Wilmington man recalls being inside Pentagon during 9/11 attack

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Wilmington man who was inside the Pentagon when it was struck says the events of that morning remain vivid.

Dick McGraw was the No. 2 official in the Pentagon’s public affairs office on Sept. 11, 2001, working closely with then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

McGraw said he was in a meeting when word came that a plane had struck the World Trade Center in New York. After a second plane hit the South Tower, he said it became clear the country was under attack.

“We looked at each other and said, ‘This is no accident, we are under attack,’” McGraw said.

The meeting ended shortly afterward.

“So, we broke up our meeting and after going out the door I said to my friend, ‘I think we’re next,’” McGraw said.

Moments later, American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon.

McGraw recalled hearing what initially sounded like a sonic boom. “Then I realized no, can’t be a sonic boom because the FAA does not allow sonic booms over the nation’s capital,” McGraw said. “It was some sort of explosion, but I didn’t think the building had been hit because my TV didn’t blink, I was on the phone, the phone didn’t get interrupted, my lights didn’t blink, but in about 5 minutes the evacuate alarm sounded.”

McGraw said the area of the Pentagon where he was located remained relatively calm during the initial evacuation. It was not until he made his way around the building that he saw the extent of the damage.

“The amount of devastation, what in the world, how could this have happened. It was then that we learned that an airplane had flown into building just at ground level and there was nothing left of it,” McGraw said.

The attack also changed how long McGraw remained at the Pentagon.

“When I went to the Pentagon in 2001 in June, Rumsfeld was a friend of mine and I told him I’d stay for a year, well the attack on 9/11 resulted in my staying for 4 years,” McGraw said.

Twenty-five years later, McGraw still keeps a physical reminder of the attack.

“I have a piece of the Pentagon; this is limestone out of Indiana,” he said. “The Pentagon is clad entirely in limestone from an Indiana quarry; this is a piece that was burnt and I was able to get a hold of it.”

McGraw said he believes remembering the people who died in the attacks, their families and those who responded that day remains important 25 years later.