11 Sep 01

     Eighteen years ago today, I was in the Army. We were in the training area which at that time was considered "Off Post" meaning we were not on the installation proper. There was no gate or security checkpoint headed to the training area back then on Fort Lewis. One of the howitzer section chiefs carried a 6 transistor radio with him to keep track of sports scores during down time. As we were prepping for breakfast chow he gets on the radio, which everyone can hear and says "Weve been attacked and it being considered worse that Pearl Harbor." None of us took him seriously. We thought he was just making a sick joke as tends to be the norm. A few moments later my commander walks under my net(colloquialism meaning both literally under my net and figuratively into my area of responsibility). He confirms the initial report we heard on the radio. We stand down and await the Battalion Commander to come out. He is going to every Battery position and speaking to us directly. He tells us all the info we had at the time. Both towers hit, initial reports are horrible, and it was in fact an act of war. 

     I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I joined for college and experience. I stayed because I loved the people. The idea that we would be attacked and sent into an endless war was not something any of us predicted. We were told we would finish our training event even though every spouse in the battalion was destroying the staff duty phone. Wives wanted to know where their husbands were. (in 2001 there were no females in our battalion)Husbands wanted to know when they could see their wives. A national trauma had taken place and we were going to remain in place and train. At the time I didn't understand. Now I know the BDE commander was already calling the powers that be volunteering us to be in whatever retaliation we did. 3 days later when we returned from the training event, we got stuck outside of the new post security boundary. We were in vehicles, pulling howitzers, in U.S. Army uniforms and every single person got an ID card check and full inspection before heading on post. That is how serious the security was. We got to the motorpool and were told 5 days of recovery had to happen ASAP before we could go home. We were waiting on orders from COL Scott our BDE commander. 24 hours later of misery and recovery, we were finally allowed to go home. It has now been days since the attack and I am finally going to see the footage for the first time. I sat on the couch in our small apartment, my pregnant wife crying on my shoulder as I watched the footage and knew our lives would never be the same. 

     We had our first daughter on 27 Sep 01. The idea that we would still be there was not one I ever considered back then. I only knew that I was not going to shirk my responsibility. My next duty station was Hawaii. I deployed for the first time from there in 2004. we replaced the 10th mountain in Tarin Kowt, AFG and it was a rough year. I will never forget the look in my wife's eyes when I walked in the door days after Sep, 11. I will never forget the look on her face as she watched me leave as she held our daughter's hand while they both cried. I do not regret it. I regret losing friends, but not my service. I would like to ask all who made it to the end of this to remember why we went, and why we should call it quits. It's time to stop. It's time to finish up and pull out. giggidy.