Two days before the third anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, Lt. Col. Matthew Swanson will give students an opportunity to see the attacks from his perspective inside the Pentagon.

Swanson, an alumnus in business, said he plans to speak about what he experienced when the attacks occurred. His lecture, “Remembering 9/11: A First-hand Experience from the Pentagon,” will be at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

“I want to show more or less the human element of what I saw there,” Swanson said.

Although Swanson knew of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center, he said he didn’t realize the magnitude of the situation until he got to his office.

“The phone was ringing off the hook,” he said. “At that time, I realized this wasn’t a normal aircraft accident.”

As part of the Air Force Crisis Action Team that was prepared to respond in event of a crisis, Swanson was working on getting supplies and help to New York when the plane hit the side of the Pentagon. Fortunately, he was on the opposite side of the Pentagon and in the basement.

“If it would have missed that side, it would have come right into us,” he said.

Swanson and his team continued to respond to the attacks through the chaos.

He said he is hopeful that his lecture will allow attendees to realize that “everybody is on the same ship.”

“They will see things they never saw in the paper and how Americans do great things in times of crisis,” he said.

After seeing the volunteerism that followed the attacks, Swanson said he wants everyone to know they can help.

Floods of e-mails, letters and signs came from across the country to offer condolences and support, Swanson said.

“I saw people there who came from hundreds of miles to help,” he said.

“They can do their part. If you think you can’t help, you really can.”

“Matt is a real hero in the things he did,” said Kim Schroeder, business program coordinator. “I think it would be an eye-opening experience to hear [his account] firsthand.”

Schroeder said her purpose in bringing Swanson back to ISU is that she wants attendees to realize that people near Ames helped with the conflict.

“I think it’s important that students realize that people from Iowa and from ISU were involved in this tragedy,” she said.