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By MIKE LEHMAN
Retired historian
I was still a student at Big U at the time, although I was in my forties. And a bit of a radio fan. I listened to the AM 580 news on headphones before Western Civ class at the Foellinger auditorium and often chatted with the professor who arrived a little early for the 9 o’clock start.
That day, the teacher did not arrive early and I continued to listen with my headphones after the start of class. Stopping a little before the layoff bell, he asked me to brief everyone on what was going on, an on-site public speaking in front of about 900 people.
I didn’t need any amplification for everyone to hear, as they were all exceptionally quiet as mice as I briefed people on what was going on at the time before smartphones spread the news. to everybody.
On the way home, I turned on shortwave and tuned into where I knew I could find action, 11,175 kHz, the main calling frequency for military planes over long distances. Even they, for the most part, weren’t flying because of the post-attack shutdown. It soon became apparent that a plane, a KC-135 tanker, was flying east.
On board was the director of FEMA, who had attended a conference in Wyoming (IIRC) and obviously had to be back in DC Despite the billions spent on life-saving communications systems during the Cold War, the guy was struggling to log into his DC office.
He finally managed to pass over a line that was struggling to be heard. In the process, the phone patch was shared by the pilot of the KC-135, who nervously tried to work out with air traffic control how far it would be cleared to land at DC while seeking reassurance that they would not. not. Don’t be shot trying to do it.
My girlfriend at the time and now my wife were trying to reach her parents. Her mother was teaching, so she had already left home by the time this was all happening.
She finally managed to ring the phone, but it turned off when we answered. She was pretty sure that meant her father was still home and hadn’t gone to work as he still often did despite his retirement the previous month.
A naval captain, he had commissioned a Pentagon office that monitored media for the military. Fortunately he didn’t drive that day.
The office had just been moved into a recently renovated office suite. All who were on duty that day perished. It took several days before she could confirm he was okay.
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