{"id":1297,"date":"2026-09-26T06:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T06:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/?p=1297"},"modified":"2026-09-26T06:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T06:11:12","slug":"untold-stories-of-9-11-new-book-ash-and-honor-examines-the-devastating-attacks-through-the-eyes-of-those-on-the-front-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/?p=1297","title":{"rendered":"Untold Stories of 9\/11: New Book "Ash and Honor" Examines the Devastating Attacks Through the Eyes of Those on the Front Lines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-five years after the tragic events that reshaped modern history, a new book titled Ash and Honor<\/em> by author Jeffrey Robinson offers a meticulous, minute-by-minute account of the military, national security, and aviation response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Ahead of the milestone 25th anniversary, the book brings to light the perspectives of more than 60 individuals whose stories have never been told before. Ranging from the Secret Service agents tasked with safeguarding President George W. Bush to the fighter jet pilots facing perilous missions, Robinson\u2019s work explores the human side of a day that changed the world forever.<\/p>\n

Chapter 1<\/h3>\n

American Airlines Flight 11.<\/p>\n

In the cockpit of the Boeing 767-223ER that morning, scheduled to fly from Boston to Los Angeles with seventy-six passengers and eleven crew members aboard, was fifty-two-year-old Captain John Ogonowski from Dracut, Massachusetts, a devoted husband and father of three daughters. Sharing the flight deck was the first officer, forty-two-year-old Thomas McGuinness Jr. of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who left behind a wife and two daughters.<\/p>\n

Air Traffic Control attempted routine communications as the flight progressed:
\n\u201cAmerican eleven, if you hear Boston Center, ah, recontact Boston Center on one two seven point eight two, that\u2019s American eleven one two seven eight two.\u201d
\n\u201cAmerican eleven, American one one, Boston.\u201d
\n\u201cAmerican eleven, if you hear Boston Center, ident please.\u201d
\n\u201cAmerican eleven, Boston.\u201d
\n\u201cAmerican eleven, American one one, how do you hear the center?\u201d<\/p>\n

The voice of hijacker Mohamed Atta, now controlling the aircraft, broke through: \u201cAmerican eleven, Boston.\u201d
\nAir Traffic Control responded: \u201cIs that American eleven trying to call?\u201d
\nMohamed Atta responded with a garbled transmission, followed by a chilling directive: \u201cWe have some planes. Just stay quiet and you\u2019ll be okay. We are returning to the airport.\u201d
\nAir Traffic Control repeatedly questioned who was trying to call before Atta came on the frequency again: \u201cNobody move. Everything will be okay. If you try to make any moves, you\u2019ll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet.\u201d
\n\u201cNobody move please. We are going back to the airport. Don\u2019t try to make any stupid moves.\u201d<\/p>\n

At time stamp 8:46:40, silence fell.<\/p>\n

\n

On Monday, September 10, President George W. Bush traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, to deliver a speech at a Republican fundraiser. Following the event, he flew to Sarasota and traveled by a twenty-mile motorcade to the exclusive Colony Beach and Tennis Resort on Longboat Key, a barrier island along the Gulf of Mexico, where he enjoyed dinner with friends and stayed overnight.<\/p>\n

While the Tampa office of the Secret Service handled the bulk of the logistical planning for the presidential visit, Dave Wilkinson\u2014the agent assigned as the second shift supervisor\u2014flew down a day prior to walk through every minute of the itinerary. It did not take long for Wilkinson to discover a significant complication: the beach carried an overpowering odor.<\/p>\n

President Bush was an avid runner who maintained a strict routine of running at least three miles whenever he traveled. The initial plan for Longboat Key involved running along the shore. However, the area was experiencing a red tide\u2014a seasonal harmful algae bloom that discolors coastal waters, destroys marine life, and litters the shoreline with decaying fish. The stench proved entirely unmanageable.<\/p>\n

In response, Wilkinson organized an alternative route on a nearby golf course. He inspected the grounds using a golf cart, designated strategic positions for fellow agents along the fairways and greens, and confirmed security measures before radioing senior shift supervisor Eddie Marinzel to report that the course was secure.<\/p>\n

That Monday evening, after dinner, Marinzel asked the president if he planned on running the following morning. Bush confirmed he did. When asked about the time, the president specified six o’clock. <\/p>\n

Both Marinzel and Wilkinson possessed extensive experience within the Presidential Protective Division, dating back to the administration of Ronald Reagan. Under past commanders, a stated time of six o’clock reliably meant six o’clock. With Bush, however, the security detail had learned that six o’clock could mean 5:45, or potentially 5:30. Consequently, Marinzel and the running detail positioned themselves and remained ready by 5:15. President Bush emerged at 5:20.<\/p>\n

Colonel Mark Tillman held the official title of commander of the VC-25 Special Air Mission. However, whenever the commander-in-chief stepped on board, Tillman served as the chief pilot, and the aircraft officially became Air Force One.<\/p>\n

Raised in Hollywood, Florida, Tillman entered the United States Air Force through the Reserve Officers\u2019 Training Corps (ROTC) at Tulane University, where he initially pursued a degree in chemical engineering. The Air Force subsequently assigned him to the Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, positioning him as the junior officer alongside twenty-two civilian specialists in the propulsion shop. After interacting with a fellow staff member who previously piloted C-5 cargo planes, Tillman recognized that earning his pilot wings could present opportunities for global travel. He applied for pilot training, gained acceptance, and graduated as what the military termed "late rated."<\/p>\n

Unlike his peers, who typically graduated as first lieutenants, Tillman\u2019s accumulated service time meant he graduated directly as a captain. Furthermore, while many of his classmates pursued fighter aircraft, he gravitated toward larger transport planes, hoping to pilot a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft. Because he completed flight training with a fighter attack reconnaissance rating, the Air Force initially assigned him back to flight school to serve as an instructor.<\/p>\n

