25 Years Later: How USS George Washington Became the Navy's First Responder to 9/11

On September 11th, 2001, while running routine sea trials off the Virginia coast, USS George Washington (CVN-73) became the U.S. Navy's first responder to the attacks on New York and the Pentagon — designated command ship for East Coast air defense within three hours, under Vice Admiral J. Cutler Dawson, and steaming overnight to stand three miles off Coney Island by dawn. Over the next five days her air wings flew 234 armed patrols, without a single accident. Co-host Dale was aboard as a young Machinist's Mate — and for the first time, tells that story himself: asleep when it started, in the hangar bay when the smoke came into view.