By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
• Arlington County Police Cpl. Barry Foust, who made the first report of American Airlines Flight 77’s crash into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, has died from cancer tied to recovery work there.
• Foust, 64, was diagnosed in June 2025 with cancer that the department said was related to his service at the Pentagon site following the attack.
• He served more than 35 years with law enforcement, including multiple stints with the Arlington County Police Department.
• Officials credited him with initiating Arlington County’s response on Sept. 11 and recognized his long public-service career.
ARLINGTON, VA — Corporal Barry Foust, a longtime Arlington County Police Department officer who first reported the Pentagon crash during the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack, has died from cancer that authorities attributed to his recovery work at the site, the department said.
Foust died on May 22 at age 64, months after being diagnosed in June 2025 with a cancer that department officials said stemmed from his extended service at the Pentagon crash site, where he helped collect evidence and remains in the aftermath of the attack.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Foust was on patrol near Walter Reed Drive and Columbia Pike when American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon; he immediately broadcast information that helped initiate local police response, according to the police department’s statement.
Foust began his law enforcement career in 1986 and served 32 years with the Arlington department before retiring in 2019. He later served with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department and returned to Arlington police duty in 2022 amid staffing shortages, officials said.
The department noted Foust’s dedication to public service over his more than three decades in uniform, and he is survived by his wife, daughter and granddaughter; his death is being mourned by colleagues and community members.