today's video takes you inside the pentagon the nerb center for the modern us war machine and
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from the outside it looks like any other office building albeit a very large one
the world's biggest in fact there's a symmetry in the architecture five floors five rings five sides
arranged in a pentagonal shape you wouldn't know just by looking at it that contained within its
humble walls is the command apparatus for the most powerful military that the world has ever seen
the united states department of defense the words the pentagon have become shorthand for
american military power and the building itself is seen as a symbol so potent it became a target
for the worst terrorist attack ever committed on u.s soil but what is this building anyway
why was it built the way it was how does it work and what exactly goes on within its walls
during the first world war the war department at the time a cabinet department responsible for the
us army experienced an unprecedented level of growth to meet the demands of the war effort
the department quickly ran out of space in their headquarters building known as the state war navy
building because it housed all three government departments and temporary buildings were put
up all over washington d.c manpower didn't shrink after the war ended and in fact both
the war department and the navy department continued to expand in the 1920s and 1930s
running out of office space even in the temporary buildings that were put up 20
years before a new building was needed one large enough to accommodate the needs of a growing
military infrastructure commensurate with how important the united states was becoming on the
world stage a building site was chosen across the potomac river in arlington county virginia
not far from arlington national cemetery the original land site chosen was in the shape of
a pentagon so the building was designed to fit within the boundaries however a new site was
eventually settled on that did not have such space constraints but president franklin roosevelt liked
the pentagonal design because it reminded him of old-style star-shaped fortifications from
the 18th and 19th centuries ground was broken on the building in september 1941 and the speed
of construction was ramped up after the u.s entered world war one following the attack
on pearl harbor in december steele was in short supply being needed to make weapons for the war
effort so construction was done using reinforced concrete with over 650 000 tons of sand being
dredged up from the nearby river to mix with the cement the steel shortage also explains why
ramps were built instead of elevators throughout the building the local contractors ensured that
the new construction complied with virginia's segregation laws building identical bathrooms next
to each other that were supposed to be separate facilities for white and black employees however
when president roosevelt toured the site in 1942 he was unimpressed and ordered the white's only
signs be taken down when the governor of virginia complained to the president about this he replied
that although the pentagon was in virginia it was federal property and was to be staffed by
federal employees and not beholden to virginia law roosevelt got his way and for 20 years the
pentagon was the only building in virginia where segregation laws were not enforced
the unique twin bathrooms remained but have been used by everyone since they were built
construction was completed in january 1943 a remarkable feat of engineering
especially considering the drain on manpower and materials imposed on the construction by
the war the building was a behemoth to over 6.5 million square feet of floor space by far the
largest office building in the world it was also incredibly efficient since you could cut across
the central courtyard it was possible to get anywhere within the pentagon from anywhere else in
less than 10 minutes of walking much faster than if the building had been rectangular shaped the
pentagon was occupied by the war department for the remainder of the second world war when the war
ended president harry truman proposed reorganizing the armed forces of the united states into a more
streamlined command structure this was realized in 1947 when the army navy and newly created air
force were placed within the new department of defense as the biggest and newest building the
armed forces had it only made sense that the whole command structure be located in the pentagon today
the pentagon houses 25 000 military and civilian employees of the department of defense
including the secretary and deputy secretary of defense the secretaries of the army navy and air
force the joint chiefs of staff the highest ranking military officers of each branch of
service also have their offices in the pentagon the command and control structure for the entire
united states military is all located in this one massive building including the national military
command center which is where the president of the united states and the secretary of defense would
run a war should one break out it is also where the famous red telephone that connects washington
to moscow which is today actually a computer link that allows email communication is located
and it is where the president would give the orders to launch america's nuclear arsenal
should that ever become necessary the place is practically a self-contained city located
within its two below ground floors all manner of shopping facilities including restaurants
coffee shops three different banks a pharmacy a jeweler a florist hair and nail salons a
dry cleaning service a post office in a virginia department of motor vehicles branch
you can do everything from see a dentist to rent a movie without ever having to leave
the grounds of the pentagon in the center of the pentagon complex is a five-acre courtyard
well-manicured lawns gardens and big trees that remind visitors of being in a public park
it is a good place to take a break from the stressful work of running the american
military and get some fresh air in the middle of the courtyard is a cafe known colloquially
as ground zero a bit of dark humor referring to the fact that if the pentagon was ever targeted
