Eyewitness to History: 9/11 Fighter Pilot and Artist Unite to Recreate 'First Pass' Over Washington

Maj. Dean Eckmann is a soft-spoken North Dakotaevil."Eckmann says he was originally ordered to
native whose lifelong love for military aviation"heading 010," and immediately recognized it as New
transformed him, in one profound moment onYork. In retrospect, although he was unaware of it at
September 11, 2001, into what he acknowledges to bethe time, he says at the moment he took off from
"an eyewitness to history, to the day that changed allLangley, a second airliner was plowing into the second
of America, forever."On the morning of 9/11, Eckmann,tower at the WTC.En route to Manhattan, Eckmann
36, was with his Fargo-based 119th Fighter Pilot Wingreceived a revised order and a new heading, which he
at Virginia's Langley Air Force Base for a routinerecognized as Washington D. C. Still, he was relatively
week-long 'alert dispatch' to protect seven Americanunworried, he says, still being 75 miles away and with
sites tagged, in "post-Cold War and pre-9/11 naivete,"no smoke yet visible on the horizon. He associated
he says, as potential targets.At the unmistakable blareonly the apparent trouble in New York with his new
of a Klaxon horn, he abandoned his scheduled trainingheading and assumed he'd be "flying CAP" -- Combat
mission and was ordered to his fully armed fighter jet,Air Patrol -- over Washington as a preventive
and became the first pilot scrambled to fly over -- justmeasure.At 50 to 60 miles out of Washington,
700 feet over -- the flame-engulfed Pentagon justEckmann got his first sight of smoke -- thick black
about four minutes after terrorists attacked.He andsmoke -- pouring across the Potomac."The black
two wingmen spent more than five hours that day,smoke worried me. Usually, you'll see grey smoke or
securing and protecting miles of Washington D. C.white smoke in a typical accident or industrial fire. Black
airspace, the White House, Washington Memorial,smoke means very bad things."The Smoke's Source:
Jefferson Memorial, Capitol Building and otherThe PentagonFlying high, still miles out and unable to
American landmarks, from the ground up to 30,000make out buildings or structures, he searched his
feet in the air.His perspective of the horrors of thatmemory, he says, to identify the smoke's source. At
tragic day, viewed from the cockpit of his F-16 fighter,35 miles out, as oceans of smoke continued to pour
has been captured for future generations and historyfrom the site, he realized the unknown horror was
books in the Air Force-commissioned painting, "Firsttaking place somewhere near the Pentagon: "an
Pass: Defenders Over Washington" by artist Rickaccident at Reagan National Airport, perhaps," he
Herter.Herter, 44, has also completed for the Air Forcesays."At 20 miles out, I knew it was the Pentagon, and
a painting entitled, "Ground Zero, Eagles on Station," aI'm thinking: truck bomb," he said. "That's what we
re-creation of the scene of the terrorist attacks onthought most of the day, in the air. I thought, 'we're at
New York's World Trade Center Twin Towers.Thewar.' But even flying at just 700 feet, I couldn't -- no
pilot, the artist and prints of the paintings have touredone could -- see that an airliner was burning inside the
the country to rave reviews, giving Americans aPentagon. The smoke was too thick and, no one could
bird's-eye view of the magnitude of the tragedy ofconceive of that."That initial perspective, and his
that brilliant September morning.The original oilbird's-eye view of the flaming Pentagon, with so many
renderings of both scenes hang in the halls of thehistoric American sites in the background, is the focus
refurbished Pentagon in Washington D.C., alongsideof Herter's painting.Two subsequent orders confirmed
many other original art treasures depicting famousEckmann's fears of an attack. The first was to
battles and events in American military history.The Artconfirm the Pentagon was burning. The second was
of CombatHerter's mother, Diana, is president of theto identify two unknown aircraft in flight toward the
Dowagiac (Michigan) Art Guild who describes her sonPentagon. Those two aircraft turned out to be "good
as "an artist with the soul of a pilot." As a member ofguys," Eckmann says, one a Medi-Vac helicopter and
the elite Air Force Art Corps, he spent two weeksone a chopper from the local police, heading in to try to
flying with combat missions in Iraq as research forassist Pentagon victims.Eckmann immediately set off
paintings of current military actions.The fighter pilot andto "buzz the Mall," he says, or overfly the Washington
the artist are now good friends, but they didn't knowgovernment complex. His eyes scanned the ground,
each other until the Air Force called Herter insearching for a yellow truck or anything that might be
November 2001 and inquired about his interest inanother truck bomb heading for another landmark.He
painting the official 9/11 scenes.Although he gives all ofand his wingmen maintained skywatch over
his Air Force-commissioned paintings to theWashington for nearly six hours, refueling twice in-flight,
government free of charge, Herter said he neveruntil being returned to Langley for just an hour before
hesitated when asked if he would speak with theheading out again.A Final ShockAt Langley, he heard
pilots, research the events and commit the Septemberthe mechanics expressing shock and horror at "what
11 attacks to canvas."I jumped at the opportunity. Ihappened to the World Trade Center towers."I still
knew this was history," he said, pointing to thedidn't know at that point," he said. "I said, 'What towers?
"Defenders Over Washington" painting, with itsWhat happened?' And they told me the towers had
mountainous clouds of black smoke billowing upwardscollapsed, that someone had flown commercial airliners
from the Pentagon to nearly touch the underbelly ofinto them. I couldn't believe it."At home, his wife had
Eckmann's F-16.September 11: A Normal MorningThespent the frantic day fielding more than 50 phone calls
morning of 9/11 began "so normally," Eckmann says. "Ifrom friends and relatives wondering whether
was getting ready for a training mission when theEckmann was flying that day, and if so, in what aircraft
Klaxon alarm went off and we scrambled to our 'hot'and for which employer, the U. S. Air National Guard, or
(armed) planes. When you're scrambled, you get tothe commercial airline industry.Both Herter and
your jet and do what you're told."He'd heard that aEckmann say they're awed by the notion that what
plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, butthey've seen and done will inevitably become as much
assumed it was "a puddle jumper, a tourist plane, thata part of the American historical fabric as the scene
lost its way and had an accident." As a formerof George Washington crossing the Delaware River,
commercial pilot for Northwestern Airlines, Eckmannor the first film footage of the attacks on Pearl
said the idea that a fully loaded commercial jet couldHarbor."This is what no one else saw and could not
be plunged into an occupied building wassee," Herter says. "Only a handful of people ever saw
"inconceivable."We all had a false sense of security,"the immediate aftermath of the Pentagon attack and
he says. "Even on alert, before 9/11, we were focusedthis is the first sight of it. There are no aerial
on a danger coming in to us from outside, not comingphotographs of the Pentagon burning, because Dean
the inside as it happened that day. To take a(Eckmann) and his fighters did their jobs -- protected
commercial airliner full of people and force it into athe nation's capital, secured the airspace. No one else
building? No one in America could imagine anything sogot in, thanks to them.