NOTE: I am publishing this blog entry retroactively because during this time I was busy performing base defense operations and didn't have enough time to write and post.
It's funny how quickly ten years can go by. I've deployed to the Middle East three times now. I've changed civilian jobs three times and moved my home four times. I'm now into my third long term relationship, the first two being miserable failures with miserable people. All in all, I can say I'm in a much better place than I was ten years ago or anywhere during that time period.
Ten years ago when the Twin Towers fell, the Pentagon was attacked, and Flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, I remember exactly where I was. I first heard the news on the radio while I was driving to work at my first civilian job after I had left Active Duty the year prior. By the time I had gotten to work, everyone was glued to the break room televisions or CNN live streams on our computers. We were all in shock, disbelief, and very scared.
In the days following 11 Sept 2001, I remember how quiet the skies were with all air travel being suspended. I remember sitting glued to my TV watching the news situation unfold as details of the attack emerged. Even while driving, I listened to NPR so I wouldn't miss a single detail that unraveled from this mess. All of the cable news stations had switched to a new format with multiple windows and several tickers with information running at once, which turned into information overload for many.
I was in continuous contact with my National Guard unit as we had been called to guard a regional airport near our armory. In the weeks and months following the attacks, when I traveled in uniform to my Guard drills, I was greeted and thanked more often than I really felt I deserved. I shared a feeling common to most Americans at that time that I wasn't doing enough to help, but at the same time I was as proud to be an American as I had ever been.
And now a decade has passed and we as a Nation and the world are still dealing with the fallout of that event. I'm in a foreign country at the epicenter of the cause of the massacre. I'm on a guard tower ensuring no more destruction can befall Americans under my watch. I have literally given up years of my life in the aftermath of 9/11 and I'm still prepared to do whatever it takes to provide my country whatever it needs to live in safety and security.
My small base in Kabul held a ceremony to commemorate the passage of ten years which I didn't attend because I was pulling a guard shift. How did I celebrate? Besides sleeping in between my long shifts, I bought several American flags from the PX and asked a coworker to fly them with the others that were being raised and lowered on our compound as patriotic mementos for the passage of this milestone.
To many this is now ancient history. To many, this is not justification for a continued presence outside our own boarders. To some, they are just too young to remember.
But I remember...
More to follow.
It's funny how quickly ten years can go by. I've deployed to the Middle East three times now. I've changed civilian jobs three times and moved my home four times. I'm now into my third long term relationship, the first two being miserable failures with miserable people. All in all, I can say I'm in a much better place than I was ten years ago or anywhere during that time period.
Ten years ago when the Twin Towers fell, the Pentagon was attacked, and Flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, I remember exactly where I was. I first heard the news on the radio while I was driving to work at my first civilian job after I had left Active Duty the year prior. By the time I had gotten to work, everyone was glued to the break room televisions or CNN live streams on our computers. We were all in shock, disbelief, and very scared.
In the days following 11 Sept 2001, I remember how quiet the skies were with all air travel being suspended. I remember sitting glued to my TV watching the news situation unfold as details of the attack emerged. Even while driving, I listened to NPR so I wouldn't miss a single detail that unraveled from this mess. All of the cable news stations had switched to a new format with multiple windows and several tickers with information running at once, which turned into information overload for many.
I was in continuous contact with my National Guard unit as we had been called to guard a regional airport near our armory. In the weeks and months following the attacks, when I traveled in uniform to my Guard drills, I was greeted and thanked more often than I really felt I deserved. I shared a feeling common to most Americans at that time that I wasn't doing enough to help, but at the same time I was as proud to be an American as I had ever been.
And now a decade has passed and we as a Nation and the world are still dealing with the fallout of that event. I'm in a foreign country at the epicenter of the cause of the massacre. I'm on a guard tower ensuring no more destruction can befall Americans under my watch. I have literally given up years of my life in the aftermath of 9/11 and I'm still prepared to do whatever it takes to provide my country whatever it needs to live in safety and security.
My small base in Kabul held a ceremony to commemorate the passage of ten years which I didn't attend because I was pulling a guard shift. How did I celebrate? Besides sleeping in between my long shifts, I bought several American flags from the PX and asked a coworker to fly them with the others that were being raised and lowered on our compound as patriotic mementos for the passage of this milestone.
To many this is now ancient history. To many, this is not justification for a continued presence outside our own boarders. To some, they are just too young to remember.
But I remember...
More to follow.
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