By Maj. Gen John B. Hashem, USA (Ret.), ROA Executive Director
Where were you on September 11, 2001? Many Americans vividly remember that day. I was safe at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, attending the Army’s Command and General Staff College. That morning, we were preparing to begin a class on the law of land warfare. Deb, my wife, was working as a Department of the Army civilian in the Army’s Office of Installation Management at the Pentagon.
Her office was transitioning into newly renovated space in the part of the Pentagon struck by American Airlines Flight 77. That morning, Deb and a colleague started toward the new offices. As they were leaving, a telephone rang. Deb turned back to answer it while her colleague continued ahead.
The call came from Pentagon force-protection personnel, recommending they turn on the television because an aircraft had struck the World Trade Center. Deb watched as the second aircraft hit the South Tower. Soon afterward, another call directed personnel to remain where they were. Deb stayed in the old offices while her colleague had already reached the new location.
Then came the impact. Deb heard explosions as the office doors slammed shut. When they were opened, they encountered smoke, chemical fumes, and water from ruptured pipes. She eventually evacuated with a ruptured eardrum resulting in hearing loss and worsened respiratory issues. Outside, she saw people suffering from burns and other serious injuries.
Deb remained at the Pentagon throughout the day, helping account for Installation Management personnel. That work required her to walk around the Pentagon’s exterior toward the new offices, where she saw that much of the space had been destroyed. Many of her colleagues had been injured and evacuated. She also learned that the colleague who had continued ahead without her had been killed.
The consequences of that day did not end when the fires were extinguished. Deb was also an Individual Mobilization Augmentee, a Reserve Component member assigned to support an active-duty organization. She was immediately mobilized and returned to a Pentagon environment contaminated by pulverized concrete, smoke, mold, and many hazardous materials.
Hundreds of servicemembers served at the Pentagon because the nation needed them there. They worked amid dangerous conditions without knowing what those exposures might mean years later. Today, those Pentagon veterans remain outside the presumptive framework Congress established for many other veterans exposed to toxic substances.
That is why ROA is fighting for the Susan E. Lukas 9/11 Servicemember Fairness Act, named for retired Air Force Lt. Col. Susan E. Lukas, an ROA life member who survived the attack and returned to duty the next day. The bill would establish a presumption of service connection for specified illnesses affecting veterans who served at the Pentagon between September 11 and November 19, 2001.
Twenty-five years later, they should not have to prove exactly what they breathed or where a resulting illness began. The House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee unanimously advanced the bill in March. ROA will continue pressing Congress to finish the job.