The Only Plane in the Sky

by Garrett M Graff

  Daphne Leigh: I contacted friends from home via our only means at the time, AOL Instant Messenger, as we were scattered around the country. We all shared the same fears.

  Ernie Smith, Michigan State University: It was my first real time living away from home—I had only moved in two weeks prior. When those two towers were hit—there it was: my first real memory of being on my own.

  Michael Szwaja: That was the first moment since I arrived at college where I felt like I needed my mom and dad, and they weren’t there.

  Courtney Kirkpatrick, University of Texas: Suddenly being out in the world felt exhausting.

  “We didn’t know who was friend or foe”

  * * *

  At Offutt Air Force Base

  At 2:50 p.m. ET (1:50 p.m. local time), Air Force One landed at Offutt Air Force Base, outside Omaha, Nebraska.

  Adm. Richard Mies, commander, U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Offutt Air Force Base: We didn’t know that he was coming to Offutt until about 15 minutes before. There wasn’t much communication with Air Force One at all. There wasn’t going to be any pomp and circumstance. I had my driver and a Secret Service agent, and the three of us went out to the runway to greet Air Force One in my plain Chrysler.

  Sgt. Chad Heithoff, Maintenance Unit, Offutt Air Force Base: They announced a ramp freeze—meaning no one could move on the ground—and the next thing I knew there were security forces everywhere, full flak jackets, M-16s. We could see Air Force One coming in, with two fighters escorting it. It was chilling and scary.

  Staff Sgt. William “Buzz” Buzinski, security, Air Force One: Landing at Offutt was probably the one funny moment of the day. I’m a big guy—6-foot-4, 270—but Will Chandler’s also a huge guy, he’s 6-3, 250. We always said he’s got hands the size of a TV screen. Well, we were the first two off the plane. The rear stairs are always down first; you get off and guide the front stairs in. When we got off, underneath the jet were five or six maintainers, who were trying to plug the plane into ground power. No one told us they’d be there—all we saw were this group of five guys. Chandler yelled: “Clear the area!” He just let out this bellow. Well, it was like cats scattering—they dropped radios, dropped the cable. They were panicked—there’s this big guy coming at them. It was hysterical. I laughed.

  Richard Balfour, security, Air Force One: We didn’t know who was friend or foe, even on the bases. We kept everybody at arm’s length, away from the aircraft.

  Dave Wilkinson, assistant agent in charge, U.S. Secret Service: By the time we got to STRATCOM, there were like 15 to 20 planes still unaccounted for nationwide. People will say it was only six, but there were a lot more than that. For everything we knew, they were all hijacked. But even as we landed, they started to kick them off quickly.

  Adm. Richard Mies: I decided to bring the president down into the command center via the fire escape entrance. That was the most expedient option. I’d never used it before. It was there for emergencies. I had them open it from the inside.

  Brian Montgomery, director of advance, White House: There were a lot of airmen in battle gear lining the route to the bunker. We pulled up to this five-story office building, and instead of walking in the front door, the admiral said, “No, we’re going in there.” We headed into this concrete building, just a door. We went down and down and down, pretty far underground.

  Ellen Eckert, stenographer, White House: When he went into the bunker, wow. That’s still a scene in the movie in my head all these years later. Clearly the only way to go was down. We stood outside, waiting. We smoked a million cigarettes, all my new chain-smoking friends.

  Eric Draper, presidential photographer: I finally had a chance to call my wife. I said, “Honey, I’m going to be home a little late tonight.” I could hear her laugh through the phone, even as she was crying. She said, “I saw you with the president, so I knew you were OK.”

  Adm. Richard Mies: We went directly into the command center. That really caught [the president’s] attention. All these soldiers, they’re all in battle dress. CNN was prominently displayed—a lot of footage of the two towers. We had four to six TV screens, all energized. I sat him down where I normally sit, and walked him through what he was seeing, so he had an awareness.

