First workers return to Pentagon offices destroyed on Sept. 11

WASHINGTON -- The last time Peter M. Murphy was in his Pentagon office, he was scrambling through the smoke to escape a terrorist-hijacked jetliner that slammed into the building.

On Thursday, Murphy stepped into an office similar to the one he left Sept. 11.

"It's like I'm bringing somebody in and saying, 'I want to show you my office that's been destroyed,' but it hasn't been. It's exactly the same as it was on Sept. 10," said Murphy, the Marine Corps' top lawyer. "So it's just kind of an eerie feeling."

Murphy was one of the first 22 Pentagon workers to make a return to offices rebuilt after being destroyed last September.

125 in building killed

The reoccupied areas are all on the fourth floor of the Pentagon's outer ring, above the spot where hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the building. The plane pierced three of the five rings of offices in the Pentagon and collapsed part of the five-story outer ring, killing 125 people in the building and all 64 on the plane.

Construction crews are trying to complete the entire $500 million reconstruction project by the one-year anniversary of the attacks, when President Bush is to attend a memorial service at the site.

The workers have not finished the interior work on the 400,000 square feet of office space that had to be rebuilt after the attack. On Thursday, the offices smelled faintly of new paint and carpet, and muffled sounds of drilling and hammering could be heard.

"The folks who have been working day and night to finish this building have just done a superb job," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news conference before touring the rebuilt offices. "It is a real compliment to them that they are able to begin the process of moving in."

For Murphy, returning to his office brought a jumble of feelings. He's proud of the way people saved each other Sept. 11 and the quick reconstruction work that followed. Memories of that day and those who were lost remain painful. But returning provides some closure, he said.

Murphy was standing at his fourth-floor office window when the plane slammed into the building below him.

"Thank God they were blast-proof windows. Otherwise, I'm sure I would have been killed," Murphy said.

He and several co-workers in the office made their way into the hall, where they faced a terrifying choice: To their right, fire. To their left, thick smoke.

Heard collapse

A voice in the smoke said, "Follow me," and they did. As they were escaping, they heard what they thought was a second plane hitting the building. Instead, it was part of the building collapsing -- including part of Murphy's office.

Improbably, a red and yellow Marine Corps flag in his office survived. It has been flown aboard the Space Shuttle with an American flag that survived the World Trade Center attacks in New York City.

This Sept. 11, the workers plan to hold a private memorial ceremony. That will help survivors cope, Murphy said.

"If there's any message from my coming back, rubbery-kneed as I am, it's that we're going to do what we do and carry on," Murphy said.