September 11th At the White House

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Gary Walters was the Chief Usher at the White House and preparing for the evenings activity: the annual Congressional Picnic on the South Grounds. As the events of the morning unfolded, Walters and key staff members worked to clear the picnic tables from the grounds for the presidents certain return. When staff were told to evacuate to Lafayette Park, Walters told his own staff to go north, not south, because he felt that if a plane was headed for the White House, the approach would be from the south, endangering those in Lafayette Park. Walters says he is convinced that the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania was actually heading for the White House, and not the Capitol, as many believe. -CSPAN

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