WEBVTT 00:01.386 --> 00:03.059 - [Jose] We're 15 years into America's longest 00:03.059 --> 00:06.326 period of conflict and soldiers are still 00:06.326 --> 00:09.159 deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq. 00:09.952 --> 00:11.376 It's easy to forget that the front line 00:11.376 --> 00:14.793 extends from the mountains of Afghanistan 00:14.926 --> 00:17.393 to the skyscrapers of New York City. 00:17.393 --> 00:19.893 (funky music) 00:20.105 --> 00:22.403 ♫ Everybody wants the American Dream. 00:22.403 --> 00:24.913 For many Americans, the Big Apple is a place to visit. 00:24.913 --> 00:29.080 But for some, it's home. (funky music) 00:30.507 --> 00:32.840 - [News Caster] There's smoke billowing out 00:32.840 --> 00:36.604 of the World Trade Center. - Shawn, what happened next? 00:36.604 --> 00:38.780 - [Man] You've never seen anything 00:38.780 --> 00:40.454 like that in the world before. 00:40.454 --> 00:43.134 - [News Caster] It's like the east side 00:43.134 --> 00:45.804 and it blows into the building with the flames. 00:45.804 --> 00:49.971 - In one day, everything that was New York changed. 00:51.362 --> 00:52.787 ^- Good evening, I'm Jessica Moore. 00:52.787 --> 00:54.792 ^- [Jose] And the threat continues to be a reality. 00:54.792 --> 00:56.382 ^- And confusion right now in Manhattan 00:56.382 --> 00:58.882 ^after an explosion in Chelsea. 00:59.394 --> 01:01.571 ^- Bad guys only have to be right once. 01:01.571 --> 01:03.869 We can be right 999 times but that one time 01:03.869 --> 01:06.455 we're wrong, a lot of people can die. 01:06.455 --> 01:09.038 (upbeat music) 01:54.129 --> 01:56.173 - The crew and I left Fort Mead, Maryland 01:56.173 --> 01:58.182 and began our drive to New York City. 01:58.182 --> 02:00.102 (funky music) 02:00.102 --> 02:03.198 I haven't been back to the city since 2014 02:03.198 --> 02:06.281 ^and I was stationed at Fort Hamilton. 02:06.670 --> 02:09.380 ^I was on a special duty assignment, still in active duty. 02:09.380 --> 02:11.380 ^I didn't wear the uniform day to day. 02:11.380 --> 02:14.032 And my main transportation was the subway. 02:14.032 --> 02:16.463 And every once in a while, I'd see a solider 02:16.463 --> 02:18.433 and I would have to go up to them and just 02:18.433 --> 02:21.691 shake their hand and talk about the Army a little bit. 02:21.691 --> 02:23.615 But the one thing that I've always wondered, 02:23.615 --> 02:26.537 what are they doing here? (Sargent calling orders) 02:26.537 --> 02:28.955 These soldiers are with the National Guard 02:28.955 --> 02:31.415 and Joint Task Force Empire Shield. 02:31.415 --> 02:33.417 For the next few days, I'm gonna get a chance to 02:33.417 --> 02:36.168 embed with these guys and find out what it takes 02:36.168 --> 02:37.884 to protect America's biggest city. 02:37.884 --> 02:40.467 (upbeat music) 02:40.762 --> 02:44.430 If someone didn't know, why is there a solider 02:44.430 --> 02:47.142 in the middle of a train station? 02:47.142 --> 02:49.106 - Well, we get that question many times. 02:49.106 --> 02:52.325 As we all know, New York City is the number one 02:52.325 --> 02:53.581 terrorist target in the world. 02:53.581 --> 02:54.957 It's the financial capital of the world. 02:54.957 --> 02:56.841 It's the cultural capital of the world. 02:56.841 --> 03:00.105 We're there to deter and detect terrorism. 03:00.105 --> 03:01.949 And we're there at the call of the Governor. 03:01.949 --> 03:03.409 - [Jose] And this task force works together with other 03:03.409 --> 03:06.409 agencies to accomplish it's mission. 03:06.447 --> 03:10.614 - Everybody from Department of Home Land Security, 03:10.830 --> 03:13.171 NYPD Counter Terrorism, Port Authority Police, 03:13.171 --> 03:16.921 ^Am Track Police, but we're always in the loop 03:16.971 --> 03:19.603 ^in what's going on in the planning stages 03:19.603 --> 03:22.037 ^and of course, in the execution stages with 03:22.037 --> 03:24.583 our partner agencies here in the city, 03:24.583 --> 03:25.589 which is something you would never 03:25.589 --> 03:28.506 have prior to September 11th, 2001. 