Where were you during 9/11? What has changed in 20 years?

I was an Officer Accessions (Health Professions) recruiter in the 344th RS Headquarters, stationed in Arlington, TX. I was on the road to Sheppard AFB, TX with a Medical Service Corps (MSC/Hospital Administrator) candidate for his interview with the Hospital Commander. We were still about 90 min. away. He was studying up on potential interview questions about the program when I noticed that there wasn't any music on the car radio. Something just seemed weird, so I interrupted him and turned up the radio. That's when I heard about the first plane and shortly after that we heard about the second. Upon arrival at Sheppard, and being a former SP Sgt, I got out of my Government car and assisted the SP Gate Guards with traffic control. I called the Base Hospital and found out our interview was indeed cancelled and rescheduled for the following month. We were locked down on the base for about 5 hours, before we were able to leave and head back to Arlington. My Flight chief was at work celebrating her birthday and mine was the next day.

It was during my break in service. I was home in Up State NY. I reported to my employer around 1400 to await any mobilization of Fire Departments and Ambulances to back fill down along the Hudson Valley. Responded twice with our County EMS Task Force to Ground Zero as a Medic. I will never forget my time there. I re-affiliated in December 2001. The next time I was was anywhere near Ground Zero was while in NYC for the commissioning of LPD 21 the USS NEW YORK. We were given a tour of the Ground Zero construction, the entrance we used was right by the quarters of Engine 10 and Ladder 10 and they have a bronze relief mural all along the side of the fire station which depicts the events of 11 September. It was at that point that I knelt down with my hand on the mural and released all the pain and anger that I had held in for the previous 8 years. I had the opportunity last year to go to the WTC Memorial which was another very moving time.

Although I was not in the service when 9/11 happened, it forever changed my life. This event made me realize how truly great our country really is with all the freedoms we enjoy as Americans and the people who want to tear all of that down. So not only am I proud to serve, but also proud to be an American.

I was inside the Gas Chamber at Ft. Benning, GA. I was one of the NCOs at Brittan Range and we were in charge of training all the 11B's in CBRN tasks as well as run them thru the Gas Chamber. I will never forget getting pulled out and putting 300 privates in the stands to hear what had happened. We had 3 who had relatives in the WTC and they were taken back to the barracks but the rest of us spent the day training. Very tough day to keep on doing Army training, I got home about 7 PM that night and watched the highlights on the news.

Well, I was officially discharged Sept 1, 2001, inactive since 98. I was driving to work and I heard a plane flew into the WTC. I remembered the old private prop driven jobbie that flew in to the Empire State Building and thought it was like that. They never said it was a commercial airliner at first. I kinda laughed and said "dumb private pilots". Later at work, the radio said another plane flew into the WTC. I thought "another" yea, common news, whats the odds, get your story straight. The bosses called us in to the meeting room later and turned on the news. When we saw what really happened, my mouth dropped and every head in the room turned towards me. "i'm not in anymore." Part of me still wished I was in, part of me was glad I was out. Then I remembered the briefings and intel I was privy to about Osama while I was in. Damn, he did it.
In any case, I am glad we had a president with the guts to do something about it! Not a fan of prior or since.

I will never forget this particular moment. I was driving into work at Ft. Bliss (El Paso), Texas listening to my favorite morning talk show. They started talking about planes flying into the Pentagon and Twin Towers and I honestly thought it was a joke. I did not take them seriously, it was such a far fetched idea to me at the time that anyone would do that. I continued into work and I made it through the gates before they shut the base down. I walked into our orderly room and was told to go home because it wasn't a joke and if I didn't leave right then I would be stuck on base. My mother was visiting at the time, I was 9 months pregnant, and she was at my home so I immediately went home. She had no idea what was happening so I turned on the news so she could catch up. Immediately phoned my husband and my father and just watched in fear/sympathy/sadness/confusion, all kinds of emotions running through me.

On alert and at 35K feet orbiting Washington D.C. with F-16's as escorts. We took over for the Pentagon after it lost its communications capability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxUvBWoHgBs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meIuEVhyROQ

Putting the seawater system back together in shaft alley on the USS Peterson DD969. We were scheduled the very next week. We went straight into operation enduring freedom.

Epidimeology class at SCSU