When he eventually transitioned to flying C-130s, his travel ambitions materialized as he flew routes across the globe. However, taking place during the Iran-Contra era\u2014marked by secret arms sales to Iran and the illegal diversion of funds to Contra rebels in Nicaragua\u2014his deployments routinely centered on Central American locations such as Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua rather than European capitals.<\/p>\n

Seeking a change of pace, Tillman applied for an opening with the 89th Airlift Wing stationed at Andrews Air Force Base. He successfully interviewed and secured a position within the VIP Unit, spending the subsequent two years piloting government Gulfstream III aircraft internationally.<\/p>\n

An opening subsequently arose for Air Force One. Tillman interviewed successfully once again and joined the crew. The VC-25 was fundamentally a heavily modified Boeing 747-200 constructed specifically to transport the president. The aircraft featured more powerful engines for increased airspeed, midair refueling capabilities, advanced communication suites, and integrated self-defense countermeasures. Despite these distinct enhancements, the aircraft shared enough commonalities with standard commercial models that Air Force One pilots trained alongside commercial airline crews on standard Boeing 747 simulators.<\/p>\n

The aircraft maintained a standard crew of approximately twenty-nine personnel, including ten flight attendants, five radio operators, two navigators, three pilots, and an onboard eight-man security detachment. aviation protocol dictates that the call sign "Air Force One" travels with the president rather than the physical aircraft; any plane carrying the commander-in-chief assumes that designation.<\/p>\n

Standard security protocols stipulated that Air Force One never landed at an unfamiliar destination carrying the president without prior reconnaissance. If the itinerary involved traveling to a remote location, the flight crew routinely flew to the destination in advance to evaluate the terrain and practice arrivals and departures.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, presidential travel consistently involved a designated backup aircraft. On the morning of September 11, 2001, the backup consisted of a Boeing 757 positioned at Patrick Air Force Base near the Kennedy Space Center on Florida\u2019s eastern coast. The secondary aircraft was scheduled to take off concurrently with Air Force One and maintain a distance of roughly one hundred miles as a safeguard against potential mechanical issues, while also functioning as a decoy against possible aerial tracking. Additional support aircraft frequently included a tanker for midair refueling, an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) plane for heightened surveillance, and an E-4B "Doomsday Plane" configured to operate as an airborne command center for the military.<\/p>\n

An operational distinction between commercial aviation and Air Force One involved meal protocols. Commercial flight decks routinely practiced split meals\u2014where the captain and first officer consumed entirely different, sealed food packages prepared by independent sources to mitigate the risk of simultaneous food poisoning. On Air Force One, meals were prepared onboard by chefs cleared by the Secret Service to feed the president, allowing cockpit crews to share identical menus. Tillman personally bypassed menu selections by simply requesting whatever meal was prepared for President Bush, noting that they shared similar preferences for straightforward, traditional cooking.<\/p>\n

Upon arriving at the aircraft that morning, Tillman was greeted on the tarmac by Senior Master Sergeant Will Chandler. Standing roughly six-foot-four and weighing nearly 240 pounds, Chandler commanded the aircraft’s security detail and cultivated an imposing presence, marked by a distinct scar stretching from his ear across his neck from a teenage knife altercation. Chandler was known among the crew for expressing a complete lack of fear regarding mortality, making him, in Tillman’s estimation, an ideal leader for presidential security operations.<\/p>\n

President Bush and Chandler shared a close professional rapport. Chandler consistently positioned himself at the base of the mobile stairs during arrivals and departures to monitor the perimeter. President Bush frequently remarked that seeing Chandler stationed at the foot of the stairs provided a sense of absolute security\u2014a reassurance that was about to be shattered.<\/p>\n

\n

Barbara Ritchwood, a thirty-two-year-old resident of Jersey City, New Jersey, began her morning at 5:30 with her typical internal debate before pushing herself out of bed to prepare for the workday. <\/p>\n

After completing her routine, she donned her violet-blue medical scrubs, grabbed a quick snack, kissed her Pomeranian dog goodbye, and walked across the street to board the 6:06 PATH train. The transit line carried her directly beneath the Hudson River into the underground station situated four levels below the World Trade Center complex on the Manhattan side.<\/p>\n

Navigating the subterranean shopping mall that served as the primary thoroughfare from the station, Ritchwood routinely paused outside the display windows of the closed Rolex boutique and the Century 21 department store before ascending to street level at Church Street near the Millennium Hotel.<\/p>\n

From there, she entered the New York City Subway system to catch a northbound #4 express train to Forty-Second Street, where she transferred to a #6 local train. Exiting at the Sixty-Eighth Street station near Hunter College, she walked four blocks east toward York Avenue to the twelve-story Greenberg Pavilion at the New York-Presbyterian\/Weill Cornell Medical Center. <\/p>\n

Arriving on the eighth floor at the Burn Intensive Care Unit, she prepared to join the incoming day shift staff as they gathered to relieve the overnight personnel for a standard twelve-hour shift under a clear, cloudless morning sky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty-five years after the tragic events that reshaped modern history, a new book titled Ash and Honor by author Jeffrey Robinson offers a meticulous, minute-by-minute account of the military, national security, and aviation response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Ahead of the milestone 25th anniversary, the book brings to light the perspectives of more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[228],"tags":[230,960,828,2122,231,2121,2123,2124,126,229,829,1397,660,1497],"class_list":["post-1297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eastern-heritage-and-history","tag-archaeology","tag-attacks","tag-book","tag-devastating","tag-eastern-culture","tag-examines","tag-eyes","tag-front","tag-heritage","tag-history","tag-honor","tag-lines","tag-stories","tag-untold"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}