PEORIA, Ill. – Former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was in his Washington, D.C. office 25 years ago, when the planes hit the Twin Towers in New York City.
He tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan Show” that he watched it on TV, before walking over to the Capitol where he was to preside over the House that day.
“The Capitol Police were yelling for everybody to get out, they thought a plane was going to hit the Capitol. We stood on the front lawn of the Capitol for a couple of hours, trying to figure out what was going on. We saw the black plume of smoke from the plane that hit the Pentagon,” LaHood says.
125 people died in the Pentagon building that day. 59 passengers on American Airlines Flight 77 also perished.
A fourth plane, Flight 93, also headed for Washington, D.C., went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and the crew took control from the terrorists. 33 passengers and seven crew members perished.
LaHood says 9/11 was the saddest day of his life, and of his public service.
The day after the attacks, LaHood says the leaders of Congress gathered everyone on the steps of the Capitol, saying they weren’t going to let the terrorists shut them down, they were going back in session.
“And, very spontaneously, there were 200 of us gathered on the steps, spontaneously, we all started singing God Bless America,” LaHood says.
In all, 2,977 victims died in the September 11th attacks.
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