Newspaper Page Text
Page 2A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Post 197's Stephen Golias shares Patriot Day story
During the Patriot
Day program hosted by
American Legion Post 197
on the courthouse square,
participants saw memori
als to all those who lost
their lives in the terrorist
attacks, observed a mo
ment of silence and heard
the 9-11 FDNY/NYPD last
call and taps and learned
about a Concord resi
dent’s service on that fate
ful day of Sept. 11, 2001.
“In 2001, our nation,
united under God, made
an unbreakable promise
never to forget the 2,977
innocent Americans who
were senselessly killed
on Sept. 11. On the 20th
anniversary of this sacred
day - Patriot Day - we sol
emnly honor that commit
ment. In cities and towns
across our great country,
we stand in solidarity to
remember the victims and
mourn their stolen lives,”
said American Legion
Post 197 commander Paul
Chatterton during his
opening remarks.
Post 197 adjutant and
veteran Stephen Golias
enlisted in the U.S. Air
Force in 1977 as a Fire
Protection Specialist and
served at Andersen Air
Force Base, at Myrtle
Beach Air Force Base
and Andrews Air Force
Base in Washington DC.
He served four and a half
years in the Air Force
then joined the Washing
ton DC Air National Guard
where he served as a full
time National Guardsman
for 20 more years. In 2001,
Steve reverted to National
Guard part time status for
an additional two years
and retired as a Master
Sergeant in 2003.
“With my electronics
and radar background,
I was able to apply for
and accepted a position
with the Federal Aviation
Administration, (FAA) as a
surveillance radar special
ist in July 2001 at Dulles
International Airport,
addressed Washington
D.C. On the morning of
Sept. 11, 2001, at approxi
mately 8:30 a.m., 1 was at
my Dulles International
Airport radar site per
forming my pre-scheduled
daily certification op
erational checks on the
ASR-9 surveillance radar
with Mode-S. The ASR-9
is a newer model of FAA
surveillance radars with a
55 mile operational range.
The ASR-9 radar in itself
gives the Air Traffic Con
trollers the distance and
bearing and heading of an
aircraft, while combined
with the Mode-S gives
the altitude, speed and
aircraft squawk identifi
cation, (IFF) for an exact
location and identification
of the aircraft in real time.
IFF stands for: Identifica
tion, Friend or Foe. Every
aircraft flying that has
made a pre-flight flight
plan, be it military or civil
ian, the IFF transmits a
pre-determined numbered
frequency code specific to
that aircraft that is shown
on the Air Traffic Con
troller’s radar screen to
uniquely identify it within
their 55 mile controlled
air space range,” said
Golias. “While at the radar
site, at approximately
8:50 a.m., I was called on
my radio and told that a
small Cessna aircraft had
accidently flown into one
of the World Trade Center
Towers, a few minutes
earlier. At the time, it
was no big deal, just an
unfortunate errant rookie
pilot who got caught up
in an updraft and severe
crosswind. Moments
later it was confirmed
that it was indeed a much
larger aircraft, but not yet
identified. Still just a few
minutes later, another
report was made that
another large aircraft
had hit the second tower
and both towers were on
fire. The first tower strike
was actually a Boeing 767
American Airlines Flight
II at 8:46 a.m. The second
strike was a Boeing 767
United Airlines flight 175
at 9:02 a.m. Still at the
radar site, myself and
all other Dulles special
ists were notified that
another aircraft that had
taken off from Dulles had
diverted from its flight
plan, going to Los Angeles
and now heading back to
Washington D.C. Ameri
- General Cardiology
- Preventive Cardiology Care
- Non-lnvasive Imaging
- Risk Factor Management
Dr. Donisto join
Upson Cardiology
September 27th!
H CARDIOLOGY
612. W. Gordon St. (Suite C)
Thomaston, Ga
Joshua Donis, M.D.
706-646-5712
for legal purposes to Air
Traffic Control manage
ment and authorities, we
noticed a very lucid pilot
on take-off; then several
minutes into the flight, the
language and articulation
of the pilot changed and
was noted to sound like
the pilot was drunk and
stuttering. It was at this
time that we surmised
the cabin crew had been
hijacked and had lost
control of the aircraft,”
said Golias. “The next
few days at Dulles was a
very surreal experience.
Nothing was happening,
no movement, no noise,
no contrails, no passen
gers, an empty concourse,
complete silence. The
only authorized aircraft
PHOTO BY JOHN ELLIS
Post 197 Adjutant and veteran Stephen Golias of Concord was part of the military response on Sept. 11,2001 in Washington, DC.
can Airlines Flight 77 was
heading East and was not
in communication with
Air Traffic Controllers.
Being at the radar site, I
saw an aircraft squawking
an IFF code belonging to
American Airlines flight
77, a Boeing 757. As I
watched it follow the path
of the Potomac River into
D.C., I saw the IFF code
stop transmitting, and
it became just a moving
blip on the screen. The
landmass of the D.C. area
is programmed into the
radar screens for the
Air Traffic Controllers
so they can follow the
planes at lower altitudes
into known geographical
landmarks so as to give
updates on any new land
ing procedural informa
tion. Being familiar with
the routes of aircraft fly
ing into and out of the DC
area, I was watching the
path of American Airlines
Flight 77 (or just a blip
as it is now). It was flying
East over the path of the
Potomac river. Recogniz
ing the flying path into the
DC area and the Northern
Virginia, Arlington area, I
knew the locations of the
White House, the Capitol
Building and Pentagon. At
approximately 9:37 a.m.
that morning, I observed
the ‘blip’ disappear from
the screen in the immedi
ate vicinity of the Penta
gon. Shortly thereafter, I
was called on my radio
to immediately stop all
radar operational checks
and to return to the office.
We had learned that the
aircraft had struck the
Pentagon on the east side
with no survivors and
multiple ground fatalities
and casualties. Had the
aircraft overshot the Pen
tagon and turned around
and struck from the
west side (the Riverside
Entrance), it would have
taken out all the Joint
Chiefs and a lot more of
the top military leaders
as a Joint Chief’s meeting
was in session.”
During his 15 minutes
travel time from the
radar site to his office
in the terminal, Golias
saw all aircraft at Dulles
International come to a
complete ground stop. He
said it was eerie to see the
airport evacuated with
no passengers or work
ers and he tried to call
his brother who worked
at the Pentagon but all
phone lines were down.
He later found out his
brother was not there at
the time.
“As a surveillance spe
cialist (radar, ground com
munications and video)
at Dulles International
Airport, I was also respon
sible for maintaining the
recordings of all Air Traf
fic Controller and aircraft
pilots ground-to-air and
air-to-ground communica
tion’s recordings; as every
conversation between
a controller and pilot is
recorded as an historical
and legal document. As I
played back the cockpit
recorded communica
tions from the flight 77
The Kiwanis Club of Griffin's 75th Annual
NfALOnnt cecuty fair
Fair dates are September 24 - October 2nd
©otk^ Games by
mm wmm ®ki sale mm sept. 24™
Kiwanis Club of Griffin Office, FNB, United Bank, and
online at: KIWANISOFGRIFFIN.COM
Lawn Mower Races September 25,
Demolition Derby September 28, & Jeep Day October 2
flying within the continen
tal United States for the
next few days were the
military and Con Air; the
military protecting Amer
ica and Federal convicts.
I would drive into DC and
one of my routes took me
close to the Pentagon in
Arlington County, Virginia.
Emergency vehicles were
still on the road with
officers directing traffic
while people were slow
ing down trying to see the
damage still smoldering.”
Shortly after the
attacks, Golias was re
activated to active duty
from his Guard status.
His job for the next year
was to design, build, and
bring into operational
readiness a communi
cations system able to
scramble fully loaded F-16
aircraft from Andrews
and Langley AFB’s. The
communications system
was operational within six
months, tied into NORAD,
the White House, Joint
Chiefs War Room, FAA
Headquarters and the
National Capitol Readi
ness Command Center, a
command center staffed
with a combination of US
Marshalls, FAA security,
military, Home Land Se
curity and just about any
other law enforcement
agency you can think of.
After the events of 9-11,
a lot of people stepped
up, volunteered and took
charge to defend America.
“I was honored to do my
small part.”