Cover of The 9.11 Pentagon Podcast Project

The 9.11 Pentagon Podcast Project

The 9.11 Pentagon Podcast Project

By: Jermaine Williams Imani Scott
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The Pentagon Project Podcast recounts the personal story of the events during and after 9/11. This podcast recounts the events and moments of the people working at the Pentagon on that day. Retelling the feelings and emotions and personal trauma of one of the most tragic attacks in American History.© Cabal Ink A Round 1 Solutions Company. All Rights Reserved. Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Jannel: 'I shouldn't have to come to work to die'

    Jannel: 'I shouldn't have to come to work to die'
    10 Oct 2026
    Jannel is a civilian who works in an administrative capacity in the Pentagon. She was in the middle of a distribution run and talking with a co-worker when the building shook, and she was nearly knocked to her knees, but for the help of the co-worker.

    As the hallways darkened, the co-worker grabbed Jannel by her hand and said, "We've got to get out of here; God is with us." Crying, nervous, and shaken, Jannel ran along with her co-worker, struggling to keep up with his pace. Once in the Courtyard, she saw another co-worker, who told her they needed to pray, so they began praying.

    When Jannel looked up, she saw people who were bleeding and injured. But she also saw people entering and exiting the building and carrying body bags. Admittedly, Jannel said she had difficulty grasping all that was going on around her. She told me she started crying out: "Oh my God, somebody died. Please God, get me out of this place."

    Jannel told me that initially, she was completely aware that she was panicking, and didn’t feel like she could control her emotions as she considered: "I didn't know what was going on with me." Eventually, a co-worker comforted Jannel and reassured her that she was safe.

    But it would be months later, following intensive counseling and medication, before Jannel would really feel any semblance of safety. In addition to "crying spells," she told me she would have panic attacks at the mere sight of an airplane. She said, “Even today, I feel as though I shouldn't have to come to work to die. I don't really feel safe in this place, and I would love to feel safe here."
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    36 min
  • Martin: We didn't think terrorism; that was foreign to us

    Martin: We didn't think terrorism; that was foreign to us
    10 Oct 2026
    A soldier in the U.S. Army, Martin was at work in an area that had no access to a television or radio when the World Trade Center attacks occurred, so he and his co-workers learned of the event when pictures started being posted to the Internet. "We were shocked," he said. "We didn't think terrorism; that was foreign to us." Martin was standing near the filing cabinet in his office when he felt what he describes as a "shock wave" to the building.

    Like many others, Martin presumed the tremor was related to an explosion from the construction being done to renovate the building. "It wasn't until we stepped into the 5th corridor that we saw the smoke and debris. He recalls people scrambling and running; he told me that his immediate instinct was to evacuate, recalling: “I was numb." When he got into the Courtyard, Martin says he felt “A weighted numbness,” as he noticed “A woman who was burned, frantic, and distressed.” But he told me he didn't go to help her, and that decision to be a bystander instead of helping her still haunts him, to this day.

    In his words, Martin told me: "It still bothers me that I didn't take an active role to help her right then. Fortunately, someone else did." Instead of focusing on helping others, Martin told me he was focused on trying to reach his wife, “But the cells were jammed,” he said, “And my cell phone wasn't working.”

    Consequently, he decided to hitchhike home—still feeling an overwhelming need to speak with his wife. He told me that when he finally did get through to her, "She was distraught,” and thought he had been killed. Today, Martin says that he could have better controlled his emotions: "Because of the numbness and looking back, I think, well, I should have gone to the Lord in prayer immediately. But I didn't because I was numb."
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    36 min
  • George: All I thought about on that day was getting back to my daughter

    George: All I thought about on that day was getting back to my daughter
    3 Oct 2026
    Before working in the Pentagon, George had been a U.S. Marine. On the day of the attack, he was working in an administrative capacity for the U.S. government and was seated at his desk when he heard the explosion. Since he had just become aware of the attack on the World Trade Center, he said that upon hearing the explosion at the Pentagon he immediately thought, "Aw man, they hit us too."

    The force of the wind first slammed George into his desk, then onto the floor; eventually, George was smothered in debris. He told me, "I thought I was dead and I made my peace [with God]." Then, he says he heard his co-workers crying out, and one was screaming that she was on fire. But according to George, in those moments the only person he thought of was his two- year-old daughter and how sad she would be if no one were there to pick her up from Daycare that afternoon.

    With thoughts of his daughter at the forefront of his mind, he began fighting his way through the debris and then jumping over desks and cubicles. Even though he continued to slip and fall, he says he kept getting up and found his way through the debris with a co-worker closely behind.

    Once in the Courtyard, George told me he borrowed money (his belongings were still in his office) and made his way to the Metro, where he sat on the train -- bloodied and covered in ash, with the sole mission of getting to his daughter. Along the way, he would hitchhike from a stranger who drove him to his daughter's Daycare center. It wasn't until George made it there and held his daughter in his arms that he noticed the blood, felt the pain, and realized he was injured.
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    36 min
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