  Andy Card, chief of staff, White House: It was right out of a TV movie set—all these flat-screen TVs, all these military people, you could hear the fog of war, all these communications from the FAA and the military. But it was tough for the military folks—they all wanted to stand and show respect to the commander in chief, but you could tell they wanted to sit and do their jobs. Everyone was schizophrenic, half-sitting and half-standing, everyone was moving around. After a few minutes, the president turned to me, “I want to get out of here—I’m making it hard for these people to do their job.”

  Maj. Scott “Hooter” Crogg, F-16 pilot, 111th Fighter Squadron, Houston: All the rules that fighter pilots spend their lives living by were now out the window. When we landed at Offutt we got more gas and picked up maps for the rest of the country. There were always maps and approaches for the country in base operations, but all the maps always said, “Do not remove from base operations.” We took all of them and stuffed them in our bag.

  Colonel Tillman walked into base operations and we finally started to get some information. The president was actually an alumn[us] of our unit in Houston, and Colonel Tillman told us, “He feels comfortable with you guys and wants you to continue with us.” We told him we’d sit back about five miles—you don’t get that close to something that valuable, for all sorts of reasons—but if something happened, we can eat up that range real quick.

  Adm. Richard Mies: The VTC [video teleconference] was the three of us, the operator, and his military aide. There was no real audience. We listened as everyone reported in. Richard Clarke of the National Security Council, Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, National Security Adviser Condi Rice, CIA Director George Tenet. Most of the initial conversation in the VTC was focused on who did this. There was a lot of speculation. It was too early to make definitive. Then we were talking about: How do we restore some sense of normalcy quickly, both for New York and for the country? And then how does the president get back to Washington?

  Col. Matthew Klimow, executive assistant to the vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, Pentagon: At 3:15, there was a teleconference with President Bush. The president was firm and in control and I felt inspired. I remember very well his exact words as he started the teleconference. He said, “I want everybody who’s listening to this SVT”—which means secure video teleconference—“[to know] that no faceless thugs are going to hold this country at bay.”

  Norman Mineta, secretary of transportation: He said, “We’re going to find out who did this. We’re going to seek them out. And we’re going to destroy them.”

  Col. Matthew Klimow: Someone spoke up, and I don’t know who, and they used profanity. President Bush said, “Look, first thing: get the facts straight. Second: clean up your language. And my reaction was just what yours was.” Everybody chuckled.

  Josh Bolten, deputy chief of staff, White House: The whole tenor of the presidency changed immediately at that moment.

  Mike Morell, presidential briefer, Central Intelligence Agency: When Tenet explained that he had evidence pointing to al-Qaeda, the president turned around and looked at me—his look clearly said, What the fuck happened here? You were supposed to tell me first. I tried to explain with my look that I was sorry—I didn’t know how my message had gotten lost. I went to a nearby office and called Tenet’s assistant, angry. I felt like I’d let the president down.

  Andy Card: We all suspected that it was al-Qaeda. I’d thought that since the classroom door. It wasn’t that dramatic of a moment actually. Think of what would’ve happened if he’d told us that it was Russia, China, or another nation-state? Or an American splinter group?

  Maj. Gen. Larry Arnold, commander of the 1st Air Fo
rce, NORAD, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida: We had just about everybody on the ground, but we were concerned about one aircraft. It was a USAir flight that had taken off from Madrid and was going to JFK. It was the last aircraft that had been called “potentially hijacked.” The phone rang from Bob Marr and he said, “We just got word from USAir that that airplane turned around.” I picked up the phone from my executive officer and I heard the president again talking to the secretary of defense. I interrupted and said, “Mr. President, the last airplane has landed. Everything is down that we can see.” He did not question it. It was just, “I am going back to Washington.”

  Julie Ziegenhorn, public affairs officer, Offutt Air Force Base: We were working at our desks and all of a sudden, there was the president striding down the hallway. He walked right out the front door, waving to us. He shouted, “Thanks for all you’re doing!”

