*In order to log this virtual cache, you must complete a required logging task found below.*
While on active duty in the United States Marine Corps, I was assigned to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington DC. On any given day during that period, I would work back and forth between three buildings – the Pentagon, the Navy Annex, and Henderson Hall. On Tuesday morning, 11 September 2001, the same as any other day, I arrived at my office at Henderson Hall anticipating a busy day. Before I could even sit down at my desk, my boss informed me that there was a compatibility glitch in the new legal assistance software that I was purchasing for the Marine Corps. “Fix it! And get it done this morning!” he directed.
Facing a quick deadline, I was hyper focused with research on my computer. A young lance corporal that worked for me interrupted, “sir, did you hear? A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center.” Not realizing the gravity of the situation, I just pictured in my mind that it was small two-passenger plane accidently crashing by pilot error. I had resumed my computer research when the lance corporal interrupted again “sir, another plane just hit the other tower … and they think it was terrorists.” Shocked and now more interested I still failed to grasp the significance. But with my task still pending, I couldn’t take the time to listen to the radio or look on the Internet as the other people working for me were.
Finally with my research complete, I met with the computer gurus in the Navy Annex across the street to resolve the issue. This was a large office with several people and windows occupied the entire south wall. While sitting at a desk opposite another Marine discussing my software, I observed a shadow covering the windows and heard the loud roar of a nearby jet and what I thought was a sonic boom. I was unfazed and thought nothing of it since my last two duty stations were at Marine Corps air stations where jet flybys and sonic booms were common. The Marine across from me looked shocked and stated “what was that? We just got hit.” Before I could argue with him, someone out in the hallway started shouting, “everyone out – we just got hit!” A couple minutes later, I found myself outside on the south side of the building with a couple dozen other Marines, Sailors, and civilians. Everyone was completely silent, many crying, as we had a close direct unobstructed view of the thick black billowing smoke coming from the seemingly disintegrated wedge of the Pentagon, a place that I frequented almost daily. The immediate unspoken thought on the minds of everyone looking was that people are dead right where we are looking only a few hundred yards away.
None of us standing there would ever forget what we observed as 64 people on American Airlines Flight 77 and another 125 people in the Pentagon died that day and our country had just changed forever.
9/11 Memorial at Utah State University Bontanical Center
The memorial is situated near the USU Botanical Center ponds and includes a bronze plaque featuring artwork and poetry created by Utah children and two plaques listing the names of military men and women from Utah who have died in service to the country since that day.
Another plaque honors native Utahns Mary Alice Wahlstrom and daughter, Carolyn Beug, who were on American Airlines Flight 11 when it crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, and USU alumnus Brady Howell who died when American Airlines Flight 77 destroyed the area he was working in at the Pentagon.
In addition to the plaques, a sculpture of a firefighter carrying a little girl sits at the monument’s center.
Logging Tasks (Found it logs posted online will be deleted if a required task is not completed):
- (Required) Send a message or email to me answering the following three questions:
- What item of clothing does the little girl appear to be missing?
- What is the name of any one of the seven US Marine Corps lance corporals (LCPL) on either plaque?
- While working at the Pentagon, Brady Howell was a Presidential Management intern doing what for the Chief of Naval Operations?
-or-
- (Required) Take a selfie at the memorial without spoiling the questions above and post it with your online Found it log.
-and-
- (Not required) Please include in your online Found it log what you were doing and what your impressions were on September 11, 2001, when you heard of the plane crashes.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.