Baldacci tours Pentagon attack site; commander from Maine among missing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. John Baldacci donated blood along with other members of Congress and their staff members in a House office building Thursday and met with rescue workers who were clearing wreckage at the site of the Pentagon attack.

Baldacci said the Pentagon visit was “very unsettling and very, very sobering. Just to see it that way and to talk to rescue workers … I keep looking for the silver lining, but it is very hard to find one.”

Two days after the Pentagon came under attack, cranes and workers continued to remove debris and sift through rubble as Baldacci and about 45 other members of Congress surveyed the site. The scene of the collapsed building provided a harsh reality of the destruction caused by the attack.

The Pentagon has said 190 people are missing and presumed dead in the terrorist attack on the national military headquarters. Among the missing is Cmdr. Robert Allan Schlegel, 38, of Gray, Maine.

“To hear that the plane is 130 feet farther in than you are looking at, the magnitude really sinks in and you realize that [the damage] looks a lot smaller on TV,” said Baldacci.

As he examined the remains of the building in which he often visited former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, he stopped to meet and thank rescue workers.

A worker told Baldacci that the hijacked plane came in so low toward the Pentagon that he had to dive to the ground to avoid getting hit.

A second worker, Renee Mendez, was standing outside the Pentagon, near where the plane crashed into the building, just five minutes before it was hit.

Another rescue worker shared her story of personal loss with Baldacci – her husband was killed in the Pentagon.

“[These are] ordinary, hard-working Americans doing their thing, who in a situation like this are doing extraordinary things,” Baldacci said of rescue workers.

He said there was an overwhelming sense of unity and teamwork at the site, despite the grim work of attempting to remove the bodies of those killed in the attack.

“The workers are very well-organized and are working through it,” Baldacci said. “They appreciated the fact that

we lent our support.”

At the Capitol, flags flew at half-staff and Baldacci joined other members of Congress and donated blood at the Cannon House Office Building. “Everybody does what they can do,” he said. “There are people in Maine waiting three to fours hours to donate blood, too.”