PANAMA CITY BEACH — J.R. Arnold High School became the unlikely home of a real piece of 9/11 history when a 240-pound hunk of limestone appeared in the school’s auditorium on permanent display in 2005.
A piece of the Pentagon building targeted in the 9/11 terrorist attacks was acquired by the school after student Brett Polhman made a strong case to the local Rotary Club to help him get a piece of the Pentagon for his community to enjoy.
“Brett was a very passionate young man,” said Ken McGartlin. McGartlin was president of the Panama City Beach Rotary Club when Pohlman approached the club with his bold idea.
McGartlin put the student’s request on the Rotary’s agenda, where it sat for a while until fellow Rotarian and current 14th Circuit Judge Chris Patterson took notice.
McGartlin said Patterson made some calls to his friends in the Department of Defense to see if something could be done.
To the Rotary’s surprise, the department’s answer was “yes”.
What unfolded next was a whirlwind trip to Washington D.C. to pick up a piece of the Pentagon when the department issued a very strict timeframe for the Rotary to come and claim the 9/11 artifact.
“Having less than a 48-hour notice, we found ourselves on a quest,” McGartlin said.
Another Rotarian and local entertainer Todd Herendeen heard of the time crunch and jumped in to make the acquisition happen.
“He offered his tour bus to take us all up to D.C.,” McGartlin said. “But the bus broke down, so he rented a Winnebago to get us there.”
McGartlin set out with Rotary vice-president Jim Adamczyk, Herendeen and drivers Kary Kenman and Randy Light to make the 18-hour drive on snowy roads to D.C. in February that year.
Along the way, the crew hit a snowstorm they feared would cause them to miss their deadline to pick up the façade.
“We had a promise to keep to the young Arnold student who asked for our help and we needed God’s help to make it happen,” McGartlin said. “We finally made it to the Pentagon with only 15 to 20 minutes left in our window.”
The men loaded up the slab, which officially is on a 99-year loan from the Department of Defense, and got the piece of the Pentagon to Panama City Beach.
McGartlin said EBSCO Industries built a stand for the slab out of Florida hardwood, knowing it would be strong enough to support the limestone for 99 years.
The Pentagon Façade was unveiled at the school’s 9/11 ceremony in 2005.
McGartlin laughs when he thinks back on how a student’s request turned into an adventure to get one of the few existing Pentagon remnants to Florida.
“It’s a journey we will never forget,” he said.
