We Remember

I don't think any of us will ever forget that fateful day.  All of us who were old enough to comprehend what was going on will always remember that day and what we were doing.  Those images will never leave us.

My day started off as any other.  I was up at zero dark thirty getting ready for work.  I always watched the news in the mornings so as usual I had the TV tuned on to a local news cast.  What I saw was a tall building on fire.  My family is from New York, I was born there, I had been there countless times but I had no clue what the World Trade Center was.  I didn't think too much of it at first.  I remember the newscasters saying they thought a small private airplane may have hit the building....then the second plane hit right there before our eyes.  My jaw dropped.  I knew then something was terribly wrong.  I looked down at my uniform and knew...

I had a newborn at the time and a husband overseas in Japan.  My baby was only a few months old.  As I was about to head out the door I looked at her sitting in her car seat and told her I was sorry.   After seeing what I saw I was sorry she would have to grow up in such a chaotic world.  After I dropped my daughter off at daycare I headed into work with the news blasting in my car.  I was still in shock.  I knew we were under attack.  We were vulnerable.  I was scared.  As I drove through the back gate of  Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton the distressed radio DJ was yelling that the Pentagon was hit.  I knew....we were under attack.  I remember staring up at the sky during the rest of my drive to work waiting for a plane to hit us too, to hit the airfield right across from where I worked.  

Many of us Marines in my shop were in a state of stunned shock.  We didn't get any work done that day.  We huddled around the radio listening to the coverage of the horrific events unfolding.  We were at war and we knew it would be us who would be at the forefront of the fight.  In the days, weeks, and months that followed the morale was high.  Everyone was ready to go.  The atmosphere on the base was charged.  We were ready.  

It was a tragic day.  A day meant to hurt us.  A day meant to kill our morale.  So many innocent lives lost for no good reason.  A heart wrenching day.  The attack did hurt us.  It did kill our morale but not for long.  As a country we came together as one.  The events of September 11, 2011 will always be remembered by us.  We will always remember the victims even if we did not know them personally.  We will always remember and honor those who have fallen serving our country before, during, and after (military, fire, police, emergency personnel).  We will always remember the men and women who were there to help.  We will always remember.