9/11 Daycare Rescue

[Barbara]

Just came from the memorial ceremony here at NORTHCOM. LTC (CH) Robert Leivers led the group in a ceremony here at the headquarters. During the ceremony, he relayed this little-known story from the Pentagon on 9/11:

During a visit with a fellow chaplain, who happened to be assigned to the Pentagon, I had a chance to hear a first-hand account of an incident that happened right after Flt 77 hit the Pentagon. The Chaplain told me what happened at a daycare center near where the impact occurred.

"This daycare had many children, including infants who were in heavy cribs. The daycare supervisor, looking at all the children they needed to evacuate, was in a panic over what they could do; there were many children, mostly toddlers, as well as the infants that would need to be taken out with the cribs. There was no time to try to bundle them into carriers and strollers.

"Just then a young Marine came running into the center and asked what they needed. After hearing what the center director was trying to do, he ran back out into the hallway and disappeared. The director thought, 'well, there we are- on our own.' About 2 minutes later, that Marine returned with 40 others in tow. Each of them grabbed a crib with a child, and the rest started gathering up toddlers. The director and her staff then helped them take all the children out of the center and down toward the park near the Potomac and the Pentagon.

"Once they got about 3/4 of a mile outside the building, the Marines stopped in the park, and then did a fabulous thing- they formed a circle with the cribs, which were quite sturdy and heavy, like the covered wagons in the West. Inside this circle of cribs, they put the toddlers, to keep them from wandering off. Outside this circle were the 40 Marines, forming a perimeter around the children and waiting for instructions.

There they remained until the parents could be notified and come get their children."

The NORTHCOM chaplain then said- "I don't think any of us saw nor heard of this on any of the news stories of the day. It was an incredible story of our men there.'' I must say- there wasn't a dry eye in the room. The thought of those Marines and what they did and how fast they reacted- could we expect any less from them?? It was one of the most touching stories from the Pentagon I've EVER heard.

[Skeptic]

OMG do people believe this sh**. So while dozens are burning to death, a group of able-bodied marines goes babysitting. 3 or 4 could have minded the kids and kept them safe, but it doesn't take one marine per child to keep them in line.

[Zachary Fizz]

IIRC, Rangerdog was in the Pentagon on 9/11. Perhaps he can shed some light on this story?

[Mad Jay]

Wait? What? What kind of daycare doesn't have an evacuation procedure? Why did they have to carry the toddlers in cribs? I would think they would use slings and carriers for this sort of thing.

Also, I believe the Virginia regulations are that there has to be one teacher for every 2-3 infants, and one teacher for every 3-4 toddlers. It seems extraordinary to me that a daycare that is following standard procedure would get flustered like that

[sweetokiegirl]

This article says nothing about marines. It only mentions the person interviewed, a National Guard colonel who was visiting his son in daycare.

[rangerdog]

...worked our way down through the construction my hands were shaking as I tried to call my wife to let her know that at least for now, I was alive and out of the building, across River Drive, across Rt. 110. Because we were so close we wanted to see if the childcare center was OK and if they needed help. Couldn’t get there because of the tall chain link fence that runs down Rt 110. Looked all right though, no smoke or anything...

[Avril]

Originally Posted by Mad Jay

Wait? What? What kind of daycare doesn't have an evacuation procedure? Why did they have to carry the toddlers in cribs? I would think they would use slings and carriers for this sort of thing.

In my experience, it is standard procedure for child care facilities to use cribs to transport as many infants/toddlers as possible--you just throw them all in together. Cribs usually have wheels and they're readily available.

They are also very easy for toddlers to crawl underneath, so I'm not sure that a circle of cribs would hold them if you put them in the middle of said circle.

Avril

[kismet]

Each infant got its own crib in the evacuation? My kids' daycare does better with a 4th of July parade than this imaginary place did with a life-or-death situation. Each infant/toddler room has an evacuation crib on wheels that can hold all 6-8 kids from the room easily. It takes one person to roll the crib and that leaves an extra person from that classroom to help carry the older toddlers. The director and secretary and any other staff are also extra arms.

As mentioned, a perimeter of cribs is pointless to corral toddlers. A perimeter of marines, though, seems like overkill. How about the daycare workers just, you know, do their normal job and entertain/protect/corral the kids? Sure, it will be an extra challenge in the wide open space, but probably not sufficiently challenging to require 40 extra marines for support.

[rangerdog]

Originally Posted by sweetokiegirl

This article says nothing about marines. It only mentions the person interviewed, a National Guard colonel who was visiting his son in daycare.

I can't find evidence of a Chaplin Leivers ever having been in the Army. I have a way to search and he is not currently in or retired from the US Army. He may well have been in; that data I can't get.

I also can't find the original author. Wait I just did. A Mr. Wolf, who it seems was passing along glurge.

Source: http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/0...-northcom.html

Preston-
I, too, wondered if this was an internet myth, until the Chaplain at USNORTHCOM provided me with the chaplain who originated the story, and was stationed at the Pentagon on 9/11.
He's since retired, and I've not been able to locate him. But given that a CHAPLAIN relayed this story, during a sermon, I'm not one to question its veracity.
Perhaps the rangers found the kids in the care of Marines and failed to note it in the story above?
Wolf

Bolding mine; not likely says me...



