Hyattsville Man Reflects On 911 at the Pentagon

When David Whidden, a now retired Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police officer,  heard about the death of , he was very cautiously optimistic.

“My biggest thought in reference to bin Laden is yeah, he’s dead, whoopee! But there’s still a hell of a lot more work to do,” he said. A lot more time and a lot more effort and a lot more inconvenience for us because it’s not over. There are a lot of people over there who don’t like us and want to kill us.”

Whidden, a Hyattsville resident, was off duty when the first Sept. 11, 2001 happened in New York City, but once he heard the news about American Airlines flight 11 crashing into the World Trade Center’s north tower and saw media reports of United Airlines flight 175 hitting the south tower, he sprung into action and headed into work.

“ I was taking a bath listening to the news and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing about a plane going into the world trade tower,” he said.

Then plane two hit.

“I thought that can’t be a rerun … which means it’s no accident. Let me get my butt to work.”

Whidden, who retired in late 2004, went into work early. He was a member of the civil disturbance unit in the department and along with his team was deployed at the Pentagon for the week.

“It was interesting for the first half hour,” he said. “Then it got boring.”

As for emotion on the ground, Whidden said he mainly saw determination on the part of law enforcement to get the job done.

“I’m sure many of them are seeing this as vindication,” he said of the first responders involved that day. “You know, ‘If you mess with us, we’re going to get you.’ My thoughts on it are much more [like] yeah we found the guy that was responsible. He’s no longer a threat for us. I’m not really happy or elated about it because I know there’s still a lot more to do.”

Whidden has lived in Hyattsville for at least 10 years.

“Morale is up, everyone feels good,” he said of feelings since bin Laden’s death was reported. “I’m sure amongst the powers that be, the people who are doing the work have got my attitude.

“Yeah this is good but it’s just one little clog in the mechanism. There’s a lot more to do.

He said he supports the War on Terror.

“Unfortunately history has taught us that [sometimes] war is the only answer,” he said.