9-11-26 Scott with Michael Zettler

0:00I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the survivor files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with the Elizabeth Smart on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're a bookshelf and you're a four-year page or equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture. With your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. Yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your

1:00podcasts. Hi, this is Kylie Breikman, Angel Jaretana, Jeremy Cole, Hane Cash McDonald, and we're the hosts of the artists on artists on artists on artists podcast. The improvised character comedy podcast where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He, he winks on Halloween. It's right up next to the microphone. I hear you get the elbows here, the eyelashes hate each other. You never seen it least so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Listen to artists on artists on artists on artists every Thursday on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Self-care September is your reminder to slow down, check in with yourself, get off your phone, and maybe ask why am I like this? I'm Gemis Bay, host of the Psychology of Your 20s podcast. And this month we're helping you make sense of the person that you are becoming from setting boundaries and navigating friendships to understanding anxiety, confidence, relationships,

2:04and attachment. Sometimes our biggest decisions without us even realizing it aren't driven by what we truly want, but by what will prevent us from feeling lonely or being alone. Come to the Psychology of Your 20s on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. So like by a user rather than or so at least 70% have a phone. I'm Dr. Joy and this is TheRP for Black Girls. We spend our surviving middle school run getting into what's happening inside your kids' brain, the group chat, and their friendships, and what you can do about it. Your child is not doing this on purpose. That's the kind of perspective we've been pulling from the psychologists and psychiatrists who study this for living. Listen to TheRP for Black Girls on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. I'm very solemn. The history in this 25th anniversary of 9-11 and if you all do not remember, it doesn't take much to go back to that day.

3:05And some people honestly are triggered by what they see today, still 25 years later. He was in the Pentagon when the plane struck and he was busy doing well administrative stuff as the United States Air Force Lieutenant General, he's since retired. Michael Zettler joins the show this morning from his place in Dayton. He was a featured speaker this morning at 11 and 9-11 at Memorial. Good morning, General. Thank you. It's good to be with you. Yeah, appreciate it. So, take us back to that morning. I know you've probably been asked for some million times, but if you could go back, where exactly were you in the Pentagon when flight 77 hit at 9.37 a.m.? I was in my office at 9.37. I knew that there was a lot of activity going on. We had known that the powers had been hit and I came back from a meeting to my office and sitting with a young officer to give him some instructions and doing it rather quickly so that I could get on with the activities that we needed to address in the Pentagon and

4:09in the Air Force. We were sitting at a table and we heard a loud roar followed by an instant of silence and then a tremendous explosion. And the thing I will always remember is I had a glass of water sitting in front of me, which was normal. And I watched that glass of water in the water shake. And the young officer said that was not good. And so that's 9.37 a.m. on 9.11, 2001. And everything changed after that as they say. But you as an Air Force officer, as a ranking officer, obviously knew it was happening in New York at that time. I'm sure that that Pentagon was a buzz with that. Were you at that time pivoting and talking about contingency plans and other things? Was that the subject of what you were working on at that particular moment? That's not what I was talking to him about. Yes, we had been in, it was a Tuesday. So every Tuesday, the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force had a combined large staff meeting.

5:10And we were in the basement of the Pentagon in that staff meeting when the first airplane hit the tower. And there was some debate about what was going on. And then there was a second airplane that hit and we realized there was a terrorist activity. So the Air Force leadership, which was, I was a part of, directed that we stand up our contingency operation cells. And I gave instruction to my leader on that cell to get it moving. And I went back from the basement to the office, which is where I was when the airplane hit the Pentagon. As deputy chief of staff for installation logistics, what was your role in those first minutes? So you obviously ranking officers in yourself, of course, being a lieutenant general. Your role would change, I would guess, in that moment. So what did you wind up doing? I went back to the contingency cell. And on the way, I saw people going out and exit.

6:13And there was a Pentagon police officer there and he was trying to turn him around. And I guess he didn't have the right uniform authority on. And I asked him why. He said there's another airplane and we don't know where it's going. So he wanted them to go out in more secure, safer exit. So he and I both there are arms up and said, stop. We want you to go out quarter eight, which was directly across the Pentagon. We kind of went out almost underground. And they started doing it. And so I started leading towards that exit. And then we picked up other people who were coming that way. The great thing about that was the exit that they were going out was going right into where all of the first responders from the Pentagon were being stays responding to the crisis on the on the fourth and fifth borders of the Pentagon. Jedi, did you know anyone in that section, and building it was it? I did. It's one of my sad stories. It causes my voice to still crack a little bit.

7:14But the previous Thursday, I played golf with a friend in a community golf event. I had some association with him. His name was kind of general Tim Modd, United States Army, Lieutenant General Deputy Chief of Staff for personnel. And his office was a direct hit. He was in his office just as I was and he was killed and lost in that event. When did you learn that you had lost your friend? Well, we customized that fairly quickly. The next day I was going to a meeting back down in the basement. And I saw several of my colleagues from the Army and I asked them, do we know about Tim? And look under face that we know that we can't say. Yeah, Luzana, and you know, it's one thing in during wartime, I suppose, but this act of terrorism on our soil general entirely different. I don't expect it. He is a Lieutenant General United States Air Force retired Michael Zettler.

8:14You know, and going back to these is you were in the Pentagon when 77 struck. What was the rest of the day like where were you searching rescue? Did you coordinate that? Did you go home? What? I was happy. Noto of all of the hosts I left. It was pretty obvious that there was a tremendous amount of search and rescue coming. Some of my colleagues who didn't have a direct role in the contingency operation did go into the area and try to save people. They brought several people out into the courtyard of the Pentagon. The search in general, the Air Force, was out there doing triage. But my role was to go back to the contingency action center and make sure the staff was getting together. And then there was time to watch what was going on. And then there was discussions about we were going to be deploying forces and what did we have. And I started looking at the resources we had and where they were at and what we might

9:17need. And the war plans to go into Afghanistan was shallow at best. So we started anticipating what we would need for those long-range sorties in terms of fuel and munitions and making sure that we had those at different locations. The Air Force is central, which was in residence at Sawyer for Space deployed, which gave us points of contact to go forward with. I felt my role was on that day was to make sure that my staff was organized and ready to support contingency operations. We stayed in the Pentagon until late afternoon when the smoke and so forth began to infiltrate into the areas where my team was working. And we finally had a decision. We had to get out of here. We can't work. So the Air Force leadership left the Pentagon by helicopter, which was kind of, which was most unusual, very shocking.

10:18And we flew to bowling and set up contingency operations at bowling, which we kept going through the next day. When you were a wheels up in the in the Hilo, I'd imagine now you have a bird's eye view of what happened. Were you prepared for that moment? No. I did look over my shoulder and could see the Pentagon burning. Equally striking to me was we lifted off and flew over all the complex of highways and intersex interstate types, intersections just to the northeast of the Pentagon. And traffic was good luck. And we flew over national airport, which has really struck me. Flying over national airport, nothing was moving. Nothing on the ground, no airplanes, no nothing. And you just were reflecting and saying, oh my. And I turned to the office, they were sitting next to me and I said, we're at war. And his, look me right back in the eye and said, you're right.

11:22General in the days and weeks after what changed about how the Pentagon operated physically procedurally in the line? Certainly. We were on a Secretary of Defense initiative to transform how the military operated. We were preparing through multi-theaters of war. How are we going to do this? We're going to be fighting national lies bringing new innovative ideas. And we suddenly realized we're going to be fighting, I guess, a embedded terror cells. And it's a different kind of a war. And so the transformation initiatives slowed down. There was a large push to reduce the number of men and women in uniform, some of which was needed. that slowed down tremendously because we couldn't put contractors into some of the places that we were going. So there was a total shift of emphasis in the Pentagon to take on this which became a

12:2620 year war. 25 years later. For those in an increasing number, of course, who weren't there, what do you want them to understand about that more? There are two things I want to happen. One, I want them to understand that their Air Force and the other services, while not prepared for that attack, were well prepared for the response to it. I will tell you that my training on how to handle a crisis, but fluid situations kicked in. I had been through in my lifetime. I went, that's why we do those. That's the first thing. The second thing is shifting to the future. This is our generation's Pearl Harbor. We still remember Pearl Harbor. We still have a wonderful ceremony on the Arizona to remember Pearl Harbor and it's the other than just the Arizona. I would like the younger generation to remember 9-11, the 3,000 people that were lost in New

13:31York, the 184 in the Pentagon, the people that sank so. I'd like them to remember 50 years from now, this event and honor those who served, those who reacted and those who were lost. He is Air Force Lieutenant General Michael Zatler retired, was in the Pentagon and literally steps away from where the plane struck 25 years ago today. And early this morning we played our 9-11, the timeline, award winning half hour as a play by play of what happened 25 years ago, my dear friend and former college. We went to college together and worked in radio together, the way we first started in school. Scott Stanley produced that. And to this day, it still makes a hair in the back of your neck stand up and lump it your throat if you live through those days. General this morning, you spoke at the 9-11 Memorial. That service in Lebanon, Ohio as you were invited to be the guest speaker there. What was going through your mind earlier this morning?

