Retired Air Force general recalls time with Bush, military command on 9/11

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

When President George W. Bush was rushed to a secure location in Omaha on 9/11, Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Harding was there.

Harding, who is now retired, was in a military command center when the planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Soon after that, he got word that Bush would be traveling to the facility where he was stationed.

"We thought he was coming us because we do one thing very well, and that's targeting," Harding said. "We thought we were going to probably shoot things in Afghanistan, you know, within the next couple of hours, but that didn't happen. The decision he made that day was going home. And it was the right decision, people in the country needed to see him get back into the White House."

Harding is a board member at Welcome Home, a shelter for homeless veterans, and Columbia College, where he also lectures.

Watch an extended cut of the interview with Harding in the player at the top of the article. And watch his conversation with Deb Kendrick on our 9/11 special at 6:30 p.m. Friday.