One of Troy’s very own was inside the Pentagon 23 years ago during the Sept. 11 attacks.
Today, he lives to tell that story, and he did exactly that at an annual seminar, speaking to a crowded room of silent students.
Director of Operations and Lecturer in the Leadership Institute Duane Gunn was stationed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, during the summer of 2001. Gunn shared his story at his 9/11 seminar that was held in TC Ballrooms.
Gunn received and started a new assignment to the Pentagon three weeks prior to 9/11. At the time, he was a space missile operator for the Air Force.
Also during this time, Gunn and his wife learned they were expecting a baby.
“We had not been at the Pentagon very long,” Gunn said. “In fact, we were still trying to just understand everything, and I think we were still living in a sea of boxes from our move from Colorado Springs to Washington D.C.”
The day of the attacks started out just like any other day for Gunn.
Gunn and the rest of the individuals in the Pentagon job training orientation went to break when they found out that the first World Trade Center had been hit. They then turned on the TV in the conference room, where they witnessed the second World Trade Center get hit.
“Literally, they're turning on the TV,” Gunn said. “You just see the plane come and you see that.
"Being an Air Force person, your first reaction is ‘I did not just see what I think I just saw.’ Seeing a plane ram into a building and your brain just goes ‘that doesn't add up.’ With the crowd there that day, there was a definite level of concern.”
The individuals then started back with their orientation. Between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., they felt the Pentagon shake. They had been hit. Gunn compares the feeling to an earthquake.
When it first occurred, Gunn originally thought a fuel truck had been hit, but hee quickly realized that wasn’t the case.
Fire alarms went off, and smoke began to fill the hallways. They were about 400 feet from impact. Fortunately, they were not too far from the exit.
“What was interesting for me was that, in the military or with a group of people like this, you are always taught to go help when there’s an emergency, but with 1,000 military personnel, you obviously can't go and all help, “Gunn said. “It was kind of odd from that perspective because you were told to get back and don't go over there because you got to get out of here.
“We ended up walking over underneath one of the interstates through a tunnel, and we went to what we call Pentagon City Mall to figure out a way to get home.”
Gunn did not make it back home until 5 p.m.
In times of need or a disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has the right to take control of all the cell phone towers in a local area where a disaster has occurred. Since most of the cell phone services went dead, Gunn used a work phone to get in contact with one of his brothers to inform his loved ones he was okay.
“I'm not a unique person from that perspective,” Gunn said. “I'm unique from the standpoint that I was actually physically in the building when it got hit.
"There's a lot of stuff that I observed that day. This went on to where you just kind of scratched your head, and you just kind of went ‘My God.’”
Five to six days after the attack, when individuals went back to the Pentagon, the smell of smoke was still present in Gunn’s office, and footprints in the soot were still visible in the hallways.
“It was very easy, from a faith perspective, to forgive what had happened, but it took a while for me to forget,” Gunn said. “The reason why was that it really wasn't until I was stationed over in the Middle East, and I got this perspective.
“I was kind of watching families in the afternoon, playing with their kids at the park, and I realized at that moment that really, they're no different than we are other than the fact they have a different religious perspective.” ”
Gunn concluded his seminar with his final thoughts on the state of the nation and how continuing to tell the stories of 9/11 will affect society in the long run.
“We definitely live in a safer environment and a more vigilant environment because of 9/11,” Gunn said. “I will say that for every mouse trap, there's always going to be a mouse that's going to figure out a way to get around the trap.
“I don't live by the concept that history repeats itself, but I think we have to understand history in order to prepare for something that might happen in the future.”
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