Video summary
On the morning of September 11th, a specialized rescue unit was in the midst of conducting an internal training session covering various scenarios such as rope rescue and confined space operations when they learned about the attacks on New York City. Upon receiving confirmation that a plane had struck the Pentagon, the team immediately mobilized their resources and prepared to deploy within an hour with a clear mission: to conduct search and rescue operations for any survivors trapped inside. When they arrived at the Pentagon that evening, the building was still engulfed in flames, having been hit by a fully loaded aircraft that required significant effort from local fire departments across Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, and Fort Belvoir to bring under control.
The initial response involved sending the first squad into the burning structure to search for survivors after all other personnel had evacuated, a task complicated by the shock of seeing deep water mixed with burning fuel inside the building. The atmosphere was charged with personal urgency as soldiers searched for loved ones; one sergeant searched for his mother-in-law who worked in the impacted area, while another sought her husband, both driven by the instinct to help despite the chaos. Although the team faced the emotional weight of realizing that many victims could not be saved alive, which made maintaining motivation difficult as more bodies were recovered, their rigorous training allowed them to function effectively without hesitation or panic.
The unit remained at the Pentagon for ten days, working grueling 24-hour shifts in a rotating schedule because everyone felt compelled to stay and do whatever was necessary to find survivors during the critical window when life could still be preserved. Despite the immense disappointment and stress of failing to save many lives, the soldiers executed their duties with professionalism and resilience, ensuring that no one suffered major injuries and that all personnel returned safely to their families. The speaker expressed profound pride in how the team performed under such extreme pressure, noting that their ability to execute their mission without hesitation was a direct result of years of dedicated preparation and the unwavering commitment to doing what needed to be done regardless of the outcome.
Over the two decades since those tragic events, the unit has grown significantly, attracting new members and acquiring advanced equipment that were once only dreams, reflecting the high regard in which their service is held. The speaker emphasized that even twenty years later, they would have returned to the Pentagon without question if given the chance, driven by an internal sense of duty rather than external orders. Ultimately, the most significant takeaway from this experience was not just the operational success or the growth of the unit, but the fact that their extensive training paid off in ensuring that every soldier who entered the building completed their mission and came home safely to their loved ones.
Read the full video transcript
The morning of September 11th, we were
just starting a we call it a rescue one
uh course and we actually did all of our
in-house training from rope rescue to
confined space to collapse structure to
shoring anything in that nature uh we
trained. We were just starting a class
uh saw that a plane hit the building in
New York City
when the when we found out that the
plane hit the actual Pentagon we alerted
and got everything together
and were prepared to move within an
hour.
And our mission was anything that would
happen
we were to go in and to do search and
rescue and hopefully rescue
uh of whoever the occupant was wherever
they were.
>> It was the evening of the 11th when we
got to the Pentagon.
And I remember the Pentagon still being
on fire. Um
a lot of the local fire departments had
responded. Arlington County, Alexandria,
Fairfax, Fort Belvoir.
The
priority was putting the fire out. Um
a lot of I mean the the plane hit fully
loaded with fuel so it took a little
while to get that under control.
>> We found the incident commander, told
him of our capabilities, let him know
we're on the way and uh waited on our
unit to show up. While we're waiting on
the rest of the unit, the main body to
show up, we took I took the first squad
into the building to do a initial search
and rescue.
Um this was after uh
ended up after everybody that was going
to come out was able to come out of the
building.
>> Sergeant Brown's mother-in-law worked at
the Pentagon in the area where
it had been hit.
And his kids I remember him talking to
his kids and them trying to find
grandma.
And then at the same time, Fort
Belvoir's sergeant major, Sergeant Major
Strickland, her husband,
worked in that area also. And I remember
her walking through
looking for her husband and
her asking for help for us to help find
her husband.
Those are the Those are the things that
really stick with me on the first night.
>> Well, um
training kicks in. I didn't think of
anything except for
um making sure that that my
my guys were suited up correctly. We
wore a supplied air
um apparatus, and we went in and and did
the search. I knew that my
mother-in-law was in the building
somewhere, but I didn't know exactly
where she was in relationship to the
plane where the plane went in.
Um
just going through the motions.
A lot of shock because we're not used to
seeing,
you know, a foot and a half of water
with fuel burning on top of it. And what
we saw inside there.
So, uh just just a lot of stuff going
through the through my mind that
I can't recall now, but a lot of it was
uh just training kicks in and and you're
not a robot, but uh you just let it work
and
uh
you know, make things happen.
>> When we got there, everybody wanted to
go to work.
Nobody wanted to go to sleep.
Myself included. I think most of us was
up for the first two or three days.
Point-blank because that's when if you
if you was to find somebody, that's when
they're going to be alive.
And it was it was all in.
Nobody wanted to go anywhere.
Most of us slept there either on our
Humvees or in our trucks or
on the ground.
>> Well, what we were feeling
um was a lot of disappointment.
As you can imagine, you train really
hard in in most of our scenarios that we
develop for training, we brought live
people out, and the realization that we
probably were not going to find anybody
alive
was a little bit
stressful on us
because uh
that's what that's what we wanted to do.
And as we were finding
more and more bodies,
it was it was getting a little bit
harder to um
you know, to
excuse me, it was getting a little bit
harder to
um
keep everybody motivated.
But at the end of the day, you know,
search and recovery. So, we switched
into recovery mode only, and
um you know, we just
dealt with it.
It's it's difficult um knowing what your
job is and what you want to do, and and
it doesn't happen. Um you know, but at
the end of the day, we have a another
job to do, so
uh we just dealt with it and kept
everybody motivated as much as possible.
The unit did great. We stayed there for
10 days working 24-hour shifts, 12 on 12
off. Um but just the way that the men
and women of this unit of of everyone
that was there performed
uh was my biggest takeaway.
>> We had a mission to do. We had a job to
do. And we went forward and we executed
that job.
I was on terminal leave. I couldn't
imagine
not being there.
I had the training. I had the knowledge.
Uh
20 years ago, I would have done the
exact same thing
that I did on that day.
I don't want to straight back.
Nobody needed to tell me to go back.
Uh the is [music] uh an engineer company
um
that was stand-alone in all of the army.
And after this, uh
there's people knocking down the door
trying to get into this unit. And over
the 20 years since 9/11, the unit has
grown leaps and bounds. They've They've
acquired equipment that we only dreamed
of. Um
the different training that they're
using, [music] it's it's amazing to see
how far they've come. And um that's a
direct reflection of
of what we did [music] and how we
performed.
The biggest thing that I'm proud of is
all of our training uh paid off.
That the soldiers that went in there
>> [music]
>> performed their duty, they did it well,
they did it without uh any major injury,
and they all came back safe to their
family.
That's the biggest thing that I'm proud
of.