SMALL SCREEN.

Byline: - David Kronke

RESOLUTE ON ALL SIDES: On Sept. 11, 355 fire alarms erupted simultaneously in the Pentagon. Since so much reportage has been devoted to the destruction of the World Trade Center, National Geographic Channel's documentary ``Inside the Pentagon'' offers viewers a rare chance to hear from Pentagon survivors of the terrorist attacks.

That morning, their best information had two more planes bearing down on the building after the first crash. A lone fighter pilot soared above Washington with orders to do whatever he had to do to protect the nation's capital. The documentary also includes haunting accounts of survivors forced by firefighters to leave the building while colleagues were stranded in the wreckage, against the military's ``leave no man behind'' code.

The Pentagon was designed in less than two months as America prepared to enter World War II, and builders broke ground 60 years to the day before the attack. ``Inside the Pentagon'' offers a concise history of the building and a feel for its day-to-day bustle. It was shot as the government was weighing whether to release the videotape in which Osama bin Laden all but confesses to masterminding the attacks, and it shows the Phoenix project, which aims to have workers back at their desks in the devastated wing by Sept. 11, 2002.

Educational and surprisingly emotional, ``Inside the Pentagon'' airs tonight at 5 and 8 p.m.