Five years ago this morning, at 9:37 a.m., a hijacked Boeing 757 weighing 270,000 pounds, including over 10,000 gallons of jet fuel, slammed into the west side of the Pentagon at a speed of over 400 miles per hour.  The lives of 184 innocent men, women, and children were wiped out in an instant.

What followed from that moment of horror was a tribute to the courage and dedication of hundreds of people.  First responders from Arlington and surrounding jurisdictions flooded to the Pentagon, a location that was at once a crime scene, a conflagration, and the military nerve center of a nation at war.  Day after day they worked to rescue the injured, recover the bodies of those who had died, restore order, and fight a fire that at times threatened to consume the entire building.

This morning we gathered at Arlington’s Justice Center to remember the lives that were lost in the attack on the Pentagon. As a bell tolled 184 times, we honored those who responded to that attack and realized once again how much we owe to those who protect us.