After forty years, U.S. Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville is leaving the Air Force.
F-16 fighter pilot Marc Sasseville was deployed on what he believed to be his final mission twenty-three years ago.
Three hijacked aircraft had struck the Pentagon and two had crashed into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City. On September 11, 2001, Sasseville was given orders to stop another hijacked plane that was en route to Washington from completing its objective. That aircraft was United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania after being taken over by four terrorists affiliated with al-Qaida.
Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz, in News exclusive, spoke with Sasseville about the valiant mission he and colleague F-16 pilot Heather Penney, who was only 26 years old at the time, undertook.
Neither of them knew what their mission was as they took off from Joint Base Andrews, which is close to Washington, D.C.
“One of the memories that will stay with me forever is seeing the Pentagon on fire and being able to smell the fumes that were coming off of that,” Sasseville stated. “The burning concrete, the fuel from the airplane that it hit.”
Sasseville stated that the “event and everything that’s happened since, has been a motivating imperative for me that we need to be able to continue to look forward and be prepared for future challenges.”
Sasseville informed Raddatz that as soon as he saw the devastation, the assault on Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941, came to mind.
He said, “Here we go again.” “We just got attacked again and we are really challenged to respond.”
Sasseville and Penney eventually got the terrifying orders to find Flight 93.
Their fighters lacked missiles because they had scrambled their jets so fast.
“My challenge was, how do we take down this very unique threat, a civilian airliner … full of people, full of civilian people?” Sasseville remembered.
Penney and Sasseville came to the decision to carry out a suicide mission by using their fighter jets to ram the hijacked aircraft, should the situation demand it.
Regarding his choice, Sasseville remarked, “The training kicked in.” “I felt like I was on autopilot.”
Penney would go for the back of the plane, while Sasseville would focus on the front.
Sasseville’s wife and two small children, ages five and three, were not aware of his purpose at home, which included being willing to sacrifice his own life in order to save others.
“It’s evidence of Sass’s leadership that he delegated that mission to himself,” Penney informed Raddatz of his decision to intercept the airliner that had been hijacked. “He wouldn’t ask anyone else to give what he was unwilling to give.”
Subsequently, Sasseville and Penney discovered that the crew and passengers on Flight 93 stormed the cockpit and retaliated against the attackers. Before it crashed in an empty field in Shanksville, killing everyone on board, they were able to take back control of the aircraft.
“If those heroes on 93 – and by the way, those are the real heroes – if they hadn’t taken action and they hadn’t done what needed to be done, it would have been a very different outcome for me and my family,” Sasseville stated.
Both pilots resumed flying, this time on a combat air patrol mission over the nation’s capital, after landing their aircraft at Joint Base Andrews for refueling. At the time, they had no idea that they were going to accompany President George W. Bush on his return to Washington in Air Force One. Pictures from the press corps that accompanied Bush at the time show Sasseville’s F-16 taking off from the left wing of the presidential jet.
Sasseville remained silent about his involvement in the 9/11 attacks when he got back home to his wife Karin and their kids. Squeezing them close, he declared his love for them and informed them that he would be gone from home “for a long time because something very bad had happened to America.”
Karin afterwards, she discovered the tale of her husband’s deeds that day. Sasseville expressed her admiration and pride for him.
After 9/11, Sasseville stayed in the Air Force and rose to the rank of three-star general, as well as the second-ranking officer in the National Guard.
On Wednesday, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Sasseville announced his retirement from the Air Force following forty years of dedicated service to his nation. On May 15, he took off in an F-16 for his last flight from Joint facility Andrews, the same facility from which he and Penney had taken off on September 11, 2001, with the mission to locate Flight 93 and destroy it en route to Washington, D.C.
Ironically, the Air Force has converted Sasseville’s unarmed F-16 plane from September 11, 2001, so that it can be used as a target drone for aspiring pilots to shoot down for practice.
Karin attended Sasseville’s retirement ceremony with their kids.
During his address, Sasseville remarked, “It has been a tremendous honor and a privilege to serve, and a truly rare opportunity for me and my family to make a difference.” “You now possess the watch. I appreciate you everyone.”
Sasseville is enjoying a well-earned vacation to Puerto Rico with his family to celebrate the start of his retirement.
He declared, “I’m going to pick up the game of golf again,” along with his intentions to “get back to a normal life” and rediscover his current self.
