In offices and at crash scene,
Pentagon workers were busy on Sunday
By Lisa Burgess,
Washington bureau
WASHINGTON — The mood at the Pentagon was relaxed but purposeful Sunday, with
search-and-recovery personnel still looking for victims of the Sept. 11 attack, working
side by side with FBI agents who are combing through the debris for clues concerning the
terrorists.
Late Saturday night, the recovery team located additional remains, bringing the total
number of remains removed from the crash site to 118, according to Army Lt. Col. George
Rhynedance, a Pentagon spokesman.
"We are still in the middle of search and recovery, with people making their way
back to the most damaged area," Rhynedance said Sunday morning.
"Heavy-construction teams are also sifting through the rubble and shoring up
construction.
"Everyone is working really hard," he said.
As a result of the attack, 125 Pentagon workers were killed or remain unaccounted for.
Another Pentagon employee died last week of injuries she sustained when her office
collapsed, and 64 passengers on the hijacked American Airlines plane also were killed in
the crash.
Military personnel are taking the remains to Dover Air Force Base, Del., where forensic
specialists have positively identified 60 individuals so far, Rhynedance said.
On Friday, the Arlington County (Va.) Police Department turned over the crash site to
the FBI, which then designated it an official crime scene, Rhynedance said.
Meanwhile, in a sight not seen since the Persian Gulf War, the Pentagon parking lots
were almost full Sunday, as both military and civilian personnel were called in to work on
war plans.
Unlike a normal business day, however, the building’s halls were almost deserted.
Office doors in the Joint Staff corridor and other key spots that usually are open to
the public were closed and locked, accessible only to individuals with the proper codes.
But the required security sign-in sheets by the doors indicated that the offices were
fully staffed; clearly, the nation’s top military officials and their staffs were
hard at work.
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