The filmmakers behind the National Geographic Channel's documentary "Inside the Pentagon" experienced the kind of coincidence they never asked for and never hoped for.
"We've actually been working on this, in some form, since (early 2001)," said executive producer John Bredar. "I think the events of Sept. 11th kind of crystallized a critical part of our approach."
And afforded "Inside the Pentagon" (Wednesday, 6 p.m., National Geographic) a kind of immediacy and impact that will quickly draw you into the story of a building — an amazing building three times the size of the Empire State Building — that was constructed in only 16 months back in the early days of World War II. A building from which the most powerful military machine in the world operates.
A building that survived that Sept. 11 attack when a jetliner manned by terrorists crashed into one side of the structure, killing 189 people.
"The idea of the film is to put the Pentagon in a broader context," Bredar said. "It's not really to do a news story. And I think that what happened on the 11th has become, perhaps, the most significant chapter in Pentagon history."
"Inside the Pentagon" includes firsthand accounts from people who were there when the attack happened, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The biggest impact, however, comes from a few of the 23,000 people who work in the building who survived — including some who risked their lives to save others.
Including Staff Sgt. Chris Braman, who helped rescue victims.
"I wasn't afraid," he said matter-of-factly. "My training and my belief in God had kicked in, and I reacted in a manner I didn't know that I had."
And the documentary looks at the rebuilding of the Pentagon as well.
"We are learning additional lessons," said Lee Evey, the manager of a huge renovation project that was going on long before the attack. "We are determining ways that we can further strengthen the building."
But "Inside the Pentagon" is about more than just the terrorist attack. We see six decades of the building's history — and the history of those who have worked within its walls.
"It's not just about the 11th," said Bredar, who added that the attack "obviously changed" the documentary they set out to make "but I wouldn't say that our approach to it necessarily changed, because we still intend to present a fairly broad perspective . . . of both the good and the bad."
"We want to incorporate how those events changed the responsibilities of the Pentagon," said executive producer Nancy LeBrun. "How they had to be prepared before the 11th (and) how they will have to remain prepared after the 11th. Because to look inside the Pentagon, you also have to look outside the Pentagon and understand its relationship to the military."
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com