Lesson from 9/11 survivor: 'I tell people to trust their inner self'

Lt. Col. Ryan Yantis recalls a heated discussion on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, with one of his bosses regarding the location of a meeting as they walked through the outer ring of one of the corridors of the Pentagon. That discussion and the ensuing walk wound up saving his life, he told members of the Batavia Rotary Club Tuesday morning.

"The plane hit right where we had been talking 10 minutes earlier," he said. "Today I tell people to trust their inner self and tell the boss what he should do if you have to. The fact that we held to the course, a lot of people made it out, but I've always been struck by all the people that ran back in to help."

The events of 9/11 as chronicled by survivor Yantis, 55, of Crystal Lake was the focus of the Batavia Rotary Club's weekly meeting. Batavia Rotary Club program director Tom Van Cleave said a speaker is featured at every meeting and, after hearing a speech from another survivor years ago who was at the twin towers, he wanted to bring another to the local meeting, which typically draws about 25 people.

"With the 15th anniversary coming, I wanted to get another speaker and Lt. Col. Yantis came forward and offered to speak about his experience at the Pentagon that day," Van Cleave said. "The fact that he survived is amazing, and our objective today is to make sure we jog people's memories and make them aware that something like this could happen again."

Rotary members like Christine Voigt of Maple Park said meeting a survivor gave her an opportunity "to walk in his shoes."

"I find myself wondering what I would do if I had been there and it had happened to me," Voigt said. "Obviously I'm a patriotic person but hearing this makes me wonder."

Jack Jangelis of North Aurora said it was "always an experience to listen to someone who was involved in such a tragedy" and that he felt a sense of empathy toward Yantis.

"I was talking with him (Yantis) earlier, and this must muster feelings of great pain when he speaks about it to people," Jangelis said. "Clearly, there is a kid of post-traumatic stress thing going on, and – in the end – you really never forget."

Yantis said he had been assigned as a Pentagon spokesman who worked with the media from 2000 to 2003 and that as a media officer, "every day was a pop quiz about what the Army was doing." He said that on the morning of the attacks, he suspected they were next after the second tower fell.

"I saw the second tower fall and told a staff member who was nine months pregnant to get out and go home because we're next," Yantis said. "Later, she was knocked off her feet by the impact but made it out safely."

Yantis founded American Pride Inc. along with fellow survivor Don Bacso, who was at the twin towers that day. The group describes itself as a non-profit dedicated to bringing "a positive impact to the lives of all First Responders and their families,' according to its website.

"These men give educational speeches about 9-11 and how it affects foreign policy even today," Rotary president Rick Pumo said. "The group requires donations in order to do that, and we made a contribution to the American Pride organization to come back here next month and speak to students at Batavia High School on September 6, as well as later that night at the library."

Yantis choked up more than once during his presentation that lasted about half an hour and said that he and his partner Bacso "were living artifacts."

"We find as we go into high schools that kids learn from each other, the Internet, and from books," he said. "The fact is that the history books haven't caught up yet with the events of that day. These were attacks using peaceful pieces of equipment as manned cruise missiles. And this isn't over. The attacks are going to continue."