Professional Documents
Culture Documents
20 Years After 911
20 Years After 911
20 Years After 911
The Pentagon is a large, five-sided building in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from
Washington, D.C.
Reporter Jamie McIntyre was following the U.S. military for CNN television on September 11, 2001. He
spoke with VOA near the place where American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon.
"You know, I always feel like this is sacred ground... I stood here on September 11…."
And McIntyre reported what he saw – smoke rising from the building. He reported information that, at the
time, seemed hard to believe.
"Which would indicate that the entire plane crashed into the side of the Pentagon…"
The events of that day are now known as the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The attacks were carried out by Islamic
extremists. Fifteen years later, McIntyre cannot forget that day. He calls it “a defining moment in your life.”
"And to see this building, which is such an iconic structure, and almost looks like a fortress, to see part of it
just crumble down into rubble and realize the number of people who died in the building and on the plane, it
was one of those days when you could feel the world changing."
In all, 184 people were killed at the Pentagon that day. One hundred twenty-five were in the building. Fifty-
nine others were on the plane.
James Laychak’s world changed that day, too. He lost a brother. Now he is president of the 9/11 Pentagon
Memorial Fund. The fund was set up to raise money to build a memorial near the place where the plane
came down.
"My brother Dave, my younger brother, was killed in the Pentagon on 9/11. I do this to honor my brother's
memory and to honor all the people who died here so we never forget them and remind people about what
happened that day...”