09/11/01

It's amazing how the years pass.  I was a Sophomore in high school on 9/11/01 and remember that day like yesterday, down to the clothes that I was wearing.  I know at that age there was a certain innocence that was lost about the world on that day.

RIP to all those that died on that day, and my thoughts are with those that lost a loved one that day. 

OK for some reason that made me feel a lot older than "11 years".

*moment of silence to those who were lost*

I vividly remember getting ready to head in as oncoming duty at Sub Base Bangor, and seeing the news after the first plane hit, and telling my wife that I needed to leave fast, as the Threatcon would be ramping up... if it hadn't already.

Getting to the gate, they were still at Alpha, and I told the gate guard to call his Watch Officer, as he had no clue of what was going on.  And I went to the Det and started making sure that we were getting our security in place.

A few months later, I cut my shore tour short, and went back to sea again for a string of multiple long-term deployments.

Looking back, it's amazing how complacent we were.

My most vivid memory of that day was actually in the evening after we had watched the news all day.. My then 4 year old son had made a "tower" out of his legos and was flying a toy plane into it as I sat there and cried.  

I'm never going to forget that day. A part of my heart will always be broken for those who were killed that day and in the wars our country has fought since.

I also never forget that I sleep in my own bed each night while thousands of my countrymen are deployed.

That day I had to go to work as a salesperson for a national portrait company doing church directories.  I couldn't imagine coming to have a family portrait done that day but a few people did show up.  Most notably a homely older man who was typically the type to not purchase anything.  To my complete amazement he bought our biggest package.  It really taught me that we, as a nation, needed to grieve but we also needed to show the terrorists that we are proud of who we are and will never give in to their horrific actions.  

A couple of years later I met a friend who worked in the towers at the time.  She was supposed to fly to San Francisco that day and the day before had changed her ticket from Flight 93 to another, later, flight.  She sat in Newark airport as the towers fell and the flight she was to be on crashed.  Later she met her now husband, who's birthday is September 11th.  This day is always such a mix of emotions for her but I for one am thankful she survived.