Over the past few days I've been watching documentaries regarding 9/11. It's hard to believe that over a decade has come and gone since that tragic event. I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news. A moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives, and a prayer for those who lost loved ones. :usa:
May the soul of those who lost their lives (during the attack) rest in perfect peace and may God bless the United State of America.
I start a new job today, working with high school students. It's a big day for me in that if all goes well, THIS is the job that will fix my financial situation. As important as that fact is for me, and as much philosophy I have running through my head as I prepare for my next exam- TOPS on my mind this morning is the surreal recollection of events that I still can't believe ACTUALLY happened in REAL life. I never saw the WTC nor the Pentagon in person, but I do at times look at buildings less than half their heights and widths respectively and think "my god, what it would have been like for THIS building..." but to acknowledge just how HUGE the actual buildings were, and just how many people 2,900+ really is. Then there's the matter of time passage. The students I'll be working with are about the same age I was on 9//11/01. But most of them were too young to remember it. All of them will have grown up in the post 9-11 generation. Thousands of them have only heard from others how great their deceased parents, uncles and aunts were before they were all taken away in under two hours.
Some 9/11 education related info - When I made the decision to seriously start the process of completing my B.S., my first class was scheduled for the evening of 9/11/01. It was rescheduled. On a more serious note, I was flying airdrop missions over Afghanistan just over a month later.
I was driving around eastern Ohio when 9/11 happened. Specifically, I was looking at a possible master's in church history at Ashland Theological Seminary (I still haven't started ... twelve years later).
I was driving to my job that morning when I heard the news report of the first plane hitting the tower. The radio people were confused and didn't have much information about what was going on. I got to work, checked out my truck and took off down the road (I was driving an armored truck at the time). Our first stop was a Cingular Wireless. I walked into the store (in uniform and armed) and this woman ran up to me sobbing demanding how we could be working right now when the nation was under attack. I had no idea what she was talking about but saw a bunch of people gathered around a TV so I watched a couple of minutes of it. I still didn't understand what was going on, so I bought a portable radio with ear buds to listen to what was going on while we drove (the armored car only had a CB style radio). As I listened it became more clear what was going on. I kept relaying the information to my partner who himself was from South Africa. He had seen terrorism before but nothing like this. When the buildings collapsed I was on a bridge in Dallas. We had to pull over and take it in for just a minute. I turned around and looked at my partner and said "Gavin, I've got to do something, join the army or something". I can't remember his reply, I was lost in my thoughts but it was affirming what I was thinking. Months later I was sworn in as a federal officer, 6 months after that I worked in intel and counter terrorism, I had not finished my undergrad degree but I was hired because of my IT background and they desperately needed people with IT skills at the time. It also helped that I was in shape and could already shoot. It's been a long time since was in law enforcement but I guess it wasn't that long ago when you put things in perspective. My brother was in the Air Force, my other brother was too young to do anything but saw our examples and is now a sheriff's deputy for a large, heavily populated county here in Texas. I'm proud that we got involved and I'm glad we all contributed in some small way. I can without a doubt say that 9/11 changed my life forever, it changed my family. In fact I think in some ways it changed us all. I still get chills listening to the audio recordings of the dispatchers that day.
I was in basic training when the attack occurred. All training stopped as we were sent into the cafeteria to watch the news footage as it was happening. The Drill Instructors were pacing back and forth telling us that we were going to war, and we would be the tip of the spear. It wasn't long after that that I was sent to the middle east where my real education began. . . both good and bad, but I served with people who will forever have a special place in heart.
I was in Dominica, living in a house without a TV. I got an IM from a friend up the road (who had a TV) telling me to get over there asap. When I asked why she said, "Because planes are crashing into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon is on fire." So I went. She was right, it was pretty dramatic. My kids were with me and it seemed like a good idea for them to stay with me for several months afterward. When I eventually got back to visit, the difference in the U.S. was extremely different from when I had left -- the intense wave of post-9/11 nationalism was at its peak, and U.S. flags and the phrase "united we stand" were ubiquitous. If only Americans had channeled that emotion into a desire for liberty rather than the illusion of security!