by a nuclear missile the cafe would likely be the bull's-eye of the resulting explosion
by the time of the vietnam war the pentagon was already being viewed as more than just an office
building it was seen as a symbol of american military power both at home and abroad and because
of the important role it played in organizing and overseeing the conflict in southeast asia it
was a natural target for protesters against it on october 21 1967 a large anti-war demonstration saw
100 000 people pack the national mall around the lincoln memorial to hear speeches by luminaries
including dr benjamin spock and civil rights activist and future georgia congressman john lewis
this crowd was then led on a protest march across the river to the steps of the pentagon the crowd
is believed to have been numbered somewhere between 35 and 50 000 they were stopped by
a human barricade of soldiers from the famed 82nd airborne division who held the protesters back
bayonet point these protesters were the original flower children and trying to
demonstrate their commitment to peace by sticking flowers inside the barrels of the
soldiers guns some protesters attempted to break through to get inside the building and
the whole thing threatened to devolve into a riot soldiers and u.s marshals deployed tear gas and
some protesters were clubbed with rifle butts the drama was over by midnight but the march on the
pentagon marked a dramatic escalation in violent standoffs between anti-war demonstrators and
government authorities that would come to a head in the 1970 kent state shootings in which national
guard troops fired into a crowd of protesters at a university in ohio killing four students this
would not be the last time the pentagon would come under attack from anti-war protesters on may 19
1972 a bomb exploded in the fourth floor women's restroom of the air force wing of the building no
one was hurt but the blast caused an estimated 80 thousand dollars worth of damage and the
resulting flooding destroyed computer tapes that held classified information the bomb was placed
by a member of weather underground the radical left-wing group that was associated with militant
opposition to the war in vietnam and what they called american imperialism worldwide the group
also bombed the capitol building and the u.s state department headquarters during that same period
by the 1990s the pentagon was beginning to show its age in the 50 years that had passed since
its construction the way business was done had been completely transformed by new technology the
building predated the advent of personal computers fax machines and video teleconferencing and had
originally been designed with only one analog telephone for every three employees as time went
on the occupants of the various officers simply added whatever new technology they needed to do
their jobs on top of the existing systems creating an unplanned hodgepodge of internal infrastructure
that simply wasn't sustainable the building itself was also out of date the building
had been designed with air conditioning and had been constructed with multiple
dangerous materials including asbestos that has since been banned the office space had become
cramped and inefficient plumbing and electrical systems were out of date and not in compliance
with modern fire code and the building needed both elevators and escalators installed to facilitate
ease of movement throughout the massive building what was needed was an almost complete redesign
of the internal structure of the building without touching the exterior walls the
pentagon renovation project penren began in 1998 with one side of the building or wedge
being completely cleared out staff being moved to temporary office space located off site and the
entire vacated section being gutted and remodeled following the completion of wedge one the penren
project would systematically move around the building renovating each wedge in turn until
completed the entire remodel was expected to take 15 years to complete but an unexpected event would
throw the entire schedule into disarray and call into question the future of the pentagon itself
on september the 11th 2001 at about 9 35 in the morning the entire pentagon was on high alert
most everyone in the building knew by then that two hijacked airliners had crashed into
the twin towers of the world trade center in new york city and many people were probably watching
the live coverage of the burning buildings on tv secretary of defense donald rumsfeld was in
his office in the pentagon overseeing the initial military response to the ongoing crisis suddenly
the entire building shook violently as though hit by an earthquake but the reality
was far more horrible the third hijacked plane american airlines flight 77 had just slammed
into the west side of the pentagon flying at over 500 miles an hour this instantly
disintegrated the aircraft and sent a fireball 200 feet into the sky the plane pulverized the
outer wall of the building penetrating as far as the third ring more than 300 feet inside the jet
fuel explosion set off fires around the impact zone that eventually reached a temperature of
2 000 degrees fahrenheit many people inside the pentagon rushed to the scene of the crash
and began administering first aid to the injured they were soon joined by an army of firefighters
from arlington alexandria and washington dc who worked tirelessly to battle the ongoing blaze and
search the rubble for survivors the reinforced structure posed a problem for firefighters would
use to support the roof was burning spreading along either side of the place where the plane
had hit and firefighters were unable to get to it they eventually resorted to making fire breaks
purposefully destroying sections of the pentagon to stop the further spread of the fire less than
an hour after impact first responders were forced to evacuate the building when a huge section of
the upper floors collapsed creating a hole in the building 95 feet wide and 50 feet deep even while
the fires were still raging secretary rumsfeld was continuing to work in his pentagon office
when it was suggested that operations be moved off-site rumps felt refused and in an evening