03:28.509 --> 03:31.426 - I mean, the advantage is that these soldiers, 03:31.426 --> 03:33.010 most of them live in New York City. 03:33.010 --> 03:35.730 - That's correct, the vast majority of Empire Shield 03:35.730 --> 03:38.230 Soldiers either grew up in the 03:38.482 --> 03:39.942 city or right outside the city. 03:39.942 --> 03:41.236 So they have a vested interest. 03:41.236 --> 03:42.984 They're protecting their background, their family, 03:42.984 --> 03:47.151 their friends, the way of life that they remember. 03:48.951 --> 03:51.707 - [Jose] Sargent Vega, a native New Yorker and former New 03:51.707 --> 03:53.581 York City Police Officer has been 03:53.581 --> 03:56.414 on the task force for three years. 03:56.755 --> 03:58.389 - So Grant, this is Penn Station. 03:58.389 --> 04:01.429 This is one of the main pubs that we patrol here 04:01.429 --> 04:03.145 for the Joint Task Force Empire Shield. 04:03.145 --> 04:05.019 ^- Yeah, I heard it's one of the busiest 04:05.019 --> 04:07.195 ^places in New York City. - One of the busier places 04:07.195 --> 04:10.081 ^in New York City and the reason for that is from 04:10.081 --> 04:12.717 ^one side of Penn Station you have the Long Island Railroad. 04:12.717 --> 04:14.769 All the folks coming from Long Island into the city to 04:14.769 --> 04:16.691 come to work, as you can see, and from the other side of 04:16.691 --> 04:19.788 the station you have what's called pat train. 04:19.788 --> 04:21.584 Those come from Jersey. 04:21.584 --> 04:22.842 - How many people, how many soldiers 04:22.842 --> 04:25.629 do we have on the ground here, roughly? 04:25.629 --> 04:29.143 - Everyday you have an average between 15 to 20 soldiers 04:29.143 --> 04:31.659 spread out through the station and of course, 04:31.659 --> 04:33.911 we're trained to look for certain things. 04:33.911 --> 04:35.575 Here, if you work here long enough, you know 04:35.575 --> 04:39.742 what we call work noise. (announcers and train brakes) 04:40.460 --> 04:43.260 You're used to a certain type of noise every morning. 04:43.260 --> 04:44.342 - Like a base line? - Base line of people 04:44.342 --> 04:47.925 comin' in so ya know, we listen for things. 04:48.890 --> 04:52.723 We look for things, you automatically hear it. 04:52.728 --> 04:54.743 You feel it and somebody will come and tell you. 04:54.743 --> 04:55.875 Hey, there's something going on over there, 04:55.875 --> 04:57.463 something going on over there. 04:57.463 --> 05:00.046 (upbeat music) 05:00.097 --> 05:01.683 - After work, Sargent Vega invited us to his 05:01.683 --> 05:05.449 home in Chelsea, where he lives with his wife and two kids. 05:05.449 --> 05:07.323 We sat down with his wife, Tita to find out what 05:07.323 --> 05:09.823 it takes to be an Army spouse. 05:09.995 --> 05:12.578 When you met him and he told you, I'm in the Army. 05:12.578 --> 05:15.330 ^What did you think? - He wasn't only in the Army. 05:15.330 --> 05:18.580 ^He was also NYPD so you get both worlds 05:19.886 --> 05:22.056 and it's like okay so as NYPD, he's in the streets. 05:22.056 --> 05:25.944 Anything can happen to him any day and then in the Army, 05:25.944 --> 05:28.324 the fact that he can get called to go away any day 05:28.324 --> 05:31.711 or any time so it's kinda nerve wracking. 05:31.711 --> 05:34.049 - What worries you? - Well, one of the concerns 05:34.049 --> 05:37.561 I have is like he's always gone one year for a whole month. 05:37.561 --> 05:39.645 Out of the year, he's gone a month which actually 05:39.645 --> 05:42.105 happens to fall on our daughter's birthday. 05:42.105 --> 05:44.315 So he misses her birthday every year. 05:44.315 --> 05:45.695 - Every year. - Every year. 05:45.695 --> 05:48.122 And now that she's older, she actually questions 05:48.122 --> 05:52.289 him and says, why can't you at least not go one time 05:52.712 --> 05:54.880 to spend a birthday with us, so. 05:54.880 --> 05:56.714 - How old is she? - She's 11. 05:56.714 --> 05:58.592 - What do you guys tell her? - She understands that 05:58.592 --> 06:02.272 he's in the Military and that he needs to go for training, 06:02.272 --> 06:04.363 in the event that, so he's prepared 06:04.363 --> 06:07.196 for any tragedies that may happen. 