The Pentagon

Our friend Colonel Tom Fuhrmann is wrapping up his job at the Pentagon before he retires and goes back to flying for United so we asked for a tour of the place before he loses his credentials.  My Tom has been there before for work related meetings (and always gets lost in the mammoth place) but I've never been.

We had to show ID in the visitor entrance which was fine but as my bag went through the scanner the Pentagon police asked if I had pepper spray.  Um, yes I do, as a matter of fact.  I pulled it out for them as they explained they would have to confiscate it for good.  I signed some paperwork while the officer made what felt like three phone calls.  Tom stood rolling his eyes while the female officer assured me it was just routine though it looked very, very bad.  The other officer came back and asked me a few more questions then handed me this TICKET!  What?  Okay, it's just a warning, but STILL!  So anyway, 20 minutes later we're finally on our way inside.

The colonel (hereby referenced so the "Toms" are not confused with one another) showed us the map of how the building is laid out and Tom was wishing he'd known that before the many times he's wandered aimlessly trying to find his way around the place.

Unfortunately there are no photos allowed once you step off the metro except for this little staged area so we grabbed a few.  Each military branch has it's own tribute area so we course had to take advantage of the Coast Guard section.

 The entrance level has it's own little mall that includes, a small Best Buy, florist, CVS, candy shop, Starbucks, additional shops and lots of other eating places in addition to another huge food court on a different floor.  There's also a medical and dental office and a huge gym.  The colonel said there is a high priority on productivity so they don't really want you to leave the place….hence, we've provided you with everything you should need on any given day.  It sits on 34 acres, is the largest low rise office building in the world, houses 17 and a half miles of corridor and each wedge of the building is large enough to contain the entire US capitol building.

His office is in the basement and backs up against the gym so it has no windows.  He says there are days that he arrives in the dark, sits in an office with no windows and leaves in the dark so he has no sense of weather or time of day.  Honestly, most people we know who have worked at the Pentagon have not loved it.  I think it's stressful and sometimes they're doing work they're way over qualified for but it seems like it's something everyone has to do at some point on their military journey so they just suck it up and endure their time there.

There's a beautiful memorial area set up in the area of the Pentagon where the plane hit on 9/11.  As you walk down the hall there are gorgeous quilts lining the walls.  Some have the names and some have the pictures of those who died that day.  Others are made by kids with drawings and such.  Very touching.  All the names are also inscribed on the wall and they have graphite paper so you can do a rubbing off the wall of a name.  I just did the September 11, 2001.

 There's also a big book that profiles each of the victims and I just happened to open it to a young man from Utah who died in the Pentagon that day.  His name was Brady Howell.  There's also a small memorial chapel with beautiful stained glass windows and the colonel says they hold several services there a day.  I need to go back another day and see the official Pentagon 9/11 memorial which is on the outside of the building.  We did walk outside to the huge courtyard in the middle of the pentagon which houses a coffee/sandwich shop and benches & landscaping plus offers a quicker way to get from one side of the building to the other. We also went into the area where the big shot's offices are like Secretary of Defense and there are plenty of hallways honoring military heroes as well.

We hopped on the metro and headed to Pentagon City to wrap up our evening by having dinner at Lebanese Taverna which was yummy!  Love having good friends to hang out with!  Thanks for a great tour colonel!