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Pentagon attack survivor from Poland to retire from Navy in May
POLAND
Navy Capt. Catherine Simpson was knocked out of her chair when the plane hijacked by terrorists crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, killing two of her friends.
The Poland native, who will retire May 1 after 27 years in the military, had been at her new assignment as director for health affairs for the assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs for less than a week when hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon about 9:40 a.m.
The crash killed all 58 passengers, four flight attendants, both pilots and 125 people in the Pentagon. The plane hit just three corridors from Simpson’s fifth-floor office.
The day remains vivid in her memory.
“It was a terrifying experience as I heard the explosion and was shaken out of my chair,” she said. “And then as I headed out of the office door, smoke was starting to come down the hallway.
“Of course that day was extremely sad for me as an American and also personally. On the anniversary of 9/11, I always attend a remembrance ceremony. My friends are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. They will forever be in my thoughts and prayers,” she said.
After retirement, Simpson’s future will continue to involve the military but as a federal civilian employee.
She has accepted a post as deputy chief of the Recovering Warrior Division at Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical (JTF CapMed) on the base with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. As such, she is the main staff adviser to the chief of warrior transition.
Simpson, the daughter of William F. Simpson of Poland and the late Anne Setnyk, a teacher for 35 years in the Youngstown City School District, entered the Navy in 1985 as an ensign in the Medical Service Corps.
She attended Officer Indoctrination School, advanced through the ranks to captain, and in 1991 attended the Patient Administration School in Bethesda. When she is transferred to the retirement list, her retirement award will be presented by Maj. Gen. Stephan Jones, commander of JTF CapMed.
Simpson, who said she is “very proud” to be from Youngstown and to have graduated from Youngstown State University, did not start out to be career Navy.
But while at YSU, she was a student employee in the administrative offices at Kilcawley Center, often working with military recruiters visiting the campus. On one occasion, a recruiter landed a helicopter at YSU and invited her to sit in the helicopter.
“I was so impressed, and I thought what an exciting career that might be,” said the 1979 graduate of Villa Maria High School in Villa Maria, Pa.
After graduating from YSU, she took a job at Warren Hospital in Phillipsburg, N.J., and although she said she enjoyed the position, a military career remained in her mind.
“I went to see Navy and Air Force recruiters, and both recommended that with my degree and experience I join as a health-care administrator in the Medical Service Corps. I eventually chose the Navy,” Simpson said.
“The Navy has provided me with great opportunities,” said Simpson, who lives in Brookeville, Md., with her husband, Edwin “Ben” Crider, and son, Chase Crider, 16, and daughter, Corianne Crider, 13.
“I have had challenging and exciting positions throughout my career,” she added. “I have also received my master’s degree, a postgraduate certificate and credits toward a second master’s degree as part of my educational benefits.”
But for Simpson, the Navy has been much more than a career and an education.
“The Navy is a family. I have many friends that I have known since the day I joined,” she said. “It is a great honor to serve our country and be a part of the medical teams that take care of our country’s warriors and their families.”