CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go live to the Pentagon now in Arlington, Virginia, for a preview of 9/11 observances there. Skip Loescher live at the Pentagon, right across the Potomac from Washington. Good morning -- Skip.</s>SKIP LOESCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. No one who was here at the Pentagon, or for that matter anyplace else in Washington, will ever forget what it felt like that terrible day; 184 people died here. But really, had that airplane hit virtually any other building, the toll could have been much higher.</s>LOESCHER (voice-over): Plenty has changed at the Pentagon since the 9/11 attack two years ago.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very strong building, and it performed extremely well.</s>LOESCHER: Ken Catlow (ph), who managed the renovation, says the Pentagon was already perhaps the most structurally-sturdy building in Washington.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's probably as close to a fortress as you're going to get.</s>LOESCHER: As luck would have it, the hijacked jetliner crashed into a newly-renovated area. That saves lives.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had already incorporated a lot of safety features, such as the blast-resistant windows, which held up marvelously.</s>LOESCHER: As did the steel-reinforced exterior walls, which kept that part of the building from collapsing for half an hour, giving some people inside time to escape. Now throughout the Pentagon, workers are installing even stronger blast-resistant windows, more steel reinforcement, new sprinkler systems, better escape routes and special doors. These are called wan (ph) doors. They're actually installed to control smoke transferring to the building.</s>LOESCHER: Outside, beefed-up security is more evident. Mobile patriot missile batteries can be seen, as can military and Pentagon police with automatic weapons. Security at entrances for military and civilian Defense Department personnel and visitors is also tighter.</s>COSTELLO: All right, thank you. Skip Loescher reporting live from the Pentagon this morning.
Many Changes Made at Pentagon Since 9/11 Attack