It was September 11, 2001; a day that started out much like any other,
but would change our lives forever...
At the time I was a newly promoted sergeant in the US Army,
stationed at Fort Lewis, WA with the 571st Military Police Company. I was assigned as their senior
mechanic. Being a mechanic wasn’t my first choice of jobs in the Army (I wanted to be
Cavalry), but being one allowed me to be close to home so I could help my mom
out with my baby sister. Anyways, I had only been promoted a few months prior
to that so as they say my stripes were still wet. Up to that point my career
had only consisted of some rotations to Yakima Training Center, a string of
Logistic Rodeo wins, and one 2 ½ month
deployment to support a multinational training exercise in Egypt (Operation
Bright Star). I enjoyed what I did immensely and was good at it. In fact I had
even reenlisted the year prior for another four years.
Well, on that fateful morning in September a few of us had reported
in a little earlier than usual due to an already scheduled APFT (Army Physical
Fitness Test). As we congregated in our Day Room (recreation room) a few
minutes before 6:00 AM PST, the TV was turned on and the channel was set to
CNN. There was a story being broadcast about a fire in one of World Trade
Center towers and that a plane was believed to have struck the building. The
reporters were going back and forth about how an accident like this could have
happened. I remember thinking how crazy it was that a plane had hit the
building to begin with and couldn’t imagine how that could have even happened. We
thought that maybe it was a small personal plane that was doing some site
seeing and got a little bit to close. Boy were we wrong- a few minutes later
the unimaginable happened. On live TV a second plane, a large airliner full of
passengers, to our horror came into the picture and flew right into the side of
the other World Trade Center tower and exploded, creating a huge fireball and
rained fuel and debris on those below. It was then at that moment that we knew this
was no longer an accident.
Our country was under attack. We had no idea how the
rest of the day was about to play out, but did know one thing as our stomachs
were firmly lodged in our throats and our hearts raced. Things were about to
change for the worse and that we to would be called upon to protect our
countries future from those who seek to do us harm.
I don’t recall exactly how the rest of the morning played
out, if we did the APFT or not, but I do recall going over to my post housing after
the horrific act I had just witnessed on the morning news. When I got home I
flipped on the TV and pulled my wife out of bed to show her what was going on. To
our horror they were now reporting that there may be other planes that were
hijacked as well and one may have crashed into the Pentagon. They had no idea
how many and what the other targets might be. Since we were in the Seattle area
some thought that the Space Needle could be in danger. My phone rang and my
boss on the other end. I was told to contact my soldiers and tell them to grab
their gear and come back to post immediately. I relayed the messaged and with a
quick kiss to the wife and our 2 year old daughter, I grabbed my gear and
headed out the door not knowing what the day might bring.
The post was now on lockdown. No one could get on the
installation, to include soldiers regardless what rank they were, without presenting
their military ID and having their cars and persons searched. That also meant
that my soldiers who lived off of the installation wouldn't be back for a quite
a while. I headed straight for my unit and when I got there I immediately met
with my superiors at the unit motor pool, which is maintenance facility where
we park all of our trucks. Weapons were being issued and each unit was to
conduct security patrols of their A/O (area of operation). And they were to place
guards on the rooftops as well to look for aerial threats-not that a soldier
with an M16 would do much good, if any. It was surreal seeing armed soldiers on
foot patrols around the post that weren't engaged in a training mission. Hell,
they even put up machine gun nests at the gates that were still in use; just
months before Fort Lewis was considered an open post and had no guards at the
gate. Those that weren't actively on guard duty were to remain in the unit
areas or motor pool to get vehicles prepped and dispatched. It was an exciting
and horrifying moment all at the same time. For the next few weeks, we
practically lived at the shop.
When we had a moment we intently watched and listened to the
news. The scene at ground zero was absolutely horrifying. The two towers were
now in twisted heaps of steel in the streets of Manhattan. Thousands were
missing and unaccounted for and cell phones were no longer working due to the
volume of calls and the destruction of the antennae that sat once sat atop one
of those iconic towers.
First responders struggled to find survivors as they
dug through the wreckage, but they did find some even days later. There were reports
of people that were in those towers when the planes struck that decided to take
their lives into their own hands. Trapped in a now burning building and instead
of being succumbed by the fire they chose to leap to their deaths; jumping from
90 stories up. Hearing this made my stomach turn. Could you imagine coming to
the realization that no one would be there to save you, there would be no last
words with loves ones, and that death was not only inevitable, but your option
at that moment was to choose how it would end? What a gut wrenching and frightening
thought.
Sometime during the following days or weeks (it was all such
a blur), our sister unit, the 170th Military Police Company, was put on a 72hr deployment alert to go
assist with the security of the areas around ground zero. A rapid reaction
force alert of this sort was unheard of for our type of unit; especially at the
time. It was exciting for all of us in the battalion and honestly, all of us in
the other companies were a little disappointed that they weren't the ones that got
called up, since by this point we all wanted to be there at ground zero making
a difference. Unknown to us at the time we to would get our chance to be a part
of history.
Collectively as a battalion we now had
72 hours to get all of 170th’s trucks ready to be airlifted to New
York by way of C-17’s. This unfortunately meant there couldn't be absolutely
any leaks on any vehicle, no exceptions. For the next 3 days, except for maybe
3-4 hours each night to rest, we worked on those trucks.
My guys worked
tirelessly and bloodied their knuckles good replacing seals and gaskets, and
plugging any other leak we could find on those worn out trucks. Not only were
the mechanics twisting wrenches, but the vehicle crews as well. It was a
concerted team effort. We believed in what we were doing and would stop at
nothing short of success; working and sacrificing now for a much greater cause.
Within weeks of 9/11, President Bush announced that we were
sending troops to Afghanistan to not only hunt for Osama Bin Laden who was the
head of Al Qaeda, but to dismantle the Taliban led government that was
complicit in hiding them. Within months we were training and heading to
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to guard the detainees captured during the invasion of
that country...
