9/11 'will stay with me as long as I live'

Published Sept. 11, 2006
By Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
421st Combat Training Squadron Public Affairs

FORT DIX, N.J. (AFPN) -- Five years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Master Sgt. Dean Steele looks at the day as though it were yesterday.

Sergeant Steele, a contingency skills training instructor and manager for the 421st Combat Training Squadron here, worked in the Pentagon that day. On every anniversary of the attacks, he said it's like "reliving a day America will never forget."

"At the time the attacks started, I was working in the Air Force Television Service Center editing a video program in the center's control room," Sergeant Steele said. "The control room has the capability to monitor all of the network feeds for major television news stations such as CNN, FOX, NBC, ABC and CBS.

"One of the engineers came into the edit suite and told me what had just happened in New York," Sergeant Steele said. "He told me that an airplane just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers and that it was on the news. We went to the control room and we watched the monitors standing there in disbelief that something like that could happen."

Sergeant Steele said that as he and others watched the news they saw the second plane fly into the the other tower.

"That is when we all knew that it was no mistake," Sergeant Steele said. "We watched the news for about 15 minutes then and we went back to work."

Like many others working in the Pentagon that day, Sergeant Steele said no one imagined their building was the next terrorist target.

"The engineer was keeping us informed on what the news was reporting," Sergeant Steele said. "He told us there was another plane that was missing and they did not know were it was heading."

Sergeant Steele said it was about 10 minutes later when he heard the rumble, then explosion, and, "felt the building shake" from the plane crashing into the Pentagon.
"Everyone in the studio stopped what they were doing," Sergeant Steele said. "We all knew what had just happened, but we didn't know where the plane hit -- we just knew that it had hit the building."

Sergeant Steele said the immediate response was to evacuate the building.

"As we opened the door to leave, plumes of black smoke filled the corridor," Sergeant Steele said. "We headed toward the south parking exit. There were people praying, crying, and some people were just standing not knowing what to do."

The master sergeant said as he and others were moving out of the building, he noticed a person who needed help.

"I noticed people in front of me stepping over a woman as she was curled on the floor in the corridor," Sergeant Steele said. "As I approached her, she was calling for someone to please help her so she could make it out of the building. People just moved past her, as if she was not there. When I reached her, I helped her to her feet and walked with her out of the building."

Once out of the building, Sergeant Steele said he immediately tried to let his family know he was alive and well, but phone service availability was limited.

"All phone line and cell contact was impossible do the high volume of calls," Sergeant Steele said. "I was unable to contact my family so a co-worker and I decided to walk toward the side of the Pentagon the plane crashed into and see if we could help there. As we approached, the Department of Defense police stopped us from going any closer and told us to leave the area."

It was then Sergeant Steele and his co-workers decided to try to make their way home to their families where they could let their families know they were OK.

"On a normal day it takes 30 to 40 minutes to get from the Pentagon to my house," Sergeant Steele said. "It took seven hours to make it home that day with all of the people trying to leave the capital area. When I finally reached my house, my wife and children were relieved that I was alive and well."

As a combat camera Airman, Sergeant Steele said he's deployed to hostile areas throughout his career, however what he experienced that day was not something he was prepared to experience.

"I have deployed many times and I've always been prepared for the possibility of being attacked, whether it could be a bomb or a shooting. When you deploy, you know that there is a possibility of something happening. But when you're home in the United States, you don't go to work thinking that there could be an attack."

These days, as an instructor with the 421st helping train fellow Airmen for the war on terrorism, Sergeant Steele said he uses that experience as fuel to better train troops to "expect the unexpected" and to be proud of who they are and what they do.

"It is important all of us remember that day," Sergeant Steele said. "Not only has it affected us in many ways such as the economy, world image and the way we travel, but also in who we are. That day changed my life and I will never forget those who left us that day. That will stay with me as long as I live."

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