press briefing claimed that the pentagon was still functioning in fact most workers in non-damaged
sections of the buildings returned to work as usual the next day a total of 189 people were
killed in the crash and fires at the pentagon the 64 people on board the plane including five
hijackers never stood a chance they were killed instantly their bodies found in small fragments
if they were found at all a further 125 people within the pentagon were killed 70 civilians and
55 members of the military military personnel killed or injured in the attack were considered
to be casualties of war and were awarded the purple heart medal just as they would have been if
they'd been in combat the dead included lieutenant timothy maude the us army's deputy chief of staff
personnel who was the highest-ranking military officer killed in action since world war ii
the death toll might have been much higher but for the fact that the plane happened to strike the one
section of the pentagon that already mostly been renovated by the penren project the renovations
included enhanced fire suppression systems and steel reinforcement to the internal structure
of the building to withstand bomb blasts which prevented an instantaneous collapse of the upper
floors of the damaged section and gave workers enough time to evacuate the newly installed blast
resistant windows held up during the impact and they didn't shatter preventing injuries
from flying glass as seen in the bombings in oklahoma city and nairobi because the renovations
were still ongoing only 800 people were in the section of the pentagon at the time far less
than the 4500 that usually worked there which certainly reduced the total number of victims
it was initially estimated that it would take three years to rebuild the damaged section of
the pentagon the contractors already hired to do the renovation work were given the
additional job of repairing the damage to the building which was called project phoenix the
contractors went to work with what was described as patriotic fervor with the goal of having the
damage completely repaired and reopened to employees by the first anniversary of the
attack workers completely demolished the damaged portions of the outer structure and replaced them
with identical materials so that there would be no visible seam in the building to scar it
all the new features so recently installed in the renovation were replicated project
phoenix finished ahead of schedule reopening for business only 11 months after the plane struck
the building the disaster also gave the penred project additional ideas for improvement metro
and bus terminals were moved further away from the pentagon as a security measure and
nearby roads were diverted in an arc around the building so that it wouldn't be possible for a car
or truck bomb to get close to it a new shipping and receiving center was built to provide a secure
place for deliveries to the pentagon again with the goal of not allowing vehicles to get too close
to the structure an outdoor pentagon memorial was dedicated on the 7th anniversary of the attack in
2008 with 184 benches each engraved with the name of a victim on it penren was completed in 2010
four years ahead of schedule even allowing for the extra time needed to rebuild the wrecked section
from the attack the pentagon is now considered completely up to modern standards for an office
building while still maintaining its place on the national register of historic places with
its historic facade in addition to the structural improvements a new gym and library were also built
to better serve the employees that work in the building every day tours of the building have
been offered to visitors in the past though these have been suspended due to the covert 19 pandemic
the pentagon continues to remain like no rod for controversy and descent it is common in military
parlance to refer to decisions and instructions made by senior military officials as coming from
the pentagon just as an order from the president is said to have come from the white house
in this way the building itself is so closely associated with the work contained within it
that it will be impossible to separate one from the other with this in mind it makes sense that
when a group of 15 000 protesters organized in washington dc in 2007 to voice their disapproval
with the ongoing iraq war ended their march in front of the pentagon evoking the spirit
of the anti-war demonstrations from 40 years before unlike those protests however this one
ended peacefully while there hasn't been a major terrorist incident at the pentagon since september
the 11th the building's status as a symbol of american military power has inspired some violent
incidents perpetrated by lone wolf offenders in 2010 a man approached a security checkpoint at
the pentagon metro station pulled out a gun and opened fire wounding two police officers before
being killed in an exchange of gunfire the man had expressed extremist views online about the
american government including the military being too large and tyrannical on august 3
2021 in an incident still being investigated the time we're making this video a mentally disturbed
man got off a bus near the pentagon and attacked police officer george gonzalez fatally stabbing
him before being shot to death by other officers gonzalez is one of two pentagon police officers to
be killed in the line of duty in the 80 years since the pentagon was built it has gone from
being a mere office building to something more the nerve center of the entire united states military
is run out of this unique five-sided building in fact in a major crisis such as a war
all the essential functions of governments can be conducted there but it is perhaps more important
as a symbol of the power and might of the u.s defense apparatus just as the world trade center
was a symbol of american commerce being such a symbol makes it vulnerable to another attack
but it is believed that with the lessons learned from september the 11th that a similar tragedy
won't happen again and the pentagon will continue to be a home base for the department of defense
for decades to come america's modern military fortress so i really hope you enjoyed this
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