  Gordon Johndroe, assistant press secretary, White House: We were there with the press pool and our Secret Service agent said, “Oh my gosh, we’ve got to go right now. The president’s leaving.” Ann Compton was on with Peter Jennings. I didn’t want to panic her or the nation by making it seem like we were leaving abruptly, but we needed to leave. I mouthed, “We have to go.” She was on the radio and she said, “I’m told we’re leaving. I don’t know where we’re going.” Peter Jennings said, “Godspeed, Annie.”

  Col. Mark Tillman, presidential pilot, Air Force One: We thought he was going to be there for a while. I was in base operations and someone came in and said, “I think the president’s headed back to the plane.” I said, “Nah.” He said, “No, I’m pretty sure I just saw him drive by.” I started to race back to the plane. He’d already gotten there. He’s waiting at the top of the stairs and told me, “Tillman, we got to get back home. Let’s get back home.”

  Maj. Scott Crogg: No one told us that Air Force One was leaving, so we were like, Oh shit, are they starting up? We’re racing to get our planes in the air, but it takes some time. We met the minimum safety requirements and hit the air. A 747 configured like that—gosh, that’s a fast airplane. We didn’t want to go supersonic, it’d burn up too much fuel, so we talked to them, and we had to reel them in.

  * * *

  With the president’s orders and mind-set clear—but the president himself still hours away from Washington—aides back at the White House moved ahead with briefing the press about the state of the nation’s response.

  Nic Calio, director of legislative affairs, White House: We had a long discussion about what we should be doing, whether we should all be going out and be seen publicly. We decided to do a briefing. There was a discussion—Mary Matalin was there, Scooter Libby—about whether we should go out in force and say, “Here’s the White House staff. We’re out. It’s safe.” Our intent was to send a reassuring message. In the end, we just sent Karen Hughes.

  Karen Hughes, communications director, White House: The Secret Service thought the White House press room was still not safe, so they took me, surrounded by agents with their weapons drawn, to the nearby FBI headquarters. I remember feeling vulnerable; we didn’t know who the enemy was or where they might be lurking. My colleague Mary Matalin, counselor to Vice President Cheney, came with me; I remember being grateful to have a friend by my side. I read from a prepared statement I had typed myself. The text was faded and barely legible in places; the printer in the emergency center had been low on ink. “I’m Karen Hughes, counselor to President Bush, and I’m here to update you on the activities of the federal government in response to this morning’s attacks on our country. . . .”

  “Profound quiet”

  * * *

  Afternoon in America

  As the morning of September 11th passed, a stunned, wounded nation found itself enveloped in quiet—businesses and schools closed, traffic thinned, the normal air traffic overhead fell silent. Many Americans, both ordinary civilians and government officials, were glued to the television, soaking in the news, overcome with emotion.

  Gabriella Daya-Dominguez, resident, Chatham, New Jersey: My husband worked in the South Tower, and I was about seven months pregnant. I tried to call my husband. I was rather frantic. I tried to call and call, I couldn’t reach him. There was no answer. I spent several hours just pacing my floor. He finally did make his way back on the ferry, and our son’s classmate’s father gave him a ride home. He pulled up in a car I didn’t know. I ran out to greet him, and I was amazed because his shirt was white. By this time, clothes were all sooty and stuff because the Towers had already collapsed. I remember my first thought was His shirt is clean! and then I ran into his arms crying.

  Susannah Herrada, resident, Arlington, Virginia: My son was born that day in Arlington Hospital at 1:40 in the afternoon. The first plane hit, and then the second, and then the Pentagon, and then my doctor said I needed a C-section. For the longest time I wondered if he gave me the C-section because they were expecting so many injured from the Pentagon, and they needed to get my delivery over with. I said, “Look, the TV has got to go off. You guys have to focus on me”—my doctor and my husband are watching TV—so the TV got turned off. It was a hard time to have a baby. You’re supposed to be so happy and you’re not. Every mother has to struggle with that, but then the thought: What world is this? We weren’t sure what was going to happen next.

