I can remember exactly where I was when I heard. I had just left Denver enroute to Virginia. I hadn't listened to the radio the whole trip. Not through Alaska, not through Canada, not through Montana, or Utah. I remember driving past the airport and noticing that the flight information signs on the side of the highway read "All Flights Cancelled". I remember thinking how odd it was that they still hadn't gotten the fucking baggage system running correctly (I sometimes live in a vacuum). I was listening to some CD or another, I can't remember the artist. I pulled into a gas station just outside or Denver and filled my tank. As I walked up to the cashier window, I remember hearing a reference to Pearl Harbor on somebody's radio. I got to the window and saw a cashier who looked like her mother had just passed. I asked her what happened, and she said, "Somebody flew two airplanes into the Twin Towers. I was floored, didn't know what to say. I got in my Jeep, turned off the CD, tuned the radio to the first AM station I could find, and listened to the news for the next two days while I drove to Ohio. I remember how saddened I was, how sometimes I couldn't see the road for the tears that welled up in my eyes and threatened to spill onto my shirt. Whe I got to my mom's, I imediately called my next duty station (Langley AFB, VA) and asked if I needed to report early. Ultimately the answer was no. I spent the next two weeks wondering what was going to happen next, what would happen when I got to Langley, how soon I would be going someplace hot and dry in order to avenge this atrocity, how soon it would be before I could help make them pay.
I remember the President's speeches, I remember Dan Rather breaking down on the David Letterman Show, I remember how I felt. I'm fortunate, I didn't loose anybody in the attack. I don't even really know anybody in New York City. I am, however, remorseful for those who did lose somebody, I'm remorseful for all the lives lost on that day, and on all the days that stemmed from those two moments in time. I changed on that day, just as all of us have, on some level. That day strengthened my love for my country, my sense of duty, and my resolve that I'm doing what I was meant to do.
I'll take a moment today to remember, and I hope you all do too. Remember the lives lost, the innocence lost, and have hope for the future.
And thank you for your wonderful words to me, the trick of it all is, I gain more from my experiences within the community and my matty experiences, than I could ever offer to them. It's fulfilling on my part, there's no sacrifice involved, but thank you for your words. They mean much more coming from you...you know that.
*gyfs*