Michael Sheehan, spoke angrily to military officials in 2000, frustrated at the Clinton administration’s lack of focus in combating the rise of bin Laden’s terrorist group, presciently exclaiming, “Does al-Qaeda have to hit the Pentagon to get your attention?”
By 2001, FBI agents from I-45 and I-49 were chasing bin Laden’s group around the world. That Tuesday morning found a team of agents still in Aden, Yemen, investigating the Cole bombing, and another team of agents in Scandinavia, where on Monday night, September 10, they’d raided a house hoping to catch one of the embassy bombers. In Washington on September 11, at 8:00 a.m. ET, FBI counterterrorism agents had briefed the new FBI director, Robert Mueller—who had started on September 4—on the status of the al-Qaeda investigation and the Cole bombing.
The 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center hit just blocks from the FBI squad’s offices at 290 Broadway, a few blocks from the FBI’s main office at 26 Federal Plaza, and pulled many of those same agents who had long tracked bin Laden out into the debris-filled streets, catching them in the Towers’ collapse. Ironically, the attacks would ultimately kill veteran FBI agent John O’Neill, who had led the al-Qaeda task force and who had retired in August from the bureau to start a new job as the security director at the World Trade Center.
John Anticev, special agent, FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force: People on the ground get to see the future before everyone. I think NYPD detective Lou Napoli and I were the first people to write UBL into bureau files in the early 1990s. You knew this Afghan movement was more than fighting Russians. We just didn’t know to call it al-Qaeda.
Robert “Bear” Bryant, deputy director, FBI, 1997–99: The first time I ever heard the name Osama bin Laden was from John O’Neill. John O’Neill was very much aware of who he was, who his group was. Al-Qaeda.
John Miller, correspondent, ABC News: In 1998, I sat with Osama bin Laden in a hut in Afghanistan as he told me he was declaring war on America: “We are sure of victory. Our battle with the Americans is larger than our battle with the Russians. We predict a black day for America and the end of the United States.” From the moment bin Laden declared war on America, one of his frustrations seemed to be that he couldn’t get America to declare war back.
Jackie Maguire, special agent, FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force: The JTTF’s very famous for the work it has done on the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. It also sent people all over the world—the East Africa embassy bombing case was run out of New York. The USS Cole bombing was run out of New York.
Fran Townsend, director, Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, U.S. Justice Department: From his time down in the international terrorism section at headquarters in Washington, John O’Neill began to see the [World Trade Center bomber] Ramzi Yousef case. As things progressed, John completely threw himself into it. He read everything he could get his hands on about radical fundamentalism. He was already beginning to focus on it before the first World Trade Center, and think about it and look at the implications of it.
By the time the first bombing happens, from things he said to me, he already got in his mind this was a major and long-term problem for us that we were ill-equipped to deal with.
Steve Gaudin, special agent, FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force: It was hard to get people to pay attention. That spring, we’d put four of the embassy bombers on trial. I remember Puff Daddy was on trial in municipal court, and Johnnie Cochran was the lawyer. It was a circus. That’s where all the cameras were. No one cared about what was going on at the federal courthouse.
Richard Clarke, counterterrorism adviser, White House: In June of 2001, the intelligence community issued a warning that a major al-Qaeda terrorist attack would take place in the next many weeks. They said they were unable to find out exactly where it might take place. They said they thought it might take place in Saudi Arabia. We asked, “Could it take place in the United States?” They said, “We can’t rule that out.”
Abby Perkins, special agent, FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force: There was lots of chatter over the summer of 2001. Things were happening, people were on standby. It was a heavy summer. We thought it’d be an international attack.
Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, senior military assistant, Office of the Secretary of Defense: We knew there was a higher threat level, but not where, when, or how.
Fran Townsend: John O’Neill was frustrated by the U.S.’s inability to really appreciate and get our arms around this threat in an effective way. He definitely thought we were vulnerable in the summer. He definitely felt that something was going to happen, something important was going to happen.
Jerry Hauer, New York director of emergency management, 1996–2000: The night of September 10th, he had said to me, “We’re due, and we’re due for something big.”
Steve Bongardt, special agent, FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force: I remember reading that morning, on September 11, 2001, an intelligence report that bin Laden was reopening Tora Bora, his compound in Afghanistan. I was wondering, What the hell is he doing?
George Tenet, director, CIA: The system was blinking red.
The 9/11 Commission: Time ran out.
