On September 11, 2001, at approximately 9:38 a.m., hijacked American Airlines flight 77 was intentionally slammed into the outermost "E Ring" of the west face of the Pentagon building in Arlington, VA, in a terrorist attack. One hundred eighty-four innocent people were killed--125 people in the Pentagon, and 59 passengers and crew aboard the airliner (not counting the terrorists involved); scores of people were injured; and a portion of the building was damaged, later requiring demolition and reconstruction.
![Firefighters battling fire at the Pentagon](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090305034946im_/http://www.usace.army.mil/History/PublishingImages/September%2011th1/Pentagon/Pentag4.jpg) | Local firefighters are among the first on the scene to fight the fast-spreading fire and begin search and rescue operations. |
The Engineer Company, Military District of Washington, responded to the attacks within hours. They flew the Corps flag during their relief operations. | ![Corps Flag at Pentagon](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090305034946im_/http://www.usace.army.mil/History/PublishingImages/September%2011th1/Pentagon/pent_corps_flag.jpg) |
![Rescue Dog at Pentagon](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090305034946im_/http://www.usace.army.mil/History/PublishingImages/September%2011th1/Pentagon/Pentagon_rescuedog.jpg)
| Trained rescue dog, Gus, and his trainer, Ed Apple, from Tennessee Task Force One Search and Rescue, search for victims in the wreckage at the Pentagon. |
Rescue workers pause for a moment of silence during the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance ceremony, September 14th, 2001. | ![Pentagon Prayer](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090305034946im_/http://www.usace.army.mil/History/PublishingImages/September%2011th1/Pentagon/Pentagon_prayer.jpg)
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![Ceremony Thanking Rescue Workers](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090305034946im_/http://www.usace.army.mil/History/PublishingImages/September%2011th1/Pentagon/Pentagon_ceremony_2.jpg) | A ceremony is held to thank rescue workers outside of the Pentagon as the site is turned over to the FBI. |
Members of the Engineer Company, Military District of Washington, discuss search and rescue operations outside the Pentagon. | ![Engineer Company at Pentagon](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090305034946im_/http://www.usace.army.mil/History/PublishingImages/September%2011th1/Pentagon/Pentag2.jpg) |
![Limestone Inscription](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090305034946im_/http://www.usace.army.mil/History/PublishingImages/September%2011th1/Pentagon/Pentagon_slab.jpg)
| President Bush's famous quote was inscribed onto a piece of limestone and was signed by many construction workers. (This limestone was extracted from the same section of the Indiana rock quarry that provided the limestone used for facing the Pentagon in 1941.) This inspirational quote was later installed inside the newly-repaired portion of the Pentagon. |
U.S. Army soldiers prepare the American flag to be hoisted by crane atop the Pentagon. | ![American Flag at Pentagon](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090305034946im_/http://www.usace.army.mil/History/PublishingImages/September%2011th1/Pentagon/Pentagon_raisingflag.jpg)
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![American Flag Draped Over Pentagon](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090305034946im_/http://www.usace.army.mil/History/PublishingImages/September%2011th1/Pentagon/Pent_flag_draped.jpg)
| U.S. soldiers and firefighters unfurl the American flag in anticipation of a visit to the Pentagon crash site by President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on September 12, 2001. |