14:31First of all, I said, I don't want to do that. And Mayor Agenbred and Robin Kylie said, you can do it. And I went now to a emotional day for me. I haven't got over it. And Robin coached me some. Robin gave me a poem that was written by a young woman named Elena Rela. And I read that poem and said, wow, she was 15 years old. And I read that poem. And Robin coached me some more. And I said, I need to do this. And I need to do it so that we remember. And to encourage younger generations to remember this day and the sacrifices that were made. And some of those sacrifices are still being made. We have people that were exposed to all the hazardous material in New York and the Pentagon

15:32who are still afflicted and they're dying today. Well, in addition, look what's happening as we speak in Iran. God knows what terror cells are going to be created of that. But that is part and parcel for what we do. I understand that. How confident are you that we are prepared for another attack like this? And we've, of course, stopped countless attacks like this from happening on American soil, mostly successful, occasionally not. But larger the biggest ones we've been able to stop and prevent. I guess what scares me about a general and maybe you as well is that it's not going to be what we saw on 9-11, 25 years ago. It's going to be a different type of attack. It might be cyber. It may be something along those lines. Maybe our infrastructure, something we're not expecting. I think we are better prepared. I think our intelligence community is more attuned to it. I think that our observation abilities are better situated. I think that you are correct that there are likely targets.

16:34I think that many of the technologies that we've put in place will prevent them. But I do worry that the attack will be not in the order that we saw on 9-11. It won't be a massive explosion. It could be, but I don't think that's likely. I think it's more along our infrastructure. I think it's more along some radical biological or nuclear type of attack. And I'm not talking about nuclear weapons going off. I'm talking about my small amount of uranium being blown up and contaminating several square miles. Those are the things that I think our intelligence community is very attuned to those. I think our observation capabilities are very attuned to those. That working is very capable. Politically I worry about all the too many people are watching what we're doing. Yeah. They need to be watching what we're doing because there are people who want to interrupt

17:36our way of life. Yeah. And that's the thing is we've got airplanes covered. I mean, look at how there's an illusion of it might take on TSA and airport security. It's like they're not going to do it that way again because we're looking at that. It's going to be some other way that that's an a-traffic. They're looking for the easiest way in to create the kind of havoc that they did on 9-11. And we're ever vigilant to be sure because the branches of the military and good people like yourself general are on the job and they're in duty and they're keeping watch. But the scary part is we don't know when and when. This one defined my generation, the divine your generation and who knows in the future further events that are going to define those subsequent generations. That's the nature of it. He was in the Pentagon when the plane struck literally steps away lost people, individual he knew and not only recounting the day, but this morning. Speaking at the 9-11 memorial in Lebanon, Ohio, starting at 846 when that first plane struck the tower.

18:36And we remember 25 years later, Lieutenant General Michael Zettler, the United States Air Force. Thanks so much for your service, sir, and hard to believe it's been 25 years, but God bless. Thanks again for jumping on the show. Thank you for having me. I wish you the best. Thank you, General. Take care, sir. 25 years ago today, our lives are changed forever and that's nature. But we have these events occasionally in the dot history where it defines a generation that from my generation was the defining moment. Maybe it was COVID for years, but probably not because right around the corner, there's another tragedy. There's something like this. It gets our attention and changes the trajectory of our lives in the direction of our country. And as you can't set your watch by it, but you go and guarantee it is going to happen. We just don't know when we don't know where we don't know who and we are defined by the times. And just when you think you have it figured out in life, something happens. And who knows what that's going to be, but again, we'll fight.

19:36It's what we do. We're Americans. We rallied. I remember those days following 9-11 and how close everyone was together, we're rowing together because we had a common enemy. And when we don't have a common enemy that's clear, we tend to turn on each other and that's the times we're involved in right now, but that can change on a dime. At the end of the day, we all do come together and I fully believe in the future and we're challenged that will continue to happen. And for well over 100 years, we have been here to do that with you on the nation station. 700 W.A. W.A. If your bookshelf and your four-year page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet and pop culture, with your favorite writers, book talk creators and plenty of over thought opinions. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Listen to pro society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I survived 9 months in captivity and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive

20:42what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. Every week I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, this is Kylie Breikman, Angel Jaretana, Jeremy Colhane, Patrick McDonald, and we're the hosts of the artists on artists on artists on artists podcast. The improvised character comedy podcast were each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween. It's right up next to the microphone. You get up, I hear you get the elbows here, the eyelashes hit each other. You never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Listen to artists on artists on artists on artists every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app,

21:44Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Self-care September is your reminder to slow down, check in with yourself, get off your phone, and maybe ask why am I like this? I'm James Beck, host of the Psychology of your 20s podcast, and this month we're helping you make sense of the person that you are becoming from setting boundaries and navigating friendships to understanding anxiety, confidence, relationships, and attachment. Sometimes our biggest decisions, without us even realizing it, aren't driven by what we truly want, but by what will prevent us from feeling lonely or being alone. Listen to the psychology of your 20s on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So like by a user-reverner or so, at least 70% have a phone. I'm Dr. Joy, and this is Therophy for Black Girls. We spin our surviving middle school run, getting into what's happening inside your kids' brain, the group chat, and their friendships, and what you can do about it.

22:44Your child is not doing this on purpose. That's the kind of perspective we've been pulling from the psychologists and psychiatrists who study this for a living. Listen to Therophy for Black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.