1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:18,270 american 3 00:00:18,270 --> 00:00:20,437 Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines 4 00:00:20,437 --> 00:00:22,659 flight 1 75 were hijacked by terrorists 5 00:00:22,659 --> 00:00:24,881 and flown into the World Trade Center's 6 00:00:24,881 --> 00:00:27,103 twin towers . Well , quite simply as we 7 00:00:27,103 --> 00:00:28,992 begin , our 11 o'clock edition of 8 00:00:28,992 --> 00:00:30,881 eyewitness news . The unthinkable 9 00:00:30,881 --> 00:00:33,214 happened today . The World Trade Center . 10 00:00:33,214 --> 00:00:35,310 Both towers gone , another one , 11 00:00:35,310 --> 00:00:37,900 another plane just hit , right , oh my 12 00:00:37,900 --> 00:00:40,120 gosh ! Another plane has just hit 13 00:00:40,210 --> 00:00:43,890 another building On 9 14 00:00:43,890 --> 00:00:47,630 11 2001 . I was 19 years old and during 15 00:00:47,630 --> 00:00:49,730 my second year at the University of 16 00:00:49,730 --> 00:00:53,400 Maine . And or no , it 17 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,230 was a surreal like experience for me to 18 00:00:57,230 --> 00:00:59,840 be sitting there in a lecture knowing 19 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,062 that there was so many big things going 20 00:01:02,062 --> 00:01:04,480 on in the world . The whole world was 21 00:01:04,490 --> 00:01:06,760 shook . 22 00:01:07,140 --> 00:01:09,590 I'll never forget . We're out in the 23 00:01:09,590 --> 00:01:11,940 parade fields practicing marching . We 24 00:01:11,940 --> 00:01:14,800 all come to a complete stop . All the T 25 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,022 s ran to the center of the parade field 26 00:01:17,022 --> 00:01:19,189 and then they come sprinting back over 27 00:01:19,189 --> 00:01:21,244 towards us , screaming to get to the 28 00:01:21,244 --> 00:01:23,300 dorms , get to the barracks , we all 29 00:01:23,300 --> 00:01:25,467 kind of thought that they were messing 30 00:01:25,467 --> 00:01:27,689 with us so nobody really wanted to move 31 00:01:27,689 --> 00:01:27,240 until they got really close And we 32 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,462 realized that there was something going 33 00:01:29,462 --> 00:01:32,640 on . Our fellow citizens , our way of 34 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,320 life , our very freedom came under 35 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:38,220 attack . In a series of deliberate and 36 00:01:38,220 --> 00:01:41,370 deadly terrorist acts under attack . 37 00:01:41,380 --> 00:01:43,380 The first hijacked airliner slammed 38 00:01:43,380 --> 00:01:45,602 into the first tower of the World Trade 39 00:01:45,602 --> 00:01:47,713 Center . Shortly before nine and then 40 00:01:47,713 --> 00:01:51,040 moments later a 2nd 7 67 as the world 41 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,390 looked on in horror on live television 42 00:01:53,540 --> 00:01:55,560 slammed into the nation's premier 43 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:57,660 symbol of american capitalism and 44 00:01:57,670 --> 00:02:00,460 economic might , But this day was far 45 00:02:00,460 --> 00:02:01,050 from over 46 00:02:04,340 --> 00:02:08,200 mm On 47 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,190 that day you know the giant voice was 48 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,440 slowly calling folks out 49 00:02:14,450 --> 00:02