Former congressional candidate recalls 9/11 attack at Pentagon
A grateful nation will pay tribute Sunday to the nearly 3,000 lives lost on 9/11.
For Bill Russell, a U.S. Army veteran and former 12th Congressional District candidate, the sacrifice of 40 men and women that day is especially meaningful, because their heroic efforts aboard Flight 93 likely saved his life and the lives of his family.
Russell, now a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Johnstown business owner, was on his way to his Pentagon office that September morning a decade ago.
“I remember the clear crispness of the air as the sun rose that morning as I rode my motorcycle into work,” he said. “I relished the first hints of fall after the oppressive heat of August in (Washington), D.C.
“I wished I could linger a bit longer to enjoy the morning before heading into the basement of the Pentagon as there were far too many days I did not emerge until well after sunset.”
At the time, he was a part of a team that would ensure military support to civilian authorities in time of disaster, so the officers took great interest when alerted to the first strike into the World Trade Center twin towers.
“One of the key questions for us at that point was whether it was an accident or a terrorist event as planes had accidently flown into the Empire State Building,” said Russell. “From the moment of impact of the second plane, everyone in the room immediately knew that it was a terrorist event, and that we were at war.”
At the end of an impromptu emergency meeting of the team, a third airliner, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon, resulting in widespread chaos for those inside. The cockpit of the plane hit one floor below and 150 feet from Russell’s location.
“I thought it had impacted near the metro entrance. which would have been the most crowded at that time of the day,” he said.
Most importantly, it was where his pregnant wife, Kasia, was working as a technician pharmacist.
“I was truly relieved as I arrived at the metro concourse and found it intact and not destroyed and in flames,” he said, adding that he also found his wife, who had only questions as to what had happened and no injuries. “For the next few hours I was haunted by the thought of a second attack on the first responders and evacuees outside the building.”
His wife, along with her friend, returned to their home. The 10-mile trip took seven hours.
As Russell helped treat the wounded, he learned that a fourth airplane remained unaccounted for .
“I have to admit there was a definite level of fear in the few seconds it took to identify the roar of the Air Force F-16s that took to the skies to establish the air cap over the nation’s capital and distinguish it from the sound of an inbound airliner,” he said.
Unknown at the time, the passengers and crew of Flight 93 had already begun to retake the controls from the terrorist piloted airplane.
“We will never know if Flight 93 was on a collision course for the crowds outside the Pentagon, the Capitol Building or the White House,” said Russell. “In a Shanksville farm field, the passengers ended the terrorist attack and sadly, lost their lives in doing so.”
“We must never forget their actions and we must give them the level of honor and gratitude they deserve.”