Steve Gaudin: We were in the office at 290 Broadway when the first plane hit. It sounded like the air conditioners had kicked on, a low thump, but it was late in the season for the air-conditioning. We thought it was a civil aviation issue first. But we threw on our raid jackets—maybe NYPD would need help on crowd control.
Wesley Wong, assistant special agent in charge, FBI New York: My thought was that firemen are going to come, and they’re going to put the fire out. People are going to come down the stairwells. NTSB will come in. They’ll do the accident investigation. There’s really nothing for the bureau to do.
Jackie Maguire: We saw people who had obviously
been hit by debris, who were bleeding. A few people sitting on the streets, a lot of people crying, emotional.
Abby Perkins: You didn’t know how far it went; I can only see what’s in front of me. But we knew we were at war.
Steve Bongardt: I stopped a firefighter and asked, “What can we do?” He said, “Just get people away from the building.” He started to leave, then he turned back: “Give me your flashlight—we’re going to need extras.” I gave him my Maglite.
Fran Townsend: When the first plane hit, my first instinct was to call John, and I did. I didn’t get through. As I was standing there on the phone, I saw the second plane, and of course by then, there’s no doubt of what the issue is. After the second plane went into the South Tower, he paged me to let me know he was OK. That was the last contact I had.
Jackie Maguire: As soon as the second plane hit, I think everyone knew what was going on.
Fred Stremmel, terrorism analyst, FBI: We knew it was terrorism, but we were in denial. It’s like being told you have cancer. You want to deny it for as long as possible.
Jackie Maguire: Everyone knew right away this was most likely al-Qaeda.
Steve Bongardt: My immediate thought was, This is why they’re polishing up Tora Bora.
Steve Gaudin: We said, “We gotta start collecting evidence.” It was a combination of shock and autopilot.
Abby Perkins: Steve Gaudin found a piece of the plane.
John Anticev, special agent, FBI: When I got there, you saw people fleeing. It was like Godzilla. I said, “Fucking al-Qaeda.”
Wesley Wong: I was down in the command center at the World Trade Center lobby, and John O’Neill saw me and he came up to me. John always had his cell phone to his ear—no matter when you saw him, he was always on his cell phone. Just like that morning, the morning of 9/11, he had his cell phone. He saw me and said, “Wes. What can you tell me?”
He had just retired from the FBI and he was on his second day as director of security for the World Trade Center. I said to John, “You’re no longer with the FBI. You don’t have a clearance. I can’t tell you what’s going on.” Even under times of stress and crisis, I can be a smart aleck. He said, “Wes, if you don’t tell me, I’m going to wring your scrawny little neck.” I told him what I knew, and he asked, “I’ve heard that the Pentagon has been hit?” I said, “We’re hearing that. Let me confirm,” and I called headquarters. They confirmed that the Pentagon had been hit.
I relayed this back to John. He said, “Well, I need to go check on my people in the South Tower.” As he walked away I said to him, “Hey John. I owe you lunch. I missed your going-away lunch. When this is all over, let’s have lunch.” He said something that’s music to every agent’s ear. He said, “Wes, I’m on an expense account now—lunch will be on me.”
John O’Neill was last seen in the stairwell of the 48th floor of the South Tower.
Jackie Maguire: We heard the rumble of the first tower starting to fall. We went running.
David Kelley, assistant U.S. attorney, Justice Department: I was with Barry Mawn [FBI assistant director in charge of the New York Field Office] and we took off running. Then we were completely buried. I couldn’t breathe. It’s a very fine powder—it was like being buried in a huge pile of Xerox toner. I knew I was a faster runner than Barry. I figured immediately he didn’t make it.
Abby Perkins: We were hiding in a bank building. As the tower fell, I remembered how many victims in the embassy bombing in Nairobi had been hurt or killed by glass. I wanted to get away from the glass windows. I was thinking, What does it feel like to be buried in concrete? We thought we might be trapped there for a long time. My colleague Debbie Doran and I, we remembered Rosie, who had been rescued from the rubble in Nairobi but died of dehydration. Debbie’s always organized, she’s the planner of the group, and she was immediately trying to find trash cans we could fill with water.
Steve Gaudin: Then you’re looking and there’s no more tower.
David Kelley: Later, I called Mary Jo White, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan. I told her Barry Mawn was killed. She laughed and said, “I just talked to him—he told me you were dead.”
Jackie Maguire: Leads were already coming in. People were already calling into the FBI with suspicious activity they had seen.
