April 18, 2004
Dear Major Butler,
Congratulations on publication of
your book on Marine
helicopter Squadron One - and thank you for allowing me to contribute.
My association over 20 years with
HMX-1 and the opportunity
to command the squadron was the highlight of my 28 year career in the
Marine
Corps. I served with the squadron from
1983 to 1988 and again from 2000 to 2003.
It was a great honor and a privilege to serve two tours with the fine
men and women that perpetually are the core of HMX-1.
During my two years as CO, there were
many interesting and
challenging events - landing on the South Lawn of the White House,
trips to
Camp David, overseas trips to name a few.
Without a doubt though, the event
that is most memorable to
me was the our trip to New York City a few days after the attacks of
September
11, 2001.
I had been in command of the squadron
for about three
months. The events of 9/11 had a sudden
and sobering effect on the nation and on the squadron. Throughout
the attacks of 9/11 and the
actions that followed, I was very proud of the squadron’s
response to the
events of that day.
Two days after the attack, on
Thursday, September 13, we
received notice that the President would travel to NYC the following
day and
visit the World Trade Center site. We
quickly put together a detachment which I lead and we departed Quantico
early
in the afternoon and flew to McGuire AFB in New Jersey.
The flight to McGuire was certainly
unusual. Other than fighters, tankers and Airborne
Warning and Control System (AWACS), we were the only other aircraft in
the air
that day. As we proceeded north, we
talked with air traffic controllers who were mainly working military
traffic
patrolling the northeast corridor. It
occurred to me during the flight, that I never had imagined that I
would be
flying to New York, with all air traffic grounded, and the skies of our
nation
being patrolled by fighters.
We arrived at McGuire late in the
afternoon with the
intention of quickly refueling and proceeding to NYC for a rehearsal
flight. Because the trip had been
hurriedly arranged, not all the planning was complete and there was
still some
question about which landing zone we would use.
Typically for a lift to Manhattan we would use the Wall Street Heliport
on the south end of Manhattan along the East River. There was
also some discussion of using
Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park. Soon the
decision was made to use the Wall Street Pad in order to keep the
motorcade as
short as possible.
We departed McGuire late in the
afternoon heading for
NYC. As we approached NYC, we were met
with the sight of a long, low smoke plume coming from Manhattan.
It was quite stark against the blue sky. We passed the Statue of
Liberty, then went
north up the East River, then turned west over lower Manhattan to the
Hudson
River, then south along the Hudson. As
we slowed and descended, the first thing that struck me was the fact
that all
of lower Manhattan was covered in a thick ash.
As we approached the WTC site, there was still a lot of smoke coming
from the site and a great deal of rescue activity. There were
already large cranes working
through the rubble. As we flew over the
site, I was most aware of the fact that I was looking at the graves of
what was
then believed to be more than 5,000 people.
We completed our visual recon of the
site, went around the
south end of Manhattan and made landings at the Wall Street pad.
We did not shut down, but just had a look at
our positions on the pad, and had a quick discussion with our White
House
Liaison Officer in the landing zone.
After that, we departed and returned to McGuire.
On Friday, the weather was overcast
and somewhat dismal with
an occasional light rain. The lift was
scheduled for mid afternoon with about 3 hours planned on the ground at
Wall
Street. We positioned the helicopters
about an hour early and went into the terminal to wait for a few
minutes before
Air Force One arrived. Security was very
tight and there was not the usual banter that was typical before a lift.
We manned the helicopters and prepared for
the arrival. As the President deplaned
from AF-1, he was greeted by Governor Pataki and Mayor Giuliani.
The party
boarded the helicopter and we departed for NYC.
The overcast and a north wind was
blowing the smoke plume to
the south and keeping it close to the ground.
There were a number of fighters airborne patrolling our route of
flight. About halfway to the city, we
spotted a UH-1 Huey helicopter just west of us coming south, about
three miles
abeam. The fighters picked him up about
the same time and made some low passes on him.
Eventually he turned away. We
continued north, and it became difficult to avoid the smoke plume that
seemed
to fan out in front of us. At one point
we had to pass through it and the smell of smoke came into the cabin
for a
time.
We approached the city as we had the
previous day on our
rehearsal flight. We slowed as we came
over Manhattan, then turned south along the Hudson to give the
President a view
of the site. We passed abeam and again I
was struck by the fact that we were looking at the remains of so many
people.
We made the landing at the Wall
Street pad and the President
and his party departed. We shut down the
helicopters and got out to wait. There
was the usual group of firefighters, policemen, and Port Authority
people
there. As we began to talk to them, it
was apparent that most of them had been working at the WTC site since
the
attack. Many were unshaven and covered
with dust. They were all tired and they
had been at it for a long time. The
firefighters were the most grim. They
had lost a lot friends and comrades.
They had been desperately digging for many hours, but by Friday, there
didn’t seem to be much expectation that they would find many more
survivors. One of the most valued pictures from my time in
the squadron is the
picture we took on the pad that day with the policemen, firemen and the
crews
from HMX-1.
The President was supposed to be on
the ground for about
three hours, but he stayed nearly six hours.
When he returned to the pad it was well after dark. As the party
boarded Marine One, they were
somber and looked emotionally drained.
After we took off, we made another
circuit around the
site. By now it was bathed in the bright
lights that had been set up to allow the recovery efforts to proceed
during the
night. The lights starkly highlighted
the scene and it was once again a very harsh reminder of the tragedy
that had
taken place there.
We returned to McGuire in near
silence. There was very little discussion on the
radio, or in the cockpit. As we arrived,
the President deplaned and transferred to Air Force One for a flight to
Hagerstown and to Camp David that evening.
That flight on 14 September was a
unique vantage point from
which to see the destruction that had been dealt to us a few days
before. Several fairly famous pictures came out of
that flight: Mayor Giuliani and Governor
Pataki were shown pointing out the WTC site for the President from the
cabin of
Marine One; the famous picture of the President taking the bull horn
and
speaking from atop a the rubble of the WTC.
As many have before us, on that day I
think we all felt like
we were a part of our nation’s history.
We empathized with our fellow citizens.
We supported the President on what was a difficult day for all
Americans. We were angry at what had
happened to our country. More than
anything, I think we all had a sense of how different things were to be
in the
future. Most satisfying to me was that
throughout the response to 9/11, the men and women of HMX-1 responded
with the
calm professionalism they have been known for throughout the history of
the
squadron.
Thanks again for allowing me to
contribute some thoughts on
this event in the history of HMX-1. It
has been a pleasure to be part of your effort to capture the many
accomplishments of HMX-1.
Sincerely,
Steve Taylor
Commanding Officer
June 2001 to June 2003