Description: Penny Elgas built a patriotic box to preserve this piece of American Airlines Flight 77, the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.
Context: Driving on a highway adjacent to the Pentagon on the morning of September 11, Penny Elgas stopped as she saw a passenger jet descend, clip a light pole near her, and then crash into the Pentagon. Arriving home, Elgas found this plane fragment in the back seat of her car (she theorizes that it dropped through the open sunroof). Feeling that it was her patriotic duty to preserve the fragment as a relic, she crafted a special box and lined it with red, white, and blue material.
These floor signs hung on the exterior of the elevator door frames in the World Trade Center. The 105th Floor indicator is rectangular and painted black with the number and Braille equivalent in raised silver. It was recovered from the debris at the Staten Island recovery site at Fresh Kills.
This handwritten post card was sent by Leslie Whittington and family at Dulles Airport prior to their departure on American Airlines Flight 77 that was hijacked into the Pentagon. The postcard was cancelled on September 12, 2001. The message on the reverse was addressed to her sister.
Description: This soot-covered desktop nameplate and Army pennant were recovered from Holly Guzowski’s Pentagon office.
Context: Holly Guzowski, a civilian employee of the Department of Defense, survived the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. Her office was on the third floor of the D ring (the E ring is the exterior), and was directly above the path of the airplane as it slid through the first and second floors of E, D, and C rings. In the Pentagon attack, 125 employees were killed and some 140 more were injured; aboard the plane, all 53 passengers, six crew members, and five hijackers were killed.
Description: This doll caricature of a female firefighter was recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center.
Context: A popular tourist destination and retail space, the World Trade Center had many stores. On the observation deck located on the 107th floor of the south tower were three souvenir shops, and in the underground arcade connecting the towers was a mall with over 70 shops. While the identity of the store that was selling this toy remains a mystery, the doll itself is a sad reminder of the many rescue workers who perished in the towers’ collapse
Description: This M&M dispenser, soot-covered calendar, and desk copy of the U.S. Army code were recovered from the Pentagon office of Charles A. Reimer, Deputy Division Chief, Strategic Leadership, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff Operations/Army G-3.
Context: Charles Reimer, a civilian employee for the Department of Defense, survived the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. His office was on the third floor of the D ring (the E ring is the exterior), and was directly above the path of the airplane as it slid through the first and second floors of E, D, and C rings. As flames shot up past the windows and the area filled with smoke, he helped a fellow worker escape from the building. In the Pentagon attack, 125 employees were killed and 140 were injured; on board the airplane, all 53 passengers, six crew members, and five hijackers were killed.
Gold and blue metal medallion affixed to a black leather holder ("star case") with neck chain and belt clip. The central design includes an eagle above a shield with two flanking figures. "EXCELSIOR" is imprinted on a banner beneath the figures and "EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN" is imprinted around the central design. The badge was worn by by Michael Collarone, a New York City florist and EMT first responder, during the 9/11/2001 World Trade Center recovery operations.