John Miller: John O’Neill had spent the better part of 10 years fighting terrorism and the better part of five trying to nail bin Laden. Now Osama bin Laden had struck the two buildings in his care. I called O’Neill’s phone all that day, hoping, hoping for a miracle.
Steve Gaudin: We started walking north to 26th Street, to the garage where the FBI was setting up a command post. It was devastating. The day never really ended.
“We have to have evacs—do you copy?”
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Escaping the Pentagon
The initial rescue efforts at the Pentagon were led primarily by the military and civilian Pentagon workers, coworkers who rushed into flames and smoke to find lost, missing, and injured colleagues and follow the military’s dictum of “No person left behind.” Nearly everyone who was rescued from the Pentagon was found in the first 30 minutes.
James Schwartz, assistant chief for operations, Arlington County Fire Department: All the credit that public safety, fire, EMS, and the police departments get for their efforts on 9/11, I think what gets lost is the truly heroic efforts of the civilian and uniformed personnel that work in the Pentagon. They were the ones who really got their comrades, got their workmates out.
Capt. Paul Larson, Arlington County Police Department: When I got there, there was probably a wall of two or three thousand military personnel coming out of the building, and as soon as they heard the screams for help, all of them immediately turned around and went right back into the building to help whoever needed help.
Capt. Charles Gibbs, Arlington County Fire Department: We were there probably within about 10 minutes. We met up with Chief Schwartz. He said, “Go up there”—he was pointing to the impact site, which is on the heliport side—“and see what’s going on and let me know.” I got my gear on, and me and firefighter Keith Young proceeded up there and Fort Myer Fire Department was on the scene.
James Schwartz: Among the responding units were the crash fire rescue vehicles at National Airport, which were positioned on the west lawn and at that point really were able to provide the greatest amount of extinguishment capability. There was a large fire.
John Jester, chief, Defense Protective Service, Pentagon: The smoke was so bad you couldn’t see, and the heat was so bad. There was thousands of gallons of aviation fuel on fire in the hallways.
Steven Carter, assistant building manager, Pentagon: Visibility was maybe two feet. There was a definite feel of heat coming through the area, but the overwhelming thing hitting my senses was the dense acrid smoke.
Chris Combs, special agent, FBI, Pentagon: I can remember very vividly walking through the parking lot, feeling the immense heat from that fire. At first it confused me. I was like, Wow, what is burning in there? I did not know it was an airplane.
Steven Carter: Looking up into the second and third floors, I could see people in the windows banging to get attention or to get out, but the windows were not breaking. The back wall had blown off, and it had become the only escape for some people in that area.
There was a large contingent of Pentagon occupants dipping their shirts into the water that was accumulating and putting them over their faces and attempting to reenter the building to help get people out.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Braman, chef, U.S. Army: As soon as I came out the stairwell, I encountered a DPS officer carrying a lady struggling with a baby. I grabbed the baby from the officer’s hands, together we ran for about 60 yards, and I placed the baby back in the woman’s arms. The woman kept saying, “Where’s my baby? Where’s my baby?” I realized the woman was in shock because the baby was in her arms, and she had no idea. The officer instructed me, “Go get help, go get help.”
Steven Carter
: They were using the center courtyard to stage a triage area for injured people. They were putting them all around on the grass. There were medical teams that were bringing in equipment as much as possible, but there were very few supplies out there and a whole lot of people.
John Milton Brady Jr., safety technician investigator, Department of Defense: People were panicking. They didn’t know which way to go. I stood there, using the flashlight as a beacon and calling to the people to come toward me and they started doing that.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Braman: I saw this ambulance pulling up. I got to a firefighter, and it was almost like he was oblivious to what I was telling him. He was downloading all his equipment as fast as he could. I kept telling him, “I have a baby, I need help. I have a lady and a baby.” All of a sudden his eyes became fixated above me. They brought a woman from behind me who was burned from the back of her head to the back of the thighs. She was a dark-complected woman, but she was bright pink in color from the amount of burns that she received.
Lt. Michael Nesbitt, Defense Protective Service, Pentagon: I got a phone call and someone said he understood that we needed helicopters. I said that was correct. He said to tell them where to go, and they would have 40 birds in the air. I said that sounded good.
Lt. Col. Ted Anderson, legislative liaison officer, U.S. Army, Pentagon: I kicked open a fire exit door and screamed for people to follow me. I guess there were 50, maybe 100 people who followed me out that way. I saw a field of scattered debris—it was all gray and metallic. Everybody was moving to my right, and I turned to my left and ran toward the debris. There was nobody with me except Chris Braman.
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