Pentagon hosts 9/11 tours

Dick Benoit

Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005 | 8:20 a.m.

The Pentagon Memorial site and the America's Heroes Memorial located inside the building will be opened to the public for the first time since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT.

Honor Guard tour guides will lead tours and take questions during this special four-hour period. A model of the proposed Pentagon Memorial will also be on display.

For travelers planning trips to Washington, D.C., information on regular hours and tour schedules to follow is available at the Pentagon Tours office at (703) 697-1776.

Travelers who wish to tour the Pentagon should be aware that tours are provided on a first come, first served basis, and because of security measures, no photography is allowed on the Pentagon reservation.

Also, visitors are asked to not bring large backpacks with them on the tour.

Washington visitors are encouraged to take the Metro to the Pentagon stop on the Blue and Yellow lines. Visitors driving their own or rental vehicles must park in local commercial lots in Pentagon City and approach the Pentagon by the Hayes Street parking lot tunnel.

Freedom Calls

Keeping in touch with friends and family at home is always a challenge during deployments. According to Marine Corps journalist Cpl. James D. Hamel with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, though communications in combat zones have evolved, some still find it difficult to contact people they care about.

Freedom Calls Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded to keep military personnel closer to those they love, is taking the next step in wartime communications, says Hamel. Faced with extended tours of duty, our front line soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are not able to speak with members of their families for months at a time, the organization says on its Web site.

"This breakdown of family communication needlessly contributes to the stress experienced by our soldiers and their (loved ones)."

The foundation sets up Internet accessible computers, phone centers and video teleconferencing sites in Iraq and Afghanistan. Currently, it has sites in three areas of Iraq, but it hopes to eventually expand to more than 200 sites.

One of the three sites is in Al Asad, where Master Sgt. Robert I. Borgerding from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing communications office has been running video teleconferences with the Freedom Call system.

"We've done three births where Marines were able to see their newborn babies the day after they were born," the Dyersville, Iowa, native said. "To be able to see (a newborn baby) while deployed is unbelievable."

Freedom Calls Foundation, says Borgerding, can survive and grow only through the support of individual citizens and companies. For information on how to help the organization go to http://www.freedomcalls.org/

In brief

N.J. She participated in a vigorous training curriculum consisting of academics and practical instruction on water safety and survival, military customs and courtesies, seamanship skills, first aid, fire fighting and marksmanship.