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The September 11th Attacks from the Pentagon's Perspective Part 1

September 8, 2026 · 50 min

Show notes

On September 11, 2001, the United States suffered one of the worst terrorist attacks in history. Terrorists hijacked four commercial airlines and targeted the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and were going to attack, it is suspected, other government buildings in Washington DC, potentially the White House or the US Capitol.


In Part 1, we follow the stories of the key decision makers, such as members of the United States Armed Forces, NORAD, the Federal Aviation Administration, Congress, and President George W Bush, as they grappled with the horrific and confusing events of 9/11. Eyewitness testimony and first accounts are used to show the many events of the first part of 9/11 with the realization that multiple aircraft had been hijacked, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and how the various people and organizations tried to prevent further attacks that day.


Thanks to:


Rick Findley is a retired general of the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was Director of Combat Operations for NORAD, based at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex near Colorado Springs, during the September 11, 2001 attacks. He was the Deputy Commander of NORAD from 2003 to 2007.

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