ServiceMaster Clean Honors 9-11 Pentagon First Responder During NASCAR Race

To commemorate the 9th Anniversary of September 11, 2001, Richmond International Raceway hosted a group of World Trade Center First Responders and honored them during the pre-race ceremonies before last Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race. ServiceMaster Clean, the official sponsor of Yellow Flag Caution Periods, paid tribute to the 184 that lost their lives during the attack on the Pentagon and honored one of the First Responders that provided aid at the Pentagon following the attack.

Each of the yellow ServiceMaster Clean service vehicles for the Richmond Race were wrapped with the Pentagon “United In Freedom” logo on the hood of each truck to honor those that lost their lives that day—125 in the Pentagon and the 59 (not counting the hijackers) on board American Airlines Flight 77.

Lt. David B. Webster of the Pentagon Police Department was the guest of honor in ServiceMaster Clean hospitality for Saturday’s race and participated in the 9/11 tribute during pre-race ceremonies.  Lt. Webster is the Deputy Commander of the 6th Platoon at the Pentagon and was on duty at the time of the attack.  Lt. Webster and Anthony Dozier had just completed roll call and were on bike patrol on the far side of the Pentagon when the plane struck.  The radio message was clear: “We were hit!  We were hit!  Wedge 1!  Wedge 1!”  Webster and Dozier immediately pedaled to the crash site, arriving in less than 30 seconds just as people were first running from the building.

“I thought about a secondary device, because I thought it was a bomb, not a plane, that hit us.  Then I thought about the people still in the building and went back in.  I had tunnel vision.  I was focused on helping people,” Webster said. ”I hopped off my bike and ran into Corridor 5 and 6 to help people out.” 

The Pentagon suffered great physical damage at the point of impact. Water damage from sprinklers and fire hoses affected adjoining areas, and smoke and soot quickly filled the 6.5 million square foot structure. Rescue operations commenced immediately and, combined with the structural strength of the building, prevented a more devastating loss of life than the 125 soldiers and civilians killed in the attack.

At the same time, actions were taken so that evacuated personnel would be able to return to their jobs as soon as possible. The need for expert clean-up was second only to the rescue effort. The Pentagon called ServiceMaster Clean at 11:30 a.m. on September11th. The ServiceMaster Recovery Management staff, dedicated to catastrophic disaster mitigation and restoration, was on the move by noon, and was at the Pentagon by the morning of September 12th. At 8:30 a.m. that day, a crew of 50 ServiceMaster Clean technicians gathered in the Pentagon's western parking lot. Supplies and people from ServiceMaster Clean local offices were mobilizing up and down the East Coast and as far away as Michigan.

ServiceMaster Clean was able to meet the needs of our Service personnel by working large crews 24 hours a day for over two months to restore the Pentagon. We were proud to be the cleaning company they called in a time when all Americans were trying to find a way to help.

Tags: