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'We left wounded behind'

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

By Karen MacPherson, Post-Gazette National Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Army Lt. Col. Ted Anderson has seen lots of combat. So when terrorists commandeered American Airlines Flight 77 and rammed it into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, Anderson's combat "instincts" kicked in.

Anderson, a congressional liaison, began barking orders and directing people out of the building. He then headed back to the crash site.

"I'm a soldier, and I knew that there were people there, people who were wounded on the battlefield," he said. "We don't leave our wounded on the battlefield."

With another soldier, Anderson carried to safety two women who had been thrown out of a second-story window. The women eventually recovered and are back to work at the Pentagon.

Anderson and an army sergeant then went back inside the building to try to open an emergency exit. They discovered that the door was blocked by a woman who was badly wounded. They finally moved her to safety, but she died eight days later.

Anderson and his teammates helped others until firefighters told them it was over -- going back in would be suicide.

"They had to physically restrain us. But, looking back, the firemen probably saved our lives," Anderson said.

Eventually, he was outfitted with oxygen and helped firefighters locate the National Military Command Center, the Pentagon's "nerve center." Its staffers had kept working in a special climate-controlled room, and firefighters had to beat back flames to keep them safe.

Anderson finally headed home around 7 p.m. He didn't sleep much that night, and finally called a buddy and said, "Let's go to work." The two donned uniforms and headed for the Pentagon, where the fire was still burning out of control.

"I have never considered myself a hero and I have been embarrassed by all of the attention," Anderson said. "The only thing that I take pride in is the fact that that morning, Sept. 12, 10,000 colleagues of mine reported for work in a burning building."

Anderson now takes solace from the rebuilding of the Pentagon, but also feels a sense of unfinished business because "we were not able to do what we wanted to do. We left wounded behind."

First day back

It was U.S. Army Specialist April Gallop's first day back at work from maternity leave. With her two-month-old son, Elijah, in tow, Gallop reported in to her Pentagon office to fill out some papers for Elijah's placement at the nearby day-care center.

Suddenly, the building rocked, Elijah flew out of his mother's arms, and Gallop and her co-workers were enveloped in smoke-filled darkness. Injured herself, Gallop searched frantically for her infant son. He was eventually found under a pile of debris, miraculously unharmed, and the two escaped from the burning building.

Since Sept. 11, Gallop's world has been turned upside down. Still suffering from head, neck, back and eye injuries, she has been medically discharged from the Army.

She now spends her days going to medical appointments and watching her toddler son learn to navigate the world. Gallop had entered the Army because she was sure that God was calling her to be a military chaplain. With that avenue now closed, she is uncertain about what comes next.

"This year was a bumpy year," she said in an interview. "I'm hoping and praying that next year is a better year. I'm on a new path, but I'm still trying to discover what it is."

A native of Elizabeth City, N.C., Gallop, 31, has always been a religious person. Her Christian faith has been the guiding force of her life. After Sept. 11, however, she found her faith severely challenged.

"I've always been a believer in the Word. But this experience has taught me the condition for believing in the Word. I watched people burn, and I thought, 'Where is God?' "

I've come to learn that he was there all the time, that he's there in good and bad times. But it took me a long time. I now understand God at another level."

Elijah appears to be thriving, even though he is being closely monitored by doctors. The force of the blast affected him like a severe case of shaken-baby syndrome.

"I hug him, I kiss him, I play with him a lot," Gallop said. Elijah does spend some time in child care -- not at the Pentagon -- so she can get to her medical appointments. And that's not always easy.

"I know it's good for him to play with other children," she said. "After what we've been through, it's sometimes hard to part with him, even for a little while."