Freedom's Barr shaken by Pentagon attack

Emmy Barr of the Freedom felt the impact of the attack on the Pentagon. Eliot J. Schechter/Allsport

By Jennifer Pfluke

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Tuesday, Sept. 11, dawned like any other morning for Washington Freedom defender Emmy Barr. Driving home somewhere around 10 a.m., she noticed a great deal of congestion on highway 110, which passes directly by the Pentagon. But she didn't give it much thought.

"I was thinking, 'Why is there so much traffic?'" she said. "And then I said to myself, 'Gosh, I'm glad I'm not in that.' And I kept driving."

When Barr arrived in her apartment she turned on the TV. That's when she learned of the horrific attack on New York's World Trade Center earlier that morning. She couldn't believe what she was hearing as she listened to the accounts of the two commercial planes slamming into the twin towers 18 minutes apart.

"[The news anchors] were talking about how it was a terrorist attack, and I started to get a little nervous, so I kept watching," she said. "It must've been two minutes from when I walked in the door that they said, 'Oh my gosh, the Pentagon's been hit.'"

Barr, who lives not even a mile-and-a-half from the hulking building, said she immediately reached for the phone to call her mother, who lives in Sacramento. As Mrs. Barr answered, an explosion rocked the apartment complex and the surrounding area.

"It was so loud, and it shook this whole place so hard, that I thought something around here, or even my apartment complex, had been hit, and I started crying." Barr admitted. "My mom was still on the other line, and she said, 'Emmy, settle down.' And I told her, 'Mom, I think we're going to die here.'"

"Helpless" was the only word Barr could use as she related how it felt sitting in her apartment, alone. Her two roommates, Justi Baumgardt and Krista Davey, had gone to their homes, Davey in Texas, Baumgardt in Washington state. There was not much Barr could do, except sit on the couch and watch the news of the devastation unfold before her. Cell phone signals were spotty at best, and telephone lines across the city were down.

She finally got through to her mother again, but the news wasn't good.

"I said, 'Mom, I don't know what to do,' and she told me there was more bad news, that there was another plane on its way to D.C. right then," Barr said. "I didn't know what to do. I felt so helpless. You can't go anywhere -- you don't want to go outside -- so I just sat there."

Later that evening, at around six o'clock, after the fear of more attacks had been somewhat quelled, Barr decided to walk over to the Pentagon to get a first-hand look at what she says TV made "look good."

"I went up to the top of a hill where you could see really well down where the plane had hit," she said. "The TV just didn't explain it -- it's so much bigger than it looked [on TV]. It was still on fire, and the air was smoky. I didn't realize how many rings there were inside. I thought it was just the one on the outside. But when you look inside, you can see where the plane took it all out."

Even now, three days after the attack, its effects are still blatantly felt around the city. Unrelenting sirens of police, fire, and other emergency vehicles fill the air, and it seems the inhabitants of D.C. and the surrounding areas are still reluctant to go out.

"Around the Pentagon and around Interstate 395, there are military vehicles," Barr explained. "[Highway] 110 is still blocked off. Police are everywhere with their sirens and their lights are on. Last night when I drove into the city, it wasn't like it usually was. Hardly anyone is out."

Barr says that like in New York, the citizens seem to be pulling together in a demonstration of unity and civic pride as they face the challenge of rebuilding and recovery.

"I kind of feel like people are a little nicer," she said. "Just driving-the traffic's been horrible, but it doesn't seem like anyone is honking or anything like that. Everyone really seems to be trying to come together."

Even with the initial shock of Tuesday's tragedy wearing off, Barr says she still feels a spirit of fear, as do many Americans.

"I'm just kind of scared about what's going to happen next," she said. "Krista, is supposed to fly back here [Thursday], and I don't think she'll be allowed to. It's just kind of scary now when you have to go on an airplane. I don't think I want to."

Athletic events across the country have been canceled out of respect for those missing or lost in the attacks. The National Football League has canceled events through Sunday while Major League Baseball has cancelled three consecutive days of games, something that hasn't occurred since World War I. Major League Soccer has the rest of its regular season schedule, and the remainder of the 2001 Nike U.S. Women's Cup has been canceled.

Likewise, the NCAA has also postponed or canceled all events at least through Friday.

Barr says she is in total support of the decision.

"I think it's appropriate, and I don't see how anyone could play," she said. "As a player, I know I couldn't have played. I don't know if I'd be playing well for one thing, and I don't know that I'd feel right playing because of everything that's happening."

Though Tuesday's catastrophic events have affected Barr in a way that not many of us can ever comprehend, she believes that it does help to relate her experiences.

"I'm more than happy to talk about it because I don't think people understand just how we felt here, being so close," she said. "I didn't think I was going to live because I thought more were going to come."

America is just now delving into the torturous healing process that will certainly not be achieved any time soon. Though many of us may not know personally one of the victims, which, when all is said and done, may number over 5,000, as Barr said, "Everyone has been touched by this."

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