  Linda Carpenter, kindergarten teacher, Philadelphia: Although the sky was still the same beautiful blue that promised a perfect day on my drive to work, the sky now seemed eerily empty. Quiet, but not peaceful. I kept an eye on the sky on that drive home, fearful of the outdoors.

  Wilson Surratt, executive producer, WPIX-TV, New York: A melancholy silence crept in. For the next few hours, we worked in a low hum of conversation and deep breaths. We struggled to hold it together.

  Thomas Rodgers, attorney, Cambria County, Pennsylvania: I remember looking up in the sky to see if I could see any plane. It seemed like everything was so still and quiet when you did that because there was nothing, no noise. We get used to the noise of the planes going over us. All at once, you noticed the silence.

  Theresa Flynn, librarian, H-B Woodlawn School, Arlington, Virginia: The profound, profound quiet.

  Spc. Ben Bell, sentinel, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, U.S. Army: The thing I remember was the flight pattern in D.C. It comes over the Potomac from the east and drops into Reagan. It’s a loud part of Tomb guarding. You always heard the planes coming in—it’s the only thing that disrupts the sanctity of the Tomb sometimes when you’re out there. That silence, there were no people, there was nothing going on. The eerie silence. To hear that during the middle of the day, that was really eerie, not to have any sound, like the dead of night.

  Preston Stone, resident, North Dakota: I lived about two miles from the Fargo airport, and the silence from grounded planes was striking and haunting.

  Nate Jones, freshman, Wheaton College, Illinois: I was 1,500 miles away from all of this and I didn’t feel safe. I remember looking at the sky in the afternoon and seeing no contrails, no jets anywhere. It was blue and empty and silent. I still can’t look at blue sky the same way.

  Charity C. Tran, student, University of Southern California, Los Angeles: I remember the silence of the sky, the deceptive peace of a clear blue sky, empty of its white specks of flying planes.

  Anne Marie Reidy Borenstein, Maryland: The world seemed to have stopped. It was almost as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting for what would happen next.

  Theresa Flynn: You don’t know how quiet a place can be. There was nothing on 395, there was nothing on George Mason Drive. The one thing that was interesting is that every single house in the whole block—by the time the sun set, the people were home—and there was that blue light coming out of their windows with every single person watching TV.

  Deena Burnett, wife of United Flight 93 passenger Tom Burnett: All I wanted to do was go to church. I knew my children were fine. The principal called to let me know the kids were okay and they did not know about the
airplane yet. Several parents were picking up their children from school that day, but I decided to let mine stay—being there was better than being at home and seeing me fall apart. I needed some time to decide how to handle the emotions. So I went to church.

  “There’s so much luck involved”

  * * *

  Searching

  Family members, coworkers, colleagues fretted and feared the losses at the World Trade Center as the day’s staggering toll mounted. Survivors, for their part, realized how big a role happenstance played in who emerged from the morning’s carnage. The search for the missing proceeded desperately, both at hospitals and at the acres of destruction that would come to be known as Ground Zero.

  Mika Brzezinski, correspondent, CBS News: There was a “worst moment” for me. We brought in a security guard from the World Financial Center. As he was waiting to go on air, the guard told me he had seen a WABC-TV van crushed in the collapse. My husband [at the time], Jim Hoffer, worked for WABC. I began to get a little panicked that I had possibly lost my husband. I remember being two people—one person doing her story, the other totally numb, wondering, Where the hell is my husband? What am I going to do if I lose him? Right after my report, the producer got in my ear and said, “Mika, your husband’s fine.” I cried. I felt so lucky.

  John Napolitano, father of FDNY firefighter John P. Napolitano: I thought, I’ve got to call my friend Lenny Crisci. I have to tell him what’s going on. His brother, John Crisci, a lieutenant in Hazmat, was like an uncle to my son. I called Lenny’s house and his wife, Millie, answered the phone. She was crying. I said, “Millie, is John missing?” She said, “Yes.” I said, “So’s my son.”