HAMPSTEAD, NC (WWAY) — Framed pictures of U.S. Presidents, military leaders and letters of appreciation are displayed on a wall in Doug Hardison’s home in Hampstead.

For much of his 35-year career in the telecommunications industry, he worked at the Pentagon and he was there on the morning the 9/11 attacks occurred in 2001.

He had been working in the Pentagon’s western concourse which would later be destroyed by a hijacked plane. He had just returned to his office in the “C” ring of the sprawling complex.

“When I got to my office, there was a note on my desk to call home and I called home, and my wife asked, ‘Do you see all this stuff going on?'” he said. His wife, Ruby, was referring to the two planes that hit the World Trade Center towers.

He and a coworker immediately turned on a television in their office and started watching the breaking news coverage.

Moments later, at 9:37 a.m., a third hijacked plane hit the Pentagon, penetrating the thick walls of the building about 60 yards from where Hardison’s office was located.

“All of a sudden, there was a loud explosion, and we felt it,” he said. “The television said there’s a loud explosion at the Pentagon. They cut away from New York and showed the Pentagon. I ran to the door, opened the door and there was debris falling out of the sky. Black smoke was pouring across the building, and I could smell the fuel burning.”

Hardison was one of about three dozen Verizon employees who worked at the Pentagon. He and his team were responsible for more than 64,000 dial-tone lines.

“The adrenaline kicked in and I just did what I had to do,” Hardison said. ” I knew the Department of Defense was depending on that communication system and it was our job, my job, to keep things going, to keep things as normal as possible.”

Considering the unfolding situation in New York City, the attack at the Pentagon and a fourth hijacked plane that went down in a field in Pennsylvania, Hardison and his team knew how critical it was to keep the phones at the Pentagon working.

“The Pentagon didn’t want to lose communication with rest of the world, Air Force Command Post,” he said. “Looking back over it, it was just a job I had to do and that’s what I did.”

With so many Pentagon employees and their loved ones attempting to call in or out, the phone lines that were still operational quickly jammed.

Hardison’s mother lived in Pender County and she knew her son worked at the Pentagon. He tried numerous times to call and let her know he was ok but he couldn’t get a call out. He finally reached her that afternoon.

“She picked up the phone and I said, ‘Hey mom,’ and she asked, “Boy, is this you?” and that’s all she ever said.”

The attack on the Pentagon claimed the lives of 184 people including 58 passengers aboard American Airlines Flight 77, and 125 military and civilians employees.

“When I went to work the next morning, that center court was a makeshift morgue with body bags, and that’s hard, that’s tough,” he said. “I knew some people who lost their life.”

As the 21st anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Hardison says remains grateful to be alive.

“I was 15 minutes, 60 yards from the actual crash site and it could have very easily been the other way around,” he said. “I could have been one of them, thank God. Even today when I still say my prayers, I wake up in the morning and thank God to see another day.”

He’s also relied heavily on his faith to help him deal with memories of what he experienced.

“I believe Father God had something else for me to do and 20 years later, I’m still here,” and he adds, “It’s my faith in God — he brought me through it.”

The anniversary of 9/11 continues to stir painful memories.

“Sometimes, it bothers me to talk about it,” but he says talking about it is what’s helped him.

Today, he doesn’t spend a lot of time looking at the images framed on his memorabilia wall.

“Most of the time when I talk about it is when I’m talking to somebody else about it,” he said. “Other than that, I know about it, I pass by it and I know it’s there, its part of my life and behind me but you never forget it.”

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