Retired Navy Captain Shares Personal 9/11 Account In Green Country

A retired Navy Captain who was a key figure at the Pentagon during the terror attack on September 11th, 2001, is sharing his story with hundreds across Green Country.

Captain Joseph Gradisher currently serves as a civilian public affairs officer at the Pentagon and speaks about why it’s his personal mission to share his account of what happened.

“We were watching the morning news shows out of New York, and first plane hit. We thought, well, pilot error. Air traffic control problem something, but when the second one hit, we knew something was going on, and then at 9:37 in the morning, just one big wham! and we were hit,” Gradisher said. 

Joe Gradisher, then a Navy captain, was working as a spokesman for the Navy. He was among the 25,000 people who evacuated the Pentagon following the attack and worked tirelessly to continue the mission.

“When you're in the service, when you're on a ship, if something happens, a fire damage, there's no place to run away from it. So you have to run to the problem and take care of it,” Gradisher said. 

Gradisher soon learned the impact was just 30 feet from where he was in his office. With news reports displaying images of the Pentagon, he worried about letting his family know he was okay.

“My wife and daughters lived in Michigan. And it was four hours before I got a phone call to my wife and kids to let them know that I was alive. Never mind knowing exactly how close I was,” Gradisher said. 

Since the attacks, Gradisher embraced the role of educating people, especially young audiences.

“They can read about it. And it says the plane hit the Pentagon. But to hear the story from someone who was there, someone who was involved in some of the things that happened in the immediate aftermath, is an eye-opener for them. And it makes them think,” Gradisher said. 

Gradisher says the Oklahoma City bombing played a critical role in saving thousands of lives. He says the bombing of the Murrah building prompted the reinforcement of the walls of the Pentagon.

“The building when it was built was all concrete because they couldn't use a lot of steel because steel was needed for the effort. In World War Two, when the building was built in the starting in 1941. So they said, let's reinforce the building,” Gradisher said.

He says the Pentagon underwent about 16 months of renovations, but his work never stopped.

“I may be upset about it now and in occasional moments, but it doesn't matter. They didn't win. They didn't change who I am. We're still doing what we need to do,” Gradisher said.