CIA’s Lasting Tribute to 9/11

Every year since 2001, CIA officers around the globe observe a moment of silence on September 11th at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane struck the World Trade Center in New York. We hold this ceremony to honor the innocent lives lost that day and also those lost during the relentless effort to dismantle worldwide terrorist networks. They include our fallen colleagues, friends, and family. The memory of 9/11 brings Americans together, just as it reminds CIA of our solemn mission to safeguard the Nation from foreign threats.

The CIA Museum has an exhibit featuring artifacts and motifs related to the 9/11 attacks and the Agency's response. Here, we share some highlights and personal stories from officers on how 9/11 impacted their lives and careers.

Twin Towers Ceiling Design

This unique perspective rendering of the Twin Towers captures the experience of being on the ground and looking up at the World Trade Center buildings before 9/11.

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"I was in the third-grade at the time, living in New Jersey. My mother would commute across George Washington Bridge every day to her office in the World Trade Center. On September 11, 2001, she was running late to work after dropping me off at school because I had forgotten my class agenda. While stuck in traffic, she saw the towers on fire from a distance. It was a miracle I didn't lose my mom that day, but my family lost two relatives. Since then, I knew I wanted to serve in the fight against evil. After many years, I'm now working counterterrorism at CIA."

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"I had just started law school in downtown Manhattan a month before 9/11. Class was about to start when the first plane hit. We didn't know what had happened, but we felt the building shake. Looking out the window, people were staring down the street. New Yorkers don't just stop and stare at anything, so we knew it was something big. Remember those scenes on the news where everyone was running down the street as the buildings collapsed? That was what I witnessed.

No one talks about the smell of death and smoldering buildings and ash and fuel that permeated the air for the next year. Or watching squashed fire trucks carried out on flatbed trucks. Or the haunting posters of faces of the missing people who would never come home. But those are the things that will always stay with me. That day brought me to the CIA.

Every year on the anniversary, I call my friends who were with me blocks away from the Twin Towers at 8:46. We'll cry and re-live the day. Then we'll tuck it away until next year. Like millions of other people, that day forever changed us, but we refuse to let it define us."

9/11 Flag

This American flag was found amid the rubble of the World Trade Center in New York ten days after the attacks. Wet, dirty, touched by fire, and smelling of smoke, it was pulled from the wreckage at Ground Zero. Since then, the flag has been given a place honor on display in the halls of CIA Headquarters, serving as a powerful reminder to us all that the values for which our country stands-freedom, justice, and tolerance-will endure and prevail over evil.

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"On 9/11, I was living in Irvine, CA. I happened to be at the gym when the news switched to a breaking story about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. Later that night, as my wife and I sat in stunned silence watching the devastation on TV, we heard cars honking outside. Going out to investigate, we saw a bunch of what appeared to be high school students rallying on the square near our residence, holding signs, waving American Flags, and shouting 'USA! USA!' The events of that day made me realize that I needed to get back into the fight. I rejoined the U.S. Air Force Reserves and ended up becoming an Agency officer."

Piece of Concrete from the Pentagon

This piece of concrete was recovered from the exterior of the Pentagon following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

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"On 9/11, my father was in the Pentagon while I was away at college. I didn't learn he survived until 10 p.m. that night. The entire neighborhood was anxiously awaiting my father's return. He'd been evacuated by helicopter after rescuing two severely burned men and warning his co-workers who were locked in a soundproof SCIF. That day sparked my desire to serve, and I set my sights on working at the CIA."

Service Ribbons and Purple Heart of U.S. Naval Officer at Pentagon

When terrorists crashed Flight 77 into the Pentagon, the service ribbons of this Navy officer were undamaged, but he was severely burned. He received this Purple Heart and later served as a CIA intelligence officer.

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"I remember standing there [on 9/11 in my office in the Pentagon] just unable to stop watching New York City [as the attacks were unfolding]… So many of us just had our eyes glued to the TVs. And there I was in the Navy command center. No one, certainly not I, considered our location to be at risk. Never once did we get an indication that there were more hijacked aircraft… And then, in a flash at 9:37, my world changed. Our world changed… American Flight 77 that had been hijacked over Middle America, turned, barreled back to the Pentagon…

I was standing there beside my cubicle at the moment of impact… I could feel it knocked me to the ground… I sensed immediately that I was on fire. So I tried to roll and extinguish the flames and stand to get my wits about me. Everything around me had been blown to bits. The ceiling had collapsed. The space was on fire. There was thick, acrid black smoke that was making it really, really hard to breathe. And, in that moment, I had a flash. I thought of my wife. I thought of the love that we shared. I was sickened in that moment thinking I'd never see her again… I knew that if I didn't get out of there, I was either gonna succumb to the smoke or the flames. So I kind of went into a drill sergeant mode with myself, and I internally was yelling, 'Kevin, keep moving! Keep moving! You've got to find a way to get out.'

