Roxanne Austin and her husband Brian woke up on the morning of September 11th, 2001. She rallied her kids and ended up leaving the house a little late to get her children to school. While in the car on the way to school, she realized she had forgotten her phone at home. Knowing she didn’t have time to turn back, Austin dropped her two oldest children off at school and carried on towards The Pentagon, her place of work. After dropping her youngest child off at the daycare service that The Pentagon provided in a neighboring building, Austin proceeded to her office situated in the maze of rings and corridors that made up the building. Later that morning, her coworker Sandy came into her office, and asked her if she wanted to go check out a new part of the building with her. Austin kindly declined, saying that she had emails and other work to catch up on. Sandy decided to go visit other coworkers and say hi to them.

It was only shortly later that American Airlines’ Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Austin recalls her friend, a lieutenant colonel, coming to ask her if she had received the news form explaining what had happened. The people on Austin’s corridor hadn’t found out about the crash as fast as the rest of the building did, as their boss didn’t have a television installed. As people  were gradually notified as to what had happened, they all ran to televisions and dialed cell phones, rushing to find out more information. Sandy left after telling her that she’ll keep her updated. 

Not long after, Sandy returned to notify her that the South Tower had been hit by another plane and the building was crumbling. As worry continued to grow and spread throughout the building, Austin was filled with an eerie feeling. She feared that The Pentagon would be the next target. Feeling disconcerted, she was reminded of the recent Oklahoma City bombings and, fearing the safety of her daughter, decided it would be better to leave. At that moment she felt a heavy jolt travel through the building- American Airlines’ Flight 77 had crashed into the west wall of The Pentagon.

People quickly began to panic. Her first instinct, honed from her military days, was to get to the children and help them evacuate. She and Sandy ran out of the building and ran to the North parking lot, where the children were being evacuated to. As Austin watched people she knew being evacuated out of the building and others rushing about to help the others, she spotted the crash site from the outside of the building. A massive fiery hole took the place where the back of her corridor should be. Sandy decided to go back into the building to help those still inside. That was the last time she saw her friend Sandy, who died honorably helping others escape the destruction. 

Austin did not have her phone, having left it at her house that morning. She wanted to call her husband, who was meant to be working inside The Pentagon at the time, so she borrowed a phone from another person. Unfortunately, among the chaos, she wasn’t able to remember his number. She returned the phone and decided to wait in the area to make sure he was okay. Even if she had remembered his number, it would have been for nought, as all of the phones had jammed due to the countless people trying to call loved ones or find out more information. 

Initially, most people were not allowed to leave due to the roads getting closed down around the building. But as time passed and people began to go their own separate ways, her boss approached her. She had continued to wait in hopes of seeing her husband, but her boss recommended she leave. So she decided to stand there and pray about what just happened. Austin prayed for those she cared about, about her coworkers, her children, and her husband. She then felt a wave of calm come over her and she felt sure that her husband was out of the building and safe. She sought out her daughter, picked up another coworker, and left the scene. 

Austin went straight to the nearby school to pick up her older children, but even that short trip took hours amongst the closed roads and heavy traffic. She arrived at the school to find her oldest child crying. The school had not intended to let the kids know what had happened, knowing many of their parents worked at The Pentagon, but frantic parents brought the news of the attacks to the school, scaring the other children. Austin received relief hugs from her kids and took them into the car to navigate the havoc. They eventually made it home at 3:30 p.m..

Brian Austin worked for a small contracting company. His services were currently being hired to renovate parts of The Pentagon as well as revising the security systems. On the morning of September 11th, 2001, he was meant to report to The Pentagon’s main building to continue on his progress, but some turn of events caused him to be working at one of the neighboring facilities instead. He arrived at the building and descended into the basement to go about his work, although it was not long after that he left for the store to run an errand. Upon Austin’s return, he found the man he was working with glued to the TV system. He informed Austin that a plane just went into one of the buildings in New York. They elected to watch the news for a little longer, and witnessed the second plane hit the other tower from the broadcast. A few minutes later they heard a big jarring thump. Then the PA system notified them that they are to evacuate the building. The Pentagon just got hit by a plane. 

They weren’t allowed to drive their vehicles, so they were directed to Arlington Cemetery across the street. They were released from the cemetery about an hour later, but were still unable to leave as the road exited past The Pentagon. Austin recalls the dread of realizing he couldn’t contact anyone, as all the phone lines were being overworked. After hours of waiting around, they were cleared to leave at about noon. He and his coworkers learned that one man was outside on the side of the building that was facing The Pentagon, and he perished instantly. Fortunately the other man who was outside at the time was able to turn around the corner before the blast hit and he survived. 

From there it took Austin hours to get home. By the time he made it back to his house at 9:00 p.m., he was still in shock and wasn’t interested in doing anything other than clearing his head. However he was relieved that his wife was okay, as he hadn’t been able to hear from her all day. 

Roxanne and Brian Austin both agree that the hardest part was going back to The Pentagon. The entire building wasn’t destroyed, so they were still obliged to go to work soon after. Things just didn’t feel right; everyone’s minds were elsewhere, thinking of the recent events. It was very difficult for everyone to return to see the gaping hole that symbolized to them all that they had lost. Roxanne recalls the American flag unfurling over the portion of the building that got hit the day after the attack. The imagery reminds her of the bonds she shared with all her fellow military men and women and civilians alike that she used to work with before they lost their lives. She still checks up on those who survived the tragedy alongside her, making sure that they’re doing well with each passing anniversary. Brian is humbled by the thought that he could’ve been one of those people who perished in the building that day. They know that they will never forget them- all who were lost that day. The Austin’s know that every single life lost that day- the life of every firefighter, police officer, military man and woman, business person, and every passenger on each plane, down to the baby aboard Flight 175- every single one of them died a hero.

~ Special thanks to Roxanne and Brian Austin for their stories ~