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SALT LAKE CITY -- Ten years isn't enough to erase memories of that horrible day when terrorists attacked the United States, and that's certainly true for those who were at the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed.
And that's true for one colonel who is now retired from the Utah National Guard.
From a Department of Defense video, you can see the clear blue Virginia sky hanging above the Pentagon, and then, a ball of fire. It's a day etched in the memory of retired Colonel Craig Morgan.
"When I still have those bad nightmares, I still, to this day, wake up smelling --I refer to it as burning hair, burning flesh," he said.
It appeared to me that he lost both hands. For whatever reason, he kept going in and bringing more people out.
–- Colonel Craig Morgan
At the Pentagon on behalf of the Utah National guard that day, Col. Morgan had been trained in emergency medicine and began to help. So did others, many others, but it was one man in particular he remembers to this day.
"It appeared to me that he lost both hands. For whatever reason, he kept going in and bringing more people out," he said.
Col. Morgan doesn't know if this man got out after going back in. "At the point where the wall collapsed, and I'm standing there watching that, after, I realized that I never saw that Lt. Colonel again."
He kept seeing the wreckage looping through his mind, though. It wasn't until this colonel retired from the Utah National Guard in 2006 that he realized he needed help.
"I used to go in the closet with my pillow and blanket and golden retriever. I would be happy in there hiding for two or three days," he said.
These F-16s buzzed right around the Pentagon, and I don't know if you've ever heard an F-16, but they are loud, and above that noise you could hear people cheering.
–- Colonel Craig Morgan
He was also hoarding things and had outbursts of anger without reason. Morgan sought counseling, and it was then he learned he had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
Today, the nightmares and flashbacks still come, though not as often, he said. He tries to focus on the more positive, stirring memories of that day.
"These F-16s buzzed right around the Pentagon, and I don't know if you've ever heard an F-16, but they are loud, and above that noise you could hear people cheering."
Yet, sometimes it's the sight of an airplane flying across the Wasatch valley sky that is difficult for him to watch.
"I have a real hard time when I see airplanes on the glide path into Salt Lake International airport," he said.
E-mail: lprichard@ksl.com
