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Eyewitness: The Pentagon
By Lon Rains
Editor, Space News
posted: 30 June 2005
06:13 am
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in_washington WASHINGTON It is one thing to be sent to report on a war, or to watch one unfold on television, but unlike many of their colleagues in Africa, Asia and Europe, American journalists have no experience covering a war on their home soil. Like millions of other Americans, I was already in the office when my wife called and told me to run to a television because the World Trade Center had apparently been attacked. She works on a federal facility and they were already being warned to take precautions. As some of my colleagues began making phone calls, I joined a dozen others in the newsroom to watch the events live on television. We were sickened by what we saw as the first tower burned, but still unsure about exactly what was taking place. We watched in horror as a second plane hit the other tower, leaving no doubt that this was not an accident, but a coordinated attack. At that point, I had to tear myself away from the television to get to downtown Washington in time for a 10 a.m. appointment. As I headed out of the parking lot of our office in Springfield, Va., a Washington suburb, I turned on the radio and listened intently as the events began to unfold with reports that several planes had been hijacked. It was disturbing news but still seemed a distant threat images on television of a place you knew, but one that felt very far away. In light traffic the drive up Interstate 395 from Springfield to downtown Washington takes no more than 20 minutes. But that morning, like many others, the traffic slowed to a crawl just in front of the Pentagon. With the Pentagon to the left of my van at about 10 oclock on the dial of a clock, I glanced at my watch to see if I was going to be late for my appointment. At that moment I heard a very loud, quick whooshing sound that began behind me and stopped suddenly in front of me and to my left. In fractions of a second I heard the impact and an explosion. The next thing I saw was the fireball. I was convinced it was a missile. It came in so fast it sounded nothing like an airplane. Friends and colleagues have asked me if I felt a shock wave and I honestly do not know. I felt something, but I dont know if it was a shock wave or the fact that I jumped so hard I strained against the seat belt and shoulder harness and was thrown back into my seat. My first instinct was to grab the phone and call one of our reporters. I did and screamed repeatedly into the mouthpiece: "the Pentagons been hit, the Pentagons been hit." There was no doubt in my mind that this was an attack by the same unknown foe attacking New York. Next page: "Unfathomable, but real."
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