Two Pentagon civilian employees have been breaking into safes and moving some "hot paper" in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attack on the Defense Department's headquarters. However, don't think Marion "Snake" Cochran Jr., 51, and assistant Michael Dooley, 40, . . .

Two Pentagon civilian employees have been breaking into safes and moving some "hot paper" in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attack on the Defense Department's headquarters. However, don't think Marion "Snake" Cochran Jr., 51, and assistant Michael Dooley, 40, are thieves who specialize in counterfeit currency. Rather, they're DoD locksmiths who've helped to safeguard classified materials by opening more than 80 damaged safes that were removed from offices near the Pentagon's ruined west face.

"All the metal was melted off the front of them and you couldn't identify (which service) owned them," said Dooley, a Missourian who retired from the Air Force a year ago. "I was opening safes when they were still smoking. They were hot."

Dooley estimated about a dozen safes remain to be opened, which should take the rest of the week.

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