I was 29 years old on 9/11. I knew that… I was gonna heal, and then I was gonna start a new chapter… I still had that deep desire to make a difference. Though I may have been able to get back to the Navy and do work there, my heart was in the intelligence world. That's where I felt led and felt where I could make an impact."

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"I was a third-generation volunteer firefighter midway through high school on 9/11. The attacks heavily influenced my pursuit of a degree in fire protection engineering to keep buildings and people safe in emergency situations. When I saw an opportunity to serve as a fire protection engineer at CIA, I jumped on it. What better way to honor the lost than to protect those preventing the next attack.­"

Gym Bag Recovered from Flight 93

At age 20, Deora Bodley was the youngest person aboard Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. Her mother received the gym bag, with luggage tag attached, from the wreckage site in Pennsylvania and later donated it to the CIA Museum.

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"One of my CIA colleagues, through fortuitous circumstances, had met Debby Borza, the mother of the youngest victim on Flight 93. Debby offered to give the current class a personal tour of the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, PA, where she shared remembrances of her daughter, Deora. I was a course director for the Career Analyst Program (CAP) for new analysts and, in gratitude, we invited Debby to CAP class graduations and gave her a tour of the CIA Museum's 9/11 exhibit. She donated Deora's flight carry-on bag, which remains on display as a reminder of why we serve.

Many of those CAP graduates have said that the trip to the Flight 93 memorial site was the most meaningful experience of their first year at CIA because it drove home the importance of the career they were starting, as well as the amazing things officers did, and continue to do, in the aftermath."

9/11 Commendation Bar

A service pin was awarded to CIA's Security Protective Service officers (SPOs), now known as the CIA Police, serving during the heightened alert between 11 September 2001 and 24 March 2002 in recognition of their extraordinary commitment and meritorious service.

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"My CIA hiring process began in 2001. September 11th was my first day reporting to the Agency for work. As I came through the Visitor's Center to check in, the SPOs were all talking about how a plane had hit the World Trade Center. It was curious, but I didn't give it much thought and headed into the compound. Once inside, I called my point of contact. He answered the phone and said, "You shouldn't be here. Go get back in your car and go home." When I hesitated, he relayed the breaking news and how a plane was missing-probably hijacked-and nobody knew where it was going. It might be headed towards the White House or to CIA. Completely stunned, I hung up the phone and, at the same moment, saw the SPOs being handed Kevlar vests and really big guns. Then the evacuation order was given."

Model of Abbottabad Compound

In support of the raid that resulted in the death of Usama Bin Ladin, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) modelers built the Abbottabad Compound 1 Model. NGA modelers also made this exact copy of that original model and presented it to CIA in 2013.

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"I was working in the private sector in southern New Jersey at the time. A week before 9/11, I was at the Empire State Building with my five-year-old son. We marveled at the New York skyline. Then the attacks happened. Since my kids were young, I simply told them that I was going to find the people who knocked the Twin Towers down. I went on to join the Agency in 2005. The night Bin Ladin was killed, I went to Headquarters about midnight, stood alone on the seal, and said: 'We got him.'"

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"In early May 2011, I happened to be at Headquarters on a certain Sunday evening, catching up on some work before Monday morning. There were a few of us at work in my office, and we got word that the President would deliver televised remarks that night. When the country heard that Bin Ladin was no longer a threat, we made some joyful noise! Soon I went down to the lobby and had a quiet moment, reflecting on the stars on the Memorial Wall. Then, I got in my car, drove to the White House, and cheered with the crowds in the streets for hours. It was a moment not to be missed, and I am so glad I went to witness it for myself and be a part of it."

Boots

A U.S. forces officer wore these boots while participating in the assault against Usama Bin Ladin. They were brand new before the officer wore them during numerous rope training exercises in the lead up to the raid that left friction wear on the insoles. The boots also still have dirt on them from the training missions and the actual operation.

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"Before 9/11, I didn't know what I wanted to do or be when I grew up. After 9/11, there was no doubt that I wanted to find a way to serve my country and keep the U.S. safe so that no more kids would have to sit in school waiting to find out if their parents or grandparents or other family members had survived a major attack like that. That commitment led me to being a CIA operations officer."

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"9/11 happened the second week of my freshman year at George Washington University, and my generation was the first whose adult lives were fundamentally altered and futures shaped by what became the Global War on Terror. I have always felt the call to serve, and after 9/11 happened, my path became clear. I would stand up, volunteer, and serve my country as my grandparents did in WWII, and CIA gave me the ability to do my part."

Zawahiri Safehouse

CIA officers worked with the NGA to construct this model on al-Qa'ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri's location to brief the President ahead of the proposed U.S. Government precision counterterrorism operation in 2022.

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"9/11 is my very first memory given that I was only three-years-old at the time. My entire childhood, I grew up wanting to help fight against terrorism. After college, I found myself serving in a counterterrorism program at CIA that was pivotal in the nation's response. I, myself, played a small role in bringing Zawahiri to justice. One of the coolest moments was going to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in NYC with members of the Zawahiri hunt team. My life had come full-circle."