September 11, 2001

There is something powerful about September 11, 2001 in my heart, as it is in most hearts. It’s my generation’s JFK moment where we will all remember where we were and what we were doing on that day. None of this is meant to minimize the other tragedies that have happened around the world in the past ten years, however this is our one moment as Americans where we remember our homeland being attacked, in arguably our greatest city, and the heroics of various men and women in New York, Washington DC, and in a plane fighting to survive over Pennsylvania. We will never be the same.

In 2001, I was training for the Venice Marathon with three other shipmates when I earned for myself severe shin splints that landed me physical therapy. On September 11th, I had an early appointment at the therapist’s office and I went home to play some Playstation 2 with Valorie still at work. A few minutes into my game, I received a phone call from Mom nearly hysterical telling me to turn the television on because the World Trade Center had been attacked. Plane number 2 had just hit and there were gaping holes in both buildings. I got off the phone with my mom and watched in disbelief as the Towers tumbled to the ground and people close to them scattered out of the way. I frantically called Valorie at work to let her know what happened, and then, in tears, cried out to God for mercy for our country. The towers that I once stared at from across the bay on my ship in New Jersey were gone, and the lives of thousands were changed forever.

Over the next two days I was glued to the television amid rumors that our family members would be sent home and our base would be locked down. We had to mentally get prepared for that as I waited for our work schedule to change in response to the President putting military at its highest level in years. I learned soon enough that we would be working 12 hours on and 12 hours off for the immediate future. I had to drop my math class…again, and we began life in post-9/11 Europe.

My life in the military was never the same after that. I wound up having to serve in the base’s Auxiliary Security Forces afterwards due to the base needing extra protection. When I was eventually called up, it cost me more time with family and in finishing my education. However, that was a minor sacrifice to make. My final command while in the Navy, Opnav TCC in the Pentagon, lost 7 sailors from when that plane crashed into the building. Rumors persisted that when they were found, they were charred, but linked arm-in-arm. Whenever you walked into that section of the Pentagon, it did not matter what season it was, the temperature always seemed to drop about 10 degrees. My division officer kept the ID of one of our fallen comrades at his desk as a reminder. There was no running from what happened on September 11th, and none of us should try.

No one should ever forget what happened that day, not because of the fact that it took place on American soil, but because of the fact that it was senseless, cruel, and it affected people from every walk of life. A couple hundred countries were represented by the tragedy. Yes, it weighs more on Americans, but families around the world felt loss as their relatives either died or were injured. It was a day that united America with many, and like so many others, it will be burned into my memory for all the days of my life.