By Eddie C. Riley
NAVAIR Public Affairs

Many NAVAIR engineers have garnered recognition for delivering products to a higher authority at the Pentagon, but one recently earned the Department of the Navy Superior Civilian Service award for responding to the “highest calling” following the terrorist attack on the Defense Department on Sept. 11, 2001.

Natalie Ogletree followed her heart Sept. 11, 2001, when she abandoned her group of fleeing co-workers to comfort an injured officer through prayer until medical help arrived. She’s at the Pentagon on a rotational assignment to the Chief of Naval Operations Surface Warfare Division from the Naval Air Systems Command Research and Engineering Competency.

“We were all headed toward a north exit near the infirmary, when I noticed a severely burned victim being carried out. There were no medical attendants there yet. There were colleagues of the burned and injured employees bringing out their co-workers, laying them on the floor and returning to the burning areas of the Pentagon to rescue more,” Ogletree said. “Something told me to stop and pray with this man, and so I got separated from my group and went back to sit and pray with who I now know to be Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell.”

For her courage to remain in harm’s way to help an unknown co-worker, Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark, and Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Michael J. Williams hosted an awards ceremony in the Pentagon Center Courtyard to honor Ogletree and other Navy members who stepped forward Sept. 11.

Ogletree recalled the events as they happened before her on the fourth corridor of the B-ring before the commercial jetliner crashed into the E, D and C ring of the same corridor of the Pentagon.

“While I waited at the copier, I witnessed a horrific explosion, and it appeared that the whole C-ring was engulfed in flames. I said ‘oh my God, a gas explosion.’ I had only been in the Pentagon eight weeks and our wedge was filled with contractors completing renovations. As an engineer, I instantly assumed that someone had hit a gas line, which had caused a natural gas explosion. One of my fellow co-workers, Carole Schwartz, yelled, ‘It's a bomb. Get out, everyone get out,’” Ogletree explained.

She joined others as they attempted to get out of the building, still unaware of that a hijacked aircraft had caused the explosion. The nearest exit was blocked by a “large piece of ceiling material that had been dislodged in the hallway,” Ogletree said. Because she was still unfamiliar with the building layout, she followed the crowd to an internal emergency stairway. From the fifth floor, they tried unsuccessfully to get out of several doors until they reached an opened door on the second floor and were able to exit the stairwell. They were near the exit when she saw Birdwell being left alone by his colleagues to return to the building to rescue others.

“His hair was singed, and his face, hands and forearms were badly burned, so I sat down, removed his name tag and began to pray with him. He was in a great deal of pain, and his pants had to be cut from around his legs and his shirt either cut or removed because it was so bloody,” Ogletree said. “We continued to pray and then I remembered I had my Bible so I took it out and read the 23rd Psalms and Psalms 91. Psalms 91 is a Psalms my mother had been encouraging me to read. So I read it and we prayed the Lord’s Prayer. We did that until medical help arrived and they carried him out.”

Birdwell was concerned about his wife and asked for someone to call her and tell her he was OK. Ogletree found a security guard and got directions out of the building. “Once I got outside, I saw Lt. Col. Birdwell again waiting to be transported, so I went to his gurney and he, an Army chaplain and I said prayers until someone made a command decision to commandeer an out going vehicle and get him to a hospital before he went into shock,” Ogletree said.

“I realize then I needed to notify my husband that I was OK,” she added. After two hours and numerous attempts, she was able to contact her husband, who called Birdwell’s wife to tell her that her husband was OK and that he had been transferred to Georgetown Hospital.

Ogletree and Birdwell are both now back in the Pentagon working and have had a wonderful reunion. She has been exchanging e-mails with Birdwell and has received thank you cards from him and his wife. Natalie and her family have visited the Birdwell’s church and have plans for them to visit the Ogletree’s church.

“September 11 is a day I will never forget, and the personal memories remain locked in my mind and heart. The out pouring of compassion and sacrifice by so many is something I will never forget,” Ogletree said.

“I realize when I stand in the window of the B-ring that I am very blessed to be alive and truly grateful. I thank God for allowing me the opportunity to meet for a brief moment Lt. Col. Birdwell, and I’m even more grateful that he has survived his injuries and is traveling the country telling his survival story,” she said.

(Captions: Photo 1 -- Natalie Ogletree at the Pentagon. Photo 2 -- Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England presents Natalie Ogletree the Department of the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award.)