September 11, 2013
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September 11, 2001- As I Experienced It
I open my eyes, and the image on the TV catches my attention immediately. The World Trade Center is hit by a plane. Soon after, another plane hits another tower.
“How long has this been going on?”, I ask my wife. “About an hour now.” “Why the fuck didn’t you wake me?” I know we’re at war, I just don’t know who the bastards are. I call the Air Force Training Base where I am a Security Police Officer, and ask if they need me to come in right away. They tell me to come in at my normal time; they may need me later.
As I get ready for the drive to work, I take my 9mm pistol and loaded clips with me. I don’t know if I might be targeted just because of the uniform I wear, but if I am, I want to be ready.
I pull up to the gate to see armed men all over the place. I recognize the man who meets me, M-16 automatic rifle in hand. He is not normally in Security Police, or even armed, when he works. He works in the ammo dump. He says he needs to search my van, which I can certainly understand. I inform him that I have my personal sidearm next to me, not wanting him to panic when he sees it there.. As he searches, I turn to say something, or maybe to ask him something. He jumps, I shit you not, about a foot in the air and yells, “What; what’s wrong???!!!”
Being no fool, and unwilling to die because this idiot is scared out of his mind, I raise my hands and say, “Not a thing in this world”.
What follows is fourteen and a half hours of patrolling and watching for threats, sitting at a guardhouse with half a dozen sleepy guys who don’t want to be there, drinking bad coffee, and even dark humor on my part about horny widows swarming the singles bars around the World Trade Center in a month or so. Sick and twisted? Probably, but hey, what the fuck, when you’re that tired, and that nervous, laughing is better than crying.
This is really not the beginning of the war on terror, but it made most people in the world aware we can’t avoid taking action any longer. There has not been a time since then that the men and women who serve, and those who have died, have not been on my mind. I did my part, but I wish I could do more. Please take the time to appreciate those who have ever served, and those who will serve in the future. They fight to allow us to be safe, or at least as safe as possible.
As the old saying goes, “Freedom Isn’t Free”
Comments (28)
freedom is never free… there is always a price to pay.
Thanks for sharing this story. I also remember that day so well I was in Pre-calc/trig class when I first heard which both twin towers were struck by then. It was 6:25am in Ca and 9:25 in ground zero. That whole day is still embedded in my memory with the terror in teachers’ eyes and many lost people there … A sad day.
@pinktiger335 - For sure. My life might have been much different had it never happened.
@lonelywanderer2 - I couldn’t agree more. Because of that event, many people I know/knew in high school went into the military. They wanted to be able to make a difference… Lives of many were changed.
We don’t do enough to honor our soldiers and anyone who defends our rights and freedom. I wish more people would respect what they do every day. I too will never forget that day, only living 20 minutes from the city that day, at work even closer. It shattered my world. The loss the devastation, no I don’t think I ever will.
Thank you for doing your part.
thank you for doing your part…and I do remember…one tends not to forget when it is important…I pray that we never forget and that we are always thankful for the men and women of the first responders…and the military…smile
After hearing so many debates, and people having opinions on the war, and what happened after 9/11… I just want everyone to realize that whether they think what the army is doing is right or wrong, they need to appreciate those people.
I’m tired of hearing conspiracies, I’m tired of hearing people say that we’d be better off without the army, and everything that goes along with that. Just be respectful, is all I have to say. I don’t even live in the states, but I have many family members and friends who do.
I have two uncles, and one cousin in the states who were in the navy. I have two friends who are in the air forces in the states. They all deserve recognition for what they have done and continue to do.
I remember I was home “sick” from school. I was 11 years old. I turned on the television and that’s all I could watch. It was terrifying for me at that age, and its something that I will never forget.
Followed by the fact that my music teacher a week later said that people were going to come bomb the nuclear plant near our school and that we were all going to be killed by a mushroom cloud. He got fired a few weeks later for scaring the absolute shit out of the students, but… still, a memory that affected my life, and my anxiety levels.
@drunkdevotchkababy - About your music teacher, wow. Thanks for reading and commenting!
@m_elmer_48 - May such never happen again!
Indeed, thanks for posting!
@drunkdevotchkababy - First of all, I hadn’t seen your user name around in a while- you have one of my all time favorite Xanga names. It devotchkas and it cha cha tchatchkas. Besos y abrazos!
{{{{}}}}
In fact, a few months ago, maybe when I had my old Xanga forwhomthebelsentolls, because of your user name I googled The Devotchkas and read about the band. I’m impressed by how many musical instruments they play.
Second, although your music teacher probably was histrionic and over the top around his students and should have reeled it in, people are wise to be nervous about the security around installations such as nuclear power plants where a cell of terrorist assholes could get in and hold the facility hostage or just cause massive destruction, like Chernobyl or that reactor in Japan but maybe 100 times as bad; America should not be asleep, you can’t just go be the “world’s policeman” for 5 years and then turn isolationist again for another 10 years without some very serious consequences.
thanks for sharing your story, def. not the same as others.
thanks for doing your part. very much appreciated. ….
Freedom is very costly. It costed lives, many, many lives.
I was getting ready for work…and in the space of time that it took me to take shower, wash and dry my hair….it seems’ the world changed….it changed my career field that is for certain.
@wyckdstorm - Right on!!
@drunkdevotchkababy - Great comment.
Thank you or sharing your story and you are so right, freedom is not free, and God bless our military.
i didn’t see this when you posted it. what an experience. thank you for performing your duties on a day of such uncertainty. 14 1/2 hours of patrolling is a long time too. i wonder what the guy who jumped a foot in the air was thinking? thanks for sharing your experience.
@TheSutraDude - Thank you.
Let us not forget the root cause behind this tragic day – the evil deeds Republican politicians committed in the name of oil. We should never forget that, especially in November when it comes time to vote.
Thank you!
very powerful!
Thanks for sharing and thank you for your service – not all will understand what it’s like. Well-wishes to you from a fellow vet (OIF and OEF). That day irrevocably changed my life.
I was still in high school at the time. I remember a bunch of people thinking it was a tv show because our teacher was bored and frustrated with my class so he flipped on the TV and there it was happening.
I slept through it all because the night before was Monday Night Football and there was no one at this sports bar because no one in Minnesota cared to go out to watch N.Y. versus Denver. The bartender, a classmate, called me and said that they had a $5 all you can drink special and I took him up on the offer since the next day I didn’t have class until noon.
Thank you for re-sharing this! Your story touches my heart! Thank you for your service!
It rained here today…slow and steady…it reminded me of tears. My heart and mind was back on that horrible sad day.
HUGS!
This was a good post; one of the things that I think is most important to remember is the utter sense of confusion that followed. You can have all the might in the world, but without the knowledge/wisdom behind, you’ll still feel helpless.
This reminder was needed . yes freedom is not free.
In friendship
Michel