A Sweet Home High School graduate watched the impact of terrorsts on New York City unfold on TV last Tuesday morning, only to quickly find himself thrust into the same life and death scenario just minutes later.
Major Toby Volz was in his office in the Pentagon when a hijacked jets slammed into the building, just 100 feet from where he stood.
His office was in flames quickly, but he and his coworkers were able to escape injury evacuating the building.
“I’m without any scratches,” Major Toby Volz said. “I was extremely close, close enough to where a couple of folks I was standing next to were thrown to the ground.”
Volz is the son of Bill and Elaine Volz, who recently moved to Redmond where they are building a new home. They had lived in Sweet Home for about 40 years.
Major Volz and about 15 fellow workers had been watching television in the office when the plane struck the Pentagon. There was no hesitation as the office was evacuated.
The remains are a crime scene now, Major Volz said, but workers were given one opportunity to go back in and get personal possessions.
“The Pentagon is a national symbol,” Major Volz said. “There was some casual discussion, ‘Hey, what about the Pentagon…. This isn’t a one-time occasion.’ Then of course, next thing you know, we’re in escape mode.”
Major Volz had only been stationed at the Pentagon for three weeks.
“We’re extremely fortunate,” Major Volz said. His office was on the “lucky side” of the crash, giving them time to get out.
“We didn’t get a call from Toby until noon,” his mother, Elaine Volz, said. When she learned of the attack Tuesday morning, she was concerned. “We had no idea what angle, what section, he was in.”
When she received a call that he was okay, “it was a relief,” Mrs. Volz said, though she was sure that he was all right.
“Everyone was kind of tensed up after seeing what was happening in New York,” Major Volz said. Then the plane hit the Pentagon. “We didn’t know what it was,” but something happened that meant they needed to get out.
“I think all of us were in kind of a shock the next couple of days,” Major Volz said.
“It was a religious experience seeing the sun rise the next day,” Major Volz wrote in an email to his parents. Thinking about the attack, he questions why he was spared and not someone else in “complete amazement that I’m still walking” and “just shocked that it happened.
“The discoloration of the walls and the fire against the building, the shattered glass and concrete, one, there’s anger. Two, there’s feelings for the folks that didn’t make it through.”
To the attackers, Major Volz said. “You gave it your best shot, flew a plane into the Pentagon; and the old building is still standing and still, at least two-thirds of it, still functioning.
“We were back to work the next day. I’m not sure we were very productive, but at least it was a show that we’re still kicking.”
Major Volz was able to contact his children before word of the attack reached them; so it didn’t hit them much.
His oldest child is 11, Major Volz said. “I think he’s more concerned about his football” because “I’m still here.”
While on the phone Friday, Major Volz was sitting holding a lighted candle in the cul-de-sac where he lives. The people in Washington D.C., like around Sweet Home and around the nation, had flags out everywhere and ribbons tied to their antennas. Patriotism was permeating Washington, D.C.
Major Volz is a 1982 graduate of Sweet Home High School. He has been in the Army for 15 years. He attended Oregon State University in the ROTC program.
His assignment with the Pentagon deals with national security policies to eradicate nuclear, chemical and biological weapons around the world.
His wife, Patty Basham, also a 1982 SHHS graduate, is a dental hygienist. She was on her first day at a new job when the attack occurred. His children include Tyler, 11; Katherine, 9; and Mitchell, 2.
His sister, Teri Rohne, is in Okinawa with her husband, Hans Edward Rohne, an AC-130 pilot. His other sister, Tami Ruter lives in Albany with her husband Klaus Ruter.
“We’re just very relieved,” Mrs. Volz said. “Our blessings go to all the families not so lucky as we’ve been. We pray that they catch this fellow. It’s just unbelievable this sort of thing can happen.”
Mrs. Volz added her thanks to friends from all over who were concerned and to friends in Sweet Home for their interest.
“I feel a little ‘why me?,'” Major Volz said. “I’m just a small player in this whole business. We’re still okay. We’re doing the things we need to, to protect ourselves in the future and find these people. Like I said, seeing the sun Wednesday morning was a religious experience.”