September 11, 2001

“Frank – sweetie I am okay. I’m w/ (with) my office over by the Lyndon B. Johnson memorial sign. I’ll stay there till you come. Love lots & lots, Chip.” [1]

September 11^th is a day that no one will ever forget. A day of tragedy and a day of important stories of heroism. Many of which are known, such as Todd Beamer on Flight 93, who famously said “Let’s roll” before the passengers of Flight 93 bravely tried to take back the plane. Rick Rescorla is another story, a former British Army paratrooper and American soldier during the Vietnam War, whose selfless actions saved thousands in the South Tower of the World Trade Center at the cost of his own. Even with these amazing stories, there are many that are not told. Ones that need to be. Some which involved the people and places of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

That morning, the Pentagon began to fill up with the staffers and military personnel necessary to run the operations of the United States military. Many of those individuals were mothers and fathers, who dropped off their children to the Pentagon Daycare Center and began to go about their day. Many of those individuals began to monitor the developing situations from New York City, never imagining that they too would be a part of the story. Then, at 9:36 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 out of Dulles International Airport hit the building. The impact could be felt immediately throughout the whole complex. Pentagon officials ordered an evacuation of the building, which included the daycare center. Colonel Dave Komar (United States Army), who was working in the Pentagon at the time of the impact began extricating himself and his staff from the building and headed to their pre-designated rally point. Once they got to the site, Komar noticed that the rally point was right next to the center and that they were trying to evacuate the children. Colonel Komar and his staff began to assist with pushing the cribs and comforting the children. [2] Colonel Komar and staff pushed the children’s cribs and helped to calm the older children while making their way to a safer location away from the building.

Moving through the Pentagon North parking, they encountered a footbridge that led over a body of water towards open green space. This was the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove at Lady Bird Johnson Park, one of the units on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. At this same time, Daria Gaillard, an Air Force member working in the Pentagon wrote a handwritten note to her husband, Frank, also an Air Force member at the Pentagon telling her she was safe and left it on their car windshield. They had mutually agreed that if something were to happen, they were to meet where the car was parked at. She and her coworkers had made their way across the same parking lot as the children and were standing next to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove sign when she attached the note. Shortly, Frank Gaillard reunited with his wife. The Gaillards turned their attention from themselves to helping others, noticing that the children and the daycare officials were making their way across the parking lot and needed assistance. The Gaillards began assisting them and moved the children to safety across the footbridge and into the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove. Smithsonian Intern Matt Wong describes the incident in his blog post: “The child daycare center of the Pentagon was evacuating in the same area, and the Gaillards helped move the children to safety. Their focus on the safety of the children was one of many unselfish acts in the aftermath of the attacks that morning.” [3]

Upon their arrival into the Memorial Grove, somebody notified the United States Park Police of the children’s presence there. The USPP immediately began searching for available officers to respond to the situation, being that most of their force were being used to close down major monuments, memorials, and thoroughfares throughout the region as well as responding to the incident going on at the Pentagon. At this moment, the Chief Ranger for the National Capital Region, Einar Olsen, stepped into the void. Ranger Olsen was given overall authority over all National Park Service Federal Law Enforcement Rangers in the region and ordered teams to respond for dispatch to the George Washington Memorial Parkway Headquarters at Turkey Run. [4] Upon the arrival of the first Law Enforcement Rangers, Ranger Olsen asked the National Capital Region Communications Center to contact the United States Park Police and ask for an assignment. The United States Park Police asked the Rangers to respond to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove to assist with the evacuation of 50 or so adults and children who had been evacuated from the Pentagon Daycare Center. The Rangers immediately responded, making their way through checkpoints and down the George Washington Memorial Parkway, where they reached the area around noon. Realizing the situation was under control, Ranger Olsen left Ranger Dwight Dixon in charge and went back to facilitate more responses. Ranger Dixon immediately set up a perimeter around the children to protect them and closed one lane of the southbound George Washington Memorial Parkway. Realizing that they were not equipped to transport them, the Rangers stopped an empty tour bus and asked the driver to assist them in evacuating the children. The driver agreed and they began loading the children onto the bus. Once they were loaded, the Rangers escorted them to a Virginia Department of Transportation Facility just south of the Pentagon and setup a security zone, waiting for the parents or family members to come and pick up the children. At 5:30 P.M., with the children having been picked up, the Rangers were sent home.

This story is a lesser known one but is an example of people helping each other and responding when in time of need. Daycare Officials, Colonel Komar and his staff, the Gaillards, and the National Park Service Rangers who responded to the area, along with many others ensured that these children were cared for and safe in their time of need.

Notes

[1] Handwritten Letter Written by Daria Gaillard to Her Husband Frank after the attack on the Pentagon, September 11^th, 2001.

[2] Colonel Dave Komar, Interview Conducted by Stars and Stripes.

[3] Matt Wong, Why did the Smithsonian collect a handwritten note from September 11, 2001?

[4] McDonnell, Janet A. “National Park Service: Responding to the September 11th Terrorist Attacks,” Pg. 28.