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

Maj. Dean Eckmann is a soft-spoken North Dakotahe was originally ordered to "heading 010," and
native whose lifelong love for military aviationimmediately recognized it as New York. In retrospect,
transformed him, in one profound moment onalthough he was unaware of it at the time, he says
September 11, 2001, into what he acknowledges toat the moment he took off from Langley, a second
be "an eyewitness to history, to the day thatairliner was plowing into the second tower at the
changed all of America, forever."On the morning of 9WTC.En route to Manhattan, Eckmann received a
11, Eckmann, 36, was with his Fargo-based 119threvised order and a new heading, which he
Fighter Pilot Wing at Virginia's Langley Air Force Baserecognized as Washington D. C. Still, he was relatively
for a routine week-long 'alert dispatch' to protectunworried, he says, still being 75 miles away and with
seven American sites tagged, in "post-Cold War andno smoke yet visible on the horizon. He associated
pre-9/11 naivete," he says, as potential targets.At theonly the apparent trouble in New York with his new
unmistakable blare of a Klaxon horn, he abandonedheading and assumed he'd be "flying CAP" -- Combat
his scheduled training mission and was ordered to hisAir Patrol -- over Washington as a preventive
fully armed fighter jet, and became the first pilotmeasure.At 50 to 60 miles out of Washington,
scrambled to fly over -- just 700 feet over -- theEckmann got his first sight of smoke -- thick black
flame-engulfed Pentagon just about four minutessmoke -- pouring across the Potomac."The black
after terrorists attacked.He and two wingmen spentsmoke worried me. Usually, you'll see grey smoke or
more than five hours that day, securing andwhite smoke in a typical accident or industrial fire.
protecting miles of Washington D. C. airspace, theBlack smoke means very bad things."The Smoke's
White House, Washington Memorial, JeffersonSource: The PentagonFlying high, still miles out and
Memorial, Capitol Building and other Americanunable to make out buildings or structures, he
landmarks, from the ground up to 30,000 feet in thesearched his memory, he says, to identify the
air.His perspective of the horrors of that tragic day,smoke's source. At 35 miles out, as oceans of smoke
viewed from the cockpit of his F-16 fighter, has beencontinued to pour from the site, he realized the
captured for future generations and history books inunknown horror was taking place somewhere near
the Air Force-commissioned painting, "First Pass:the Pentagon: "an accident at Reagan National
Defenders Over Washington" by artist RickAirport, perhaps," he says."At 20 miles out, I knew it
Herter.Herter, 44, has also completed for the Airwas the Pentagon, and I'm thinking: truck bomb," he
Force a painting entitled, "Ground Zero, Eagles onsaid. "That's what we thought most of the day, in
Station," a re-creation of the scene of the terroristthe air. I thought, 'we're at war.' But even flying at
attacks on New York's World Trade Center Twinjust 700 feet, I couldn't -- no one could -- see that
Towers.The pilot, the artist and prints of thean airliner was burning inside the Pentagon. The
paintings have toured the country to rave reviews,smoke was too thick and, no one could conceive of
giving Americans a bird's-eye view of the magnitudethat."That initial perspective, and his bird's-eye view
of the tragedy of that brilliant Septemberof the flaming Pentagon, with so many historic
morning.The original oil renderings of both scenesAmerican sites in the background, is the focus of
hang in the halls of the refurbished Pentagon inHerter's painting.Two subsequent orders confirmed
Washington D.C., alongside many other original artEckmann's fears of an attack. The first was to
treasures depicting famous battles and events inconfirm the Pentagon was burning. The second was
American military history.The Art of CombatHerter'sto identify two unknown aircraft in flight toward the
mother, Diana, is president of the DowagiacPentagon. Those two aircraft turned out to be "good
(Michigan) Art Guild who describes her son as "anguys," Eckmann says, one a Medi-Vac helicopter and
artist with the soul of a pilot." As a member of theone a chopper from the local police, heading in to try
elite Air Force Art Corps, he spent two weeks flyingto assist Pentagon victims.Eckmann immediately set
with combat missions in Iraq as research for paintingsoff to "buzz the Mall," he says, or overfly the
of current military actions.The fighter pilot and theWashington government complex. His eyes scanned
artist are now good friends, but they didn't knowthe ground, searching for a yellow truck or anything
each other until the Air Force called Herter inthat might be another truck bomb heading for
November 2001 and inquired about his interest inanother landmark.He and his wingmen maintained
painting the official 9/11 scenes.Although he gives allskywatch over Washington for nearly six hours,
of his Air Force-commissioned paintings to therefueling twice in-flight, until being returned to Langley
government free of charge, Herter said he neverfor just an hour before heading out again.A Final
hesitated when asked if he would speak with theShockAt Langley, he heard the mechanics expressing
pilots, research the events and commit theshock and horror at "what happened to the World
September 11 attacks to canvas."I jumped at theTrade Center towers."I still didn't know at that point,"
opportunity. I knew this was history," he said,he said. "I said, 'What towers? What happened?' And
pointing to the "Defenders Over Washington"they told me the towers had collapsed, that
painting, with its mountainous clouds of black smokesomeone had flown commercial airliners into them. I
billowing upwards from the Pentagon to nearly touchcouldn't believe it."At home, his wife had spent the
the underbelly of Eckmann's F-16.September 11: Afrantic day fielding more than 50 phone calls from
Normal MorningThe morning of 9/11 began "sofriends and relatives wondering whether Eckmann
normally," Eckmann says. "I was getting ready for awas flying that day, and if so, in what aircraft and
training mission when the Klaxon alarm went off andfor which employer, the U. S. Air National Guard, or
we scrambled to our 'hot' (armed) planes. Whenthe commercial airline industry.Both Herter and
you're scrambled, you get to your jet and do whatEckmann say they're awed by the notion that what
you're told."He'd heard that a plane had crashed intothey've seen and done will inevitably become as
the World Trade Center, but assumed it was "amuch a part of the American historical fabric as the
puddle jumper, a tourist plane, that lost its way andscene of George Washington crossing the Delaware
had an accident." As a former commercial pilot forRiver, or the first film footage of the attacks on
Northwestern Airlines, Eckmann said the idea that aPearl Harbor."This is what no one else saw and could
fully loaded commercial jet could be plunged into annot see," Herter says. "Only a handful of people ever
occupied building was "inconceivable."We all had asaw the immediate aftermath of the Pentagon
false sense of security," he says. "Even on alert,attack and this is the first sight of it. There are no
before 9/11, we were focused on a danger coming inaerial photographs of the Pentagon burning, because
to us from outside, not coming the inside as itDean (Eckmann) and his fighters did their jobs --
happened that day. To take a commercial airliner fullprotected the nation's capital, secured the airspace.
of people and force it into a building? No one inNo one else got in, thanks to them.
America could imagine anything so evil."Eckmann says