In the hours after a hijacked jetliner crashed into the Pentagon, a Baptist chaplain moved among the injured, offering prayers and words of comfort to the hurting.
And as he ministered, it dawned on him that a 20-minute coffee break and God’s grace were all that kept him from being a victim.
Brigadier General Charles Baldwin, deputy chief of the United States Air Force chaplain service, was in a basement cafeteria of the Pentagon at 9:30 a.m. (EST) Sept. 11. He planned to enjoy a cup of coffee and a few minutes of quiet between early morning meetings.
“I had just paid for my latte when somebody came in and said, ‘We’ve been bombed,’ ” Baldwin said. “Had it been 20 minutes later, I would have been on the fifth floor of the opposite side of the building, where the plane crashed.”
Immediately, he felt torn between his sense of calling and his duty to follow orders to evacuate.
“My first thought was, ‘Which way should I go?’ I felt like I needed to go toward those who were harmed, but security wouldn’t let us go. I felt a certain amount of guilt growing out of this need to be present immediately among the wounded,” he said.
Some chaplains who were in the basement near the crash site helped carry the injured on litters to ambulances.
When doctors turned a nearby hotel into a medical receiving area, Baldwin found his place of ministry, praying with the evacuated injured.
After comforting the wounded, he returned to the Pentagon to counsel firefighters and rescue workers.
“They were trying to put out the fire so rescue teams could be sent in, but they never let anyone in to attempt rescue,” he said. “There was a tremendous fireball and billowing smoke, and the building was too unstable.
“The firefighters were the main ones to whom we ministered. We prayed with them and asked them if we could contact any family members.”
Although they were urged not to come, some family members of Pentagon personnel could not resist standing vigil at the crash site.
“Chaplains took the family members aside. They prayed, talked and tried to console them,” Baldwin said.
Thirty-five chaplains, representing all branches of the armed services and including several Baptists, ministered at the scene. When a family receiving area was established, the chaplains set up a rotating schedule to provide an around-the-clock presence.
Chaplains helped those who wrestled with questions of God’s existence and involvement in human affairs in the light of such unspeakable horror.
“The constant message one delivers is simple. God does not leave us when evil rises up. He is with us.” (ABP)
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