- I was a reporter for
the Washington Post,
my assignment was covering The Pentagon
as an installation, a
large military installation
in the Washington region.
We had just been attacked
in an act of war.
This is the military's command center,
and The Pentagon, when it was built,
there was criticism at the
time that what the military
was creating was the world's
largest bombing target.
You can't really get a grasp
for how big The Pentagon is
until you see it from the air.
The Pentagon in a way is
five separate buildings
that are built next to each other,
it's these five wedges.
You also have five rings
that divide it up further.
By any measure, it's the
biggest office building
in the world.
A building with 17 miles of corridors,
a 35 acre roof.
A building where 20,000 people
would go to work every morning.
- Always chilly in the building,
I always have my sweater.
The military gives you
a black sweater to wear.
I told my office mate, Marion,
I'll see ya.
I went off to the meeting that was not far
from our cubicle,
and Marion stayed in
the office continuing to
process her work that she
had to do for that day.
The meeting started at 9 o'clock,
and so we had no idea what was going on
in the country at that time.
- And we get a report
that a large aircraft
is six miles south of The White House,
so right away I'm like,
this needs to go to Northeast
Air Defense Command,
they need to know.
(intense music)