I found this about Park Rangers:

Source, and a great read: The National Park Service: Responding to The September 11 Terrorists Attacks

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/o...onnell/911.pdf

At Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial
Grove, Dixon found dozens of small chil-
dren, including infants and toddlers. His
team quickly set up a protective perim-
eter around the children and blocked one
lane of westbound traffic on the George
Washington Memorial Parkway to increase
safety. The rangers were not equipped to
transport such a large number of children.
Eventually, they stopped an empty tour
bus and asked the driver to help trans-
port the children to a Virginia Department
of Transportation facility near the Navy
Annex just south of the Pentagon.

Since I was very concerned for the children (and later heard that they were safe) I always wondered what happened to them. Like I said before, that building was empty when I saw it.

[rangerdog]

Originally Posted by kismet

...a 4th of July parade than this imaginary place did with a life-or-death situation. Each infant/toddler...

It is not an imaginary place...

[KaiTheInvader]

In Jacksonville, FL at least, the ratio is 4:1 for infants, 6:1 for toddlers 12-24 months, and (I think) 8:1 for 24-36 months. all daycares also have fire drills once a month (along with tornado drills and we even once had a lockdown/gunman situation drill) that requires evacuating all the kids outside. Infant room procedure is to put the babies in one crib (they have wheels), for the toddlers we had an "emergency wagon" to carry the kids that couldn't walk well enough yet (though it was big enough to fit all 6 of them in there) plus things like extra jackets, toys to keep them occupied, etc. even on the day we had a fire drill in nearly freezing weather conditions, we were able to get the entire daycare out the door, jackets and shoes on (which is amazing if you've ever tried to put clothes on even one toddler) and holding onto the back fence in 8 minutes (not a great time, but we had a lot of new people, and that's the reason for drills). it didn't take any more people than we normally had, and though it was difficult, we were able to keep the kids corralled. and a circle of cribs most definitely will not keep toddlers penned in, if all the times I had to chase them out from under the cribs is any indication.

[Tootsie Plunkette]

But given that a CHAPLAIN relayed this story, during a sermon, I'm not one to question its veracity.

"Aliens replaced the Eiffel Tower with an exact replica overnight and nobody noticed! It's true - the CHAPLAIN said so during a sermon!"

[videoguy]

It was one of the most touching stories from the Pentagon I've EVER heard.

If that's the case, then I'd really like to hear the ones that topped it.

[Smoke & Mirrors]

Assuming for a moment that the events in the OP did take place as described (you'd have to convince me that a plane actually struck the Pentagon first, but that's another thread entirely) my immediate thought concerned the decision to evacuate in the first place.

Depending on how close the day care facility was to the Pentagon, I wonder whether it would have been safer to remain in the building? Unless there was a risk of structural collapse I wouldn't have thought moving the children outside would have been in their best interest. Maybe the decision was impulsive given the uncertainty of what had occurred.

[rangerdog]

Originally Posted by Smoke & Mirrors

Assuming for a moment that the events in the OP did take place as described (you'd have to convince me that a plane actually struck the Pentagon first, but that's another thread entirely) my immediate thought concerned the decision to evacuate in the first place.

While ignoring the part that I bolded because I won't even dignify that whih an answer, they had to evacuate. The Pentagon was under attack, there was every indication to believe that another aircraft was in-bound, and we are trained to expect a second attack after the initial one. An attack aimed at inflicting mass casualities. Like KaiTheInvader said, we have practical evacuation, evade, and re-group drills all the time.

[Smoke & Mirrors]

Originally Posted by rangerdog

Like KaiTheInvader said, we have practical evacuation, evade, and re-group drills all the time.

I understand that. I was wondering more if the decision to evacuate was undertaken by the daycare supervisor or if it was perhaps ordered by the military, police, or another agency perhaps? Just that it's not quite clear to me in the OP.

[rangerdog]

From sweetokiegirl's article:

I would expect that the Federal Cops that guard the Pentagon called and told her to evacuate. The Day Care Center would have been under one of their perview.

At the day care center, Stoppel talked to a provider about Will’s first day.
At about 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the southwest corner of the Pentagon.
“I felt the earth shake. That was kind of strange. I walked outside, and I saw some smoke coming up. At that time, she got the call that it’s time to evacuate the day care center.”
Stoppel, the provider and the children moved to a nearby park without hearing another word. They tried to keep the children and each other calm even after hearing that another plane was on its way.

[Jonny T]

Originally Posted by Smoke & Mirrors

you'd have to convince me that a plane actually struck the Pentagon first, but that's another thread entirely

ZOMG HOLO LIZARDS!!



...

What, exactly, do you find implausible about the assertion in question?

As far as the evacuation, I would imagine that in any building under attack in the way the Pentagon was, getting people out would be the norm.

[Smoke & Mirrors]

Originally Posted by rangerdog

From sweetokiegirl's article:
I would expect that the Federal Cops that guard the Pentagon called and told her to evacuate.

Aaaah, that link was broken earlier when I clicked on it. Good job, ranger.

And JonnyT, that vid's a crack-up! Nice one!

[Jonny T]

Originally Posted by Smoke & Mirrors

And JonnyT, that vid's a crack-up! Nice one!

Our beloved Mr. Icke posted it to his website some time ago and I've become something of a fan.

("And it works like this" has become a code for conspiraloonery among myself and some friends.)