SEPTEMBER 12, 2001 RETURNING TO WORK “Everybody was back at work the next day,” recalled Rachel Walker. “We were all so glad to see each other and be here. I think it couldn’t have been better. And I really think that people’s best sides showed that day.” Chef Walter Scheib recalled, “For most of the Residence staff, basically the next day was business as usual. It was really amazing to see the level of dedication that the staff had and that they knew what their job was.” But other staff described mixed emotions. To many, management’s request that everyone return at first seemed insensitive, but they later thought it was the right decision. Wendy Elsasser said, “We were told by Gary Walters, chief usher. And at first I thought, ‘Gary, what are you thinking? We need a break.’ And then I realized how important it was that he did that. I felt it was a very wise decision to just proceed as normal. No, I didn’t want to come back to work.” Roland Mesnier remembered the Pastry Shop contractors expressing hesitation about returning, but he agreed with Gary Walters’s approach. “So if I’d shown any of the same feeling they probably would have left. But by showing that it’s business as usual, then, no, nobody has left.” Houseman Ben Kelly admitted to feeling uncomfortable when told by Housekeeping Supervisor Ron Jones to return the next day. “I didn’t know if I wanted to be anywhere near downtown, let alone in the White House. I’d never felt fear the way I felt that, because it really shakes you, because you have no control, and you don’t know what’s going to happen next.” Willie Murchison was not called to return to work but reported anyway. “I mean, of course, I was shaken like everyone else, but we still had a job to do here. I just felt as though I was scared, but we had to press on.” Lydia Tederick’s van pool was not running on September 12 so she took Metro into the city. She remembered smelling the burning odor from the Pentagon when the door opened at the Pentagon station and how nervous she felt to be at work. “The whole time that I was at work that day, I felt as if I sat at my desk with one foot out the door. I didn’t feel safe sitting still. I felt like I had to move around a lot, and subsequently I don’t think a lot of work was actually done that day.” Accountant Theresa Luchsinger was on vacation on September 11, and when she returned, “I
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walked up the parking area to the gates on East Executive Avenue there on the south side, and I just stopped, and I stared at the avenue for probably five minutes, and I just watched all the people walking around, and I just really had to think about going back to work, and this is where I work.” Gary Walters gathered the staff on September 13 for a meeting to discuss the reality of working at the White House. He asked each person to consider if he or she wanted to continue working at what could be a “target.” The trauma of the day affected some staff more than others. Houseman Steven Gates recalled, “Gary Walters had a meeting with different parts of the staff, and he mentioned if anybody wanted to leave it might be in their best interest. He’d rather that no one really leave, but if you’re that afraid, maybe that you should. Leaving never entered my mind.” Electric Shop Foreman Bill Cliber described initial conversations when staff returned. “Some of the supervisors made bad statements at first. It was a reflection of bad times and an unusual event, but the quality people that we have working here, they’re dependable. They respond on their own. They don’t have to be called. When they hear of an incident, they’re here on their own. Nobody has to pick up the phone and say, ‘Report to work.’ They’re either here or on their way to show up. So, I mean, just a couple of loose tongues got loose, and they shouldn’t have done that. But other than that, everybody else knows their job here, and they just know what we have to do.” Barbara McMillan, Administrative and Research Assistant in the Curator’s Office said, “As people did learn about the plane that was possibly coming to the White House, and the enormity of it sank in, by Thursday, when people came back to work, they were very subdued, very quiet, beginning to lick their wounds, as it were. You know, you couldn’t defend yourself, ‘Oh, it’ll never happen to me.’ You began to come to grips with the fact that you had had a very close call, and that even though you were okay, a lot of people weren’t, and it could have turned out differently. I felt uncomfortable. . . . . I just didn’t really want to be here, but there wasn’t a better place to be.” Some staff members reported feeling anxious and cautious, more vigilant of people and their surroundings, especially when entering and exiting the complex. Walter Scheib said, “You’re looking to see when you leave here, does anybody follow
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