WEBVTT

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- So 9/11 for me was

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not just a day that's gonna come as

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just a 20th anniversary for somebody. For

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me, unfortunately, that sticks with

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me for life. I had just turned 18

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years old and

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I was being promoted on September 11th,

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2001. And I had just actually returned

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to my base, Headquarters Marine Corps, 10

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days prior to that because I was

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in an auto accident where I was

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airlifted. So I still had a sling on

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during my promotion ceremony. And once

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we found out we were all out discussing,

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you know, how crazy it was that the

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Trade Center had just got hit. And

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after discussing and I returned to my

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room, put down my promotion

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certificate and I was making my way

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down, and it was just all of a sudden

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the ground shook and it was like a big

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explosion up in the sky. At first I

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thought it was an earthquake. But

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once I stood up and I could see the

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smoke in the sky, we could see that

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it was coming from the Pentagon. I

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threw off my brace and all of us ran

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immediately down the hill to the

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Pentagon. When we arrived, there were

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people coming out and screaming and all

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different injuries, and at that point we

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just immediately started separating

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them and assessing them on their

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injuries. So I was there all day

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during the day and then at night I had

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to stand watch. Everybody had to

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stand a 12-hour watch. Once my shift was

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over, I returned back to the Pentagon

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and aided in as much as I could. Once

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the fire was out, we were able to

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enter the Pentagon later that afternoon

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and one of my duties was to remove

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those who did not survive. And

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I had a prior minor training accident

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on my left ankle already, but it was

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pretty much healed and then my other

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injuries I still had. But when I was

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removing a non-survivor, I stepped

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into a hole and concrete came over the

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top and I crushed my left

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ankle. I honestly didn't know I had

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crushed it and I continued for 24 hours

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pulling non-survivors. I kept going on

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it continuously. And once I returned

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to my barracks room and sat down for

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the first time is when all the pain set

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in and I realized that I couldn't take

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my boot off because it was pretty much

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holding my leg together. After receiving

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treatment and being on crutches, and

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I had probably over 13 surgeries.

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Four leg reconstructive surgeries.

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Rods, plates, screws taken in

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and out twice. My Achilles, my knee.

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After fighting with all of that,

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trying to save the leg, I developed

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nerve damage which started to spread

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up the leg. And at that point I was

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given two options: you can put a rod,

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hip to ankle, or you can amputate. And

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that was a quick answer for me.

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Amputate. So I went ahead and

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amputated in 2014. And again, that

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Marine in me knew that this wasn't

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gonna define who I was. It was

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going to give me a purpose to move

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on in life. I would say 9/11

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has impacted me in more ways than I can

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even explain. For me, I always

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live with the guilt of still living.

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Looking at all those people who

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didn't make it and yet I'm still here.

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It's a hard cup of tea to deal with

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sometimes. But I think

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that's also why I'm here, because it's

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given me a purpose to live for those

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who can't any longer.