As we reflect on the tragic 20 year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the thousands of victims and their families may come to mind. The scars of what Americans witnessed run painfully deep throughout the country, especially for those who rushed to rescue survivors and investigate.
A man who helped sift through the debris at the Pentagon is speaking for the very first time and sharing his memories with Channel 9′s Allison Latos.
Jay Garbus still has the uniform he wore in September 2001. As an army criminal investigations department special agent, he was one of many to respond immediately after terrorists attacked America, flying planes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.
“I got the phone call, ‘Get up to Washington,’” he said.
His job was to sift through the debris at the Pentagon, the headquarters for the country’s department of defense, a mission he worked day in and out for a month.
He shared several photos of the Pentagon parking lot that crews called “The Pile,” where trucks dumped the wreckage for investigators to examine.
“First, the cadaver dogs go through the pile,” he said. “184 people from the plane, passengers to government employees, were killed.”
Every discovery of their deaths in that debris brought deep, deep pain.
“They would put it in a box and we would have a ceremony of taking the box out of the pile area. We would all line up,” Garbus said. “That parade going out was very somber. We would all bow our heads. We don’t know who they are. Somebody’s family. It was overwhelming ... very emotional.”
From the victims, to classified papers and even parts of the plane used in the attack, investigators like Garbus documented every detail.
Twenty years later, the memories of what he witnessed have not faded.
“Yes, I have nightmares,” Garbus said. “I’m still trying to resume normal life. That’s how traumatic it was.”
But for the first time, Garbus is sharing what he saw and the emotions he still feels, so that no one will ever forget.
“It needs to be ingrained in people,” he said. “I would do it again. It means a lot.”
(Watch Below: ‘It’s hard not to be emotional about it’: Gaston County man inside Pentagon on 9/11 shares his story)
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