Posted on Sep 11, 2014
Today marks the 13th Anniversery of the Global War on Terror. What were you doing when it started?
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Today, 11 September, marks the 13th anniversary of the Terrorist strike on American soil. I was stationed at Scott AFB in Illinois doing telephone triage and appointment booking for the Primary Care Clinic when a patient stated "oh my.....a plane just hit the World Trade Center!" I thought she was talking about a small single engine private plane that had issues....then she said "oh no! Another plane just hit, you need to go, I don't need anything today". She hung up. I ...went to the clinic lobby in time to see recap of both planes hitting the World Trade Center, then the Pentagon, then the field in Pennsylvania. I rushed to a phone and called Julie. I knew she had plans to be out and about with Kaia and some neighbors/friends for an infant baby photo shoot....they had not yet left. I told her DON'T leave and why. Within 15 minutes of that, the base went from normal operations to full lock down with armed Security Forces and loaded crew served weapons (like the M-2 .50cal Machine gun and more) attached to the vehicles and slow rolling through base housing and the rest of the base. And so began the journey into the Global War on Terror. This is something that I will never forget.
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I was getting ready to go to sleep in my room in the Dragon Hill Lodge in Yongsan (Korea is literally on the other side of the word and 13hrs ahead of EST). I was supposed to DEROS on 12 Sep 01 and final out and then catch the shuttle to Osan the next morning to catch the Freedom Bird. I got a call from a buddy who was in processing (and was replacing me) and told me to turn on the TV. The first tower was just about to fall when I turned on the TV. First thought through my mind as as soon as I heard that an it was airplanes that flew into the towers, was that "we're at war." Suffice to say I didn't fly out the next day. Yongsan was locked down completely. MPs at the gates with full battle rattle. KNP riot cops outside the gates in full riot gear and assault rifles. It was scary. I was stuck in limbo on Yongsan for about a week until I managed to get on a C-17 flight out of Osan. I don't recommend flying internationally on a C-17......;o)
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When the first tower was struck, I was in my carport waiting for my truck to warm up. When the second tower was struck, I was back in my apartment watching the news. After a quick call to my boss in the reserves, I was at (civilian) work not working. We had set up a couple of TVs (now, doubtless, we would all be streaming on our PCs, but that was then) that people hovered around.
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SFC Miguel Ortiz Mercado
Stationed at The Old Guard in DC. I was driving when the towers were hit and vaguely caught an earshot of what was happening on the radio. I had arrived at Ft. Myer, VA for rehearsals and I was asked "had I heard", not shortly after the Pentagon was hit. My company was on QRF status for the National Capitol and we began to move to our posts; however DC was a traffic nightmare and we still had to get to Ft. Mcnair across the Potomac. We began on a bus and after 10 min of not moving, I proposed to the LT and PSG to run back. As we ran in between the sea of cars, we were cheered at and yelled patriotic comments like "go get them". Upon finally reaching the Pentagon, we began recovery ops and the horror of that day was live and in living color before us. For the next few weeks it would be a constant reminder of the cowardly attack on our homeland. I will never forget that day.
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SGM (Join to see)
I was standing in the post headquarters at Fort Jackson, SC that morning. I turned on the TV and began daily tasks for the post chief of staff as I did every morning. I saw the first tower smoking and then watched in horror as the second plane hit. I tried to call home, but none of the phone lines worked of course. We watched all the coverage all morning. The next day the line to get on post stretched all the way down I-77 as they searched every vehicle. From that day on, Fort Jax was no longer an open post.
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I was in 5th grade. We had barely started class when another teacher came bursting into our room, crying and asking our teacher if she'd heard. The TVs in the classrooms were only hooked up to the school's network, but our teacher pulled out a set of rabbit ears and played around with them until we got one of the local news channels. We watched the news all morning, and school let out early that day. I remember my mom trying to explain to my younger brother and I what had happened and why it was important, and the panic in her voice as she called family in NY to see if they were ok. I remember not understanding what the big deal was - why everyone was so angry and sad about it. Even with her trying to explain, I thought it was an accident. I didn't understand until my dad called not long after and explained that he was deploying to go fight the bad guys that had attacked us. That was when I decided I wanted to join the military. To help my dad get the bad guys.
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