ULTIMATE SACRIFICE: Pilot recalls suicide mission orders on 9/11

>> Bill: WE WANT TO INTRODUCE. YOU TO QUITE A WOMAN, AN F-16. PILOT IN THE D.C. NATIONAL. GUARD. SEPTEMBER 11TH, 25 YEARS AGO, SHE WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A. ROOKIE PILOT. SCRAMBLED TO INTERCEPT THAT. HIJACKED PLANE, FLIGHT 93, AND. HER MISSION -- ALTHOUGH HER F-16. WAS UNARMED, SHE WAS WILLING TO. RAM THE PLANE, IF NECESSARY. RETIRED MAJOR HEATHER PENNY IS. WITH US NOW. THANK YOU, MAJOR, FOR YOUR TIME.

HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY? >> THANK YOU SO MUCH. IT IS TRULY AN HONOR AND A. PRIVILEGE TO BE WITH YOU TODAY. ON THIS 25TH COMMEMORATION, I'M. REALLY TOUCHED BY THE NAMES THAT. WE CALL OUT THEIR NAMES BECAUSE. THEY AREN'T JUST NAMES, THEY ARE. PEOPLE. I THINK THE REAL LEGACY ISN'T. SIMPLY NEVER FORGET BUT IT'S TO. REMEMBER WHO THOSE PEOPLE WERE. AND TO KEEP THEIR LEGACY ALIVE. BY REALLY EVERY DAY INHABITING.

THE HEROISM SACRIFICE CACTI. SERVICE CACTI BRAVERY CACTI. STRENGTH OF THOSE THAT WE LOST. THAT DAY. >> Dana: HEATHER, CAN YOU TAKE. US BACK AND TELL US WHAT YOU. WERE FEELING AND THINKING, THE. ORDERS THAT YOU GOT, HOW QUICKLY. YOU REACTED, AND AS YOU SAID, YOU WERE A VERY YOUNG WOMAN AT. THE TIME. WE WERE ALL 25 YEARS YOUNGER. THEN. IT'S AMAZING WHAT YOU WERE DOING. ON THAT DAY.

>> MY FLIGHT LEAD AND I WERE. ORDERED TO SCRAMBLE IN ORDER TO. PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CAPITOL. WE HAD IMPERFECT INFORMATION. WE BELIEVED THERE WAS AT LEAST. ONE HIJACKED AIRLINER INBOUND. WE DID NOT HAVE MISSILES, WE. WERE UNARMED AND SO THE ONLY WAY. THAT WE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO. PROTECT THE NATION WOULD BE TO. RAM OUR JETS IN A SUICIDE. MISSION AGAINST ANY HIJACKED. AIRLINER THAT WE FOUND. AND OF COURSE, AS WE ALL KNOW, THE PASSENGERS ON FLIGHT 93 WERE.

THE REAL HEROES OF THAT DAY. BUT WHAT WE WERE WILLING TO DO, I REALLY DON'T THINK WAS SPECIAL. OR UNIQUE BECAUSE WE SAW THAT. KIND OF EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM IN. ORDINARY PEOPLE THROUGHOUT OUR. NATION, ESPECIALLY AT THE. TOWERS, ESPECIALLY AT THE. PENTAGON. THE FIRST RESPONDERS, EVERYONE. IN THE DAYS AFTERWARDS WHO CAME. TO HELP CAME TO RECOVER. WHAT WE WERE WILLING TO DO THAT. DAY, ANYONE WOULD HAVE BEEN. WILLING TO DO BECAUSE OUR.

NATION, OUR PEOPLE ARE WORTH IT. >> Dana: HEATHER, I LIVED IN. WASHINGTON, D.C., I WORKED FOR. THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AFTER. 9/11, ABOUT A MONTH LATER, AND I. LIVED ON CAPITOL HILL, AND NOT A. DAY WENT BY WHEN I DIDN'T PASS. BY THE CAPITOL AND SAY. THANK YOU, AND THEN GO TO THE. WHITE HOUSE AND SAY THANK YOU. BECAUSE ONE OF THOSE TWO. BUILDINGS WAS LIKELY THE NEXT. TARGET. I JUST WANT TO PASS THAT ON TO. YOU BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY. PEOPLE THAT REMEMBER YOUR. WILLINGNESS TO DO THAT FOR US.

THANK YOU. >> SERVING HAS BEEN MY. PRIVILEGE, ONE OF THE GREATEST. PRIVILEGES OF MY LIFE. I THINK IT IS THE DUTY OF ALL. AMERICANS TO SERVE IN WHATEVER. WAY THEY CAN, IN THEIR LOCAL. COMMUNITY, AS A FIRST RESPONDER, AS A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER, IN. OUR HOSPITALS, IN OUR SCHOOLS, IN OUR MILITARY, IN OUR COAST. GUARD, ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE THAT. KEEP OUR NATION SAFE AND BIND US. TOGETHER, WE ALL HAVE THE. OBLIGATION TO SERVE. >> Bill: THA.