Michigan State Senator John Damoose has recalled escaping the Pentagon after it was struck during the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, telling Fox 2 Detroit that the experience remains central to how he views the passage of 25 years.
Damoose was inside the US military headquarters with his father when hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building. He later described the attack, the chaotic days that followed and the lessons he believes should be remembered on the 25th anniversary.
The pair had travelled to the Pentagon for a meeting about a project concerning Arlington National Cemetery. As they left the Metro station, Damoose heard people discussing the attacks in New York and telephoned his wife, who urged him to leave.
He recalled reassuring her: “Don’t worry, this is the safest building in the world.” Moments later, the aircraft hit the Pentagon.
Damoose said he and his father were in the E-ring corridor when they heard a deep rumble and screams. A fireball fuelled by burning jet fuel swept through a passage they had walked along shortly beforehand.
As confusion spread, a military officer asked whether they should move further into the building or try to get out. The two men found a door leading outside and escaped, watching black smoke rise from the damaged headquarters.
John Damoose and the Pentagon memorial
Years later, Damoose and his father were asked to produce the official documentary for the opening of the Pentagon’s 9/11 Memorial. The project involved interviewing relatives of those killed in the attack.
The Pentagon Memorial records the deaths of 184 people: 64 passengers and crew aboard Flight 77 and 125 people inside the building. It features an individual memorial bench for each victim at the site of the impact.
Damoose said accepting the documentary commission felt like a duty because he had survived the attack. Among those he interviewed were family members who had been forced to absorb the loss of loved ones while the scale of the tragedy was still becoming clear.
Reflecting on the aftermath, he said the attacks briefly brought Americans together despite the political divisions that had followed the disputed 2000 presidential election.
“For that brief period of time, we were all Americans together again,” Damoose said.