06:07.421 --> 06:11.547 But as a child, you really don't always understand. 06:11.547 --> 06:14.557 You have to support them at what they wanna do. 06:14.557 --> 06:18.724 And I support him 100%, it's just hard on the family. 06:19.399 --> 06:21.151 (intense music) 06:21.151 --> 06:22.615 - Sargent Vega and his family are one of 06:22.615 --> 06:25.733 many who defend New York and their backgrounds 06:25.733 --> 06:28.566 are as diverse as the city itself. 06:28.700 --> 06:30.372 You're planning to do this forever, huh? 06:30.372 --> 06:33.840 ^- Until they kick me out. - My mom brought us to this 06:33.840 --> 06:37.524 ^country when I was a teenager and we struggled a lot. 06:37.524 --> 06:41.282 And I thank God the opportunities that this country 06:41.282 --> 06:44.208 has offered me and my brother are endless. 06:44.208 --> 06:46.921 And that would have never happened in my country. 06:46.921 --> 06:50.088 So I'm thankful and grateful for that. 06:51.143 --> 06:53.531 - Amen to that. (laughing) 06:53.531 --> 06:55.449 Before leaving the city, we had to make one last stop 06:55.449 --> 06:57.915 at the 9/11 Memorial to visit a 06:57.915 --> 07:00.257 guy who made an impact on me. 07:00.257 --> 07:02.137 The first time I saw this guy, he had an old rag in 07:02.137 --> 07:05.066 his hand and he was cleaning Memorial dedicated to 07:05.066 --> 07:07.324 ^the firefighters who lost their lives. 07:07.324 --> 07:09.041 ^- Harry John Roland, they call 07:09.041 --> 07:11.541 ^me the World Trade Center Man. 07:11.713 --> 07:14.806 ^- And I thought he was talking to himself but the closer 07:14.806 --> 07:18.639 I got, I realized that this guy had a message. 07:19.114 --> 07:22.622 - [Harry] Seven days in the week, seven letter in New York, 07:22.622 --> 07:25.500 seven points in this ground, seven continents can 07:25.500 --> 07:29.583 be found, seven red stripes in the American Flag, 07:29.972 --> 07:31.428 seven buildings the World Trade 07:31.428 --> 07:34.095 Center had, not just two towers. 07:34.101 --> 07:35.607 - Everybody's got a story to tell. 07:35.607 --> 07:38.361 9/11 affected all of us in different ways. 07:38.361 --> 07:41.499 - [Harry] America's a melting pot of Gumbo Soup. 07:41.499 --> 07:44.916 You don't see it, please let me help you. 07:45.667 --> 07:49.834 - The whole world saw those pictures but in reality, those 07:50.255 --> 07:53.680 pictures did no justice as to what this place looked like. 07:53.680 --> 07:57.484 - [Harry] September 11th, 2001, Tuesday, first week of 07:57.484 --> 08:01.651 school, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, primary Tuesday. 08:01.954 --> 08:05.046 - I was actually, I was worked the New York Pioneer. 08:05.046 --> 08:07.302 All the smoke was coming up to 14th Street. 08:07.302 --> 08:09.227 You could smell it and from that moment on, 08:09.227 --> 08:10.901 I just picked up and I left, I was like, I need to 08:10.901 --> 08:12.819 go pick up my son from school. 08:12.819 --> 08:15.903 - [Harry] Like this, Dedicate to those who fell, 08:15.903 --> 08:17.697 that's the past and to those who carry on, 08:17.697 --> 08:21.030 there's the future, may we never forget, 08:21.369 --> 08:24.036 all gave some and some gave all. 08:24.173 --> 08:26.756 - It really changed many of us. 08:27.564 --> 08:30.314 - History, don't live in mystery. 08:30.816 --> 08:33.649 Some will listen, some must learn. 08:34.780 --> 08:37.572 - Is there a silver lining to this whole thing? 08:37.572 --> 08:41.739 - Yes, we're bigger, we're better, we're stronger. 08:44.007 --> 08:46.933 We're more modern, we're more educated. 08:46.933 --> 08:50.071 We're more, ya know, savvy when it comes to how 08:50.071 --> 08:53.337 to deal with terrorism and overall, we've just 08:53.337 --> 08:56.254 become a better city because of it. 08:56.301 --> 08:58.179 - It's been 15 years since 9/11. 08:58.179 --> 09:00.640 It's changed everything but with the strength 09:00.640 --> 09:03.018 of these soldiers and the resiliency of the people 09:03.018 --> 09:06.362 in New York City, I can't wait to see what comes next. 09:06.362 --> 09:08.945 (upbeat music)