WEBVTT

00:00.440 --> 00:03.510
I was actually a student at the Command

00:03.510 --> 00:05.620
and General Staff College . I just

00:05.620 --> 00:09.150
started the class in july time frame

00:10.300 --> 00:13.560
and we were on a short break

00:14.540 --> 00:16.710
after one hour of class , we took a

00:16.710 --> 00:20.130
short break . And while I was out in

00:20.130 --> 00:23.020
the hall , one of the students came out

00:23.020 --> 00:25.350
and said , hey airplane just hit one of

00:25.350 --> 00:27.910
the world trade centers come on in .

00:27.920 --> 00:29.920
And so we were all born back in the

00:29.920 --> 00:32.890
classroom and put the tv was on with

00:32.890 --> 00:35.850
the news and we were watching that . Uh ,

00:35.850 --> 00:38.220
and then the , during that time the

00:38.220 --> 00:40.442
second plane hit directly in the middle

00:40.442 --> 00:42.664
of one of the world trade center towers

00:42.664 --> 00:44.720
sean , what kind of plane was it ? A

00:44.720 --> 00:47.290
small plane And it was a jet . So I was

00:47.290 --> 00:49.760
actually with President George bush in

00:49.760 --> 00:51.560
Sarasota florida . I was a

00:51.570 --> 00:54.320
communications technician lead . So I

00:54.320 --> 00:56.487
was responsible for the communications

00:56.487 --> 00:58.653
for all the events that were happening

00:58.653 --> 01:00.598
in Sarasota at the time . So I was

01:00.598 --> 01:02.764
actually at the Secret service command

01:02.764 --> 01:04.820
post . You know , we all realized at

01:04.820 --> 01:06.764
that moment that that was , it was

01:06.764 --> 01:08.876
changing the world . I didn't realize

01:08.876 --> 01:11.098
how significant that would really be to

01:11.098 --> 01:12.876
the rest of my career . Is that

01:12.876 --> 01:14.820
American 11 trying to call study .

01:15.530 --> 01:19.100
We have to stay

01:19.100 --> 01:20.933
quiet and you'll be okay . We're

01:20.933 --> 01:22.933
turning to the airport , I remember

01:22.933 --> 01:25.520
being in class and the teachers uh ,

01:25.530 --> 01:28.310
talking coming into the room and soon

01:28.310 --> 01:30.477
after a lot of parents were picking up

01:30.477 --> 01:32.699
their Children . My father picked me up

01:32.699 --> 01:34.970
what home washing news and I remember

01:34.970 --> 01:37.192
him saying is this can't be true , this

01:37.192 --> 01:39.303
can't be true and they explain what's

01:39.303 --> 01:41.470
going on and I don't really understand

01:41.470 --> 01:43.637
the time but it does anybody know what

01:43.637 --> 01:45.803
that smoke is in lower Manhattan . I'm

01:45.803 --> 01:47.803
sorry say again . A lot of smoke in

01:47.803 --> 01:50.290
lower Manhattan a lot of smoke and

01:50.290 --> 01:52.490
lower into Manhattan . I was supposed

01:52.490 --> 01:54.470
to be getting on a plane to fly to

01:54.470 --> 01:57.430
Korea my first , excuse me my second

01:57.430 --> 02:00.210
duty assignment and I went to the

02:00.210 --> 02:02.266
defect to eat breakfast and all of a

02:02.266 --> 02:05.680
sudden I saw all this chaos on the T .

02:05.680 --> 02:08.150
V . On the news it was planned and

02:08.150 --> 02:10.372
everybody's freaking out . They started

02:10.372 --> 02:12.630
locking the gates down . It was an

02:12.640 --> 02:14.584
awful time . It's something that I

02:14.584 --> 02:17.220
never thought I would see my entire

02:17.230 --> 02:19.350
life when I first showed up to school

02:19.350 --> 02:22.420
that day and the tv was on and it was

02:22.420 --> 02:24.476
talking about the world trade center

02:24.476 --> 02:26.476
attack but it wasn't the 9 11 trade

02:26.476 --> 02:28.698
center attack . It was the one from the

02:28.698 --> 02:30.920
early nineties . So first I didn't even

02:30.920 --> 02:33.087
realize anything special was happening

02:33.087 --> 02:35.031
that day . Eventually they started

02:35.031 --> 02:35.030
talking about the one that had occurred .

02:35.030 --> 02:37.197
So that was kind of confusing and then

02:37.197 --> 02:39.252
we saw the second trade for a second

02:39.252 --> 02:41.419
tower get hit and then by the time the

02:41.419 --> 02:43.530
pentagon got hit , you know we didn't

02:43.530 --> 02:45.530
even know what to think because the

02:45.530 --> 02:47.752
whole situation just seemed so unreal .

02:47.752 --> 02:49.752
I knew something was going on every

02:49.752 --> 02:51.752
channel had the news on and then my

02:51.752 --> 02:53.974
mother and I I saw the second plane hit

02:53.974 --> 02:56.710
live and um yeah , ever since that

02:56.720 --> 02:59.380
point there was just something inside

02:59.380 --> 03:02.020
of me that was like wow injustice ,

03:02.030 --> 03:04.252
just like the majority of all the other

03:04.252 --> 03:06.363
americans . It was shocked . I was in

03:06.363 --> 03:08.474
shock and all , I couldn't believe it

03:08.474 --> 03:10.474
was going on . I didn't know in the

03:10.474 --> 03:12.363
beginning that it was a terrorist

03:12.363 --> 03:14.419
attack . We just knew that the tires

03:14.419 --> 03:16.586
that got hit by planes and we were all

03:16.586 --> 03:15.980
trying to figure it out and then

03:15.980 --> 03:18.202
eventually it came to light that it was

03:18.202 --> 03:20.091
a terrorist attack . And actually

03:20.091 --> 03:21.813
that's one of the reasons that

03:21.813 --> 03:23.980
motivated me to become active duty . I

03:23.980 --> 03:25.813
remember my teacher changing the

03:25.813 --> 03:27.924
channel and watching buildings fall .

03:27.924 --> 03:30.350
Um , I didn't really have a clear

03:30.350 --> 03:32.572
understanding what was going on at that

03:32.572 --> 03:34.628
time until my sister who was serving

03:34.628 --> 03:36.930
inside the army notified us that he had

03:36.930 --> 03:39.180
to deploy to Iraq . So many lives were

03:39.180 --> 03:41.013
lost and so many people paid the

03:41.013 --> 03:44.370
ultimate sacrifice And it just goes to

03:44.370 --> 03:48.270
show that as we wear this uniform , we

03:48.270 --> 03:50.492
must remember all those who came before

03:50.492 --> 03:54.340
us and we must be ready to fight

03:54.740 --> 03:57.190
and we must train like our lives depend

03:57.190 --> 04:00.050
on it . It's imperative that we , that

04:00.050 --> 04:02.870
we constantly remind each other that

04:02.880 --> 04:05.390
that were there um , during 9 11 , but

04:05.390 --> 04:07.720
there's others around us that we're not

04:07.720 --> 04:09.776
there and we have to be able to tell

04:09.776 --> 04:12.320
the story of , of what we did and what

04:12.320 --> 04:14.580
we've done since then . We've had , you

04:14.580 --> 04:17.980
know , a number of successes and some

04:17.980 --> 04:21.220
failures . But , you know , the

04:21.220 --> 04:24.350
successes are so much more , we just

04:24.350 --> 04:26.294
need to communicate that to him To

04:26.294 --> 04:28.517
ensure that , uh , that we remember the

04:28.517 --> 04:30.461
nearly 3000 people that lost their

04:30.461 --> 04:32.572
lives that day . And , uh , for those

04:32.572 --> 04:34.683
that are the families that carried on

04:34.683 --> 04:36.850
and for the team , everybody that that

04:36.850 --> 04:40.160
supported that effort that day . At

04:40.160 --> 04:42.104
those locations , people that risk

04:42.104 --> 04:44.216
their lives to go in to save others .

04:44.216 --> 04:48.000
Uh , it's important to remember that .

04:48.010 --> 04:49.010
Never forget .

04:56.040 --> 04:56.290
All right .