George Benge Gannett News Executive Gets His Fray On

This in-house, organ-dispensed treasure, penned by a Gannett "News Executive" named George Benge, is titled all-caps, "BENGE: PENTAGON BLAST SENT ME OUT OF THE BUILDING AND INTO THE FRAY," and it deserves wider circulation. It is especially useful for a precise timeline of evacuations.

For instance, after describing some carnage, Benge writes,

At 10:16 a policemen shouted for everyone to move away from the building. A man in U.S. Army fatigues barked orders to six men who were carrying a stretcher with a wounded man. He told them they would carry wounded until their muscles could take no more. Then he went back into the Pentagon.

At 10:28, a speaker from a police car told the milling throng of military personnel, civilians and police to move away, that another hijacked jet was reportedly headed toward the Pentagon.

At 10:45, when a U.S. jet fighter plane screamed overhead, everyone flinched and ducked.

At 11:25 the hundreds of rescue, military and police officials rushed away from the building, fearing new blasts.

At 11:30 they all hustled back to the scene, the peril temporarily passed.

At 11:53, another mass evacuation occurred at ground zero

Anyway, the article's still up at Gannett, but you saw it first here:

BENGE: PENTAGON BLAST SENT ME OUT OF THE BUILDING AND INTO THE FRAY By George Benge, News Executive, Gannett Co., Inc.

I was sitting at the keyboard in an Arlington, Va., office tower about two miles from the Pentagon Tuesday morning. It was 9:45 a.m. I felt two fast, consecutive thumps.

Having just seen TV reports of the horrific attack on the World Trade Center, I thought fleetingly, but dismissively that it sounded like explosions. Maybe they're after this office tower, too.

Minutes later a colleague dashed into my 26th-floor office, shouting that the Pentagon had been bombed and people were leaving the building. Within minutes I joined others hustling down the stairs.

I jumped into a cab and told the driver to get me as close to the Pentagon as he could. He dropped me off on a freeway ramp that was on the opposite side of where plumes of grayish, black smoke were billowing up and over the Pentagon.

It was 10:12 a.m. Walking toward the Pentagon, I felt and heard what seemed to be two more quick thumps. But there were no other signs of explosions.

Going closer, I saw people on orange stretchers in a shaded area. An intravenous bag was held over one victim. Others were lying motionless as medical personnel hovered around them.

At 10:16 a policemen shouted for everyone to move away from the building.

A man in U.S. Army fatigues barked orders to six men who were carrying a stretcher with a wounded man. He told them they would carry wounded until their muscles could take no more. Then he went back into the Pentagon.

A shirtless sailor walked by. Another man dressed in sailor whites walked gingerly away with the assistance of three men, the sailor's head wrapped in white gauze.

At 10:28, a speaker from a police car told the milling throng of military personnel, civilians and police to move away, that another hijacked jet was reportedly headed toward the Pentagon.

The crowds moved quickly as requested, their eyes rising apprehensively to the sky. A few minutes later, another order rang out to move out of the open and to move quickly.

At 10:45, when a U.S. jet fighter plane screamed overhead, everyone flinched and ducked.

None of the persons interviewed at the scene actually saw the crash, and most were reluctant to give their names. However, Marine Sgt. Gary Nichols summed it up for many, saying, "I was pretty close. I heard a big bang and saw a bunch of smoke."

Walking around the building, seeing a massive, blackened gash in the side of the seemingly impenetrable Pentagon was numbing. Fire hoses streamed water into the wounded, historic edifice. Flames and smoke rose from the point of impact and through blown-out windows at least a block away.

Cars parked next to the building were smoldering ruins, flames shot up from an auxiliary trailer close to the Pentagon, and some debris was in the roadway directly in front of the building.

A white-shirted police officer provided a security checkpoint one block from ground zero. His shirt, hand and arm were bloodied. He said he had pulled a lady and a baby out of a window.

At 11:25 the hundreds of rescue, military and police officials rushed away from the building, fearing new blasts. At 11:30 they all hustled back to the scene, the peril temporarily passed.

At 11:53, another mass evacuation occurred at ground zero.

Then everyone returned, and the rescue continued.

How come I never got to see any sailors with their shirts off? And do note "None of the persons interviewed at the scene actually saw the crash." While, "He told them they would carry wounded until their muscles could take no more," has to be the most comical line of the Pentagon 9/11 scenario. Especially since I pronounce his name as Ben-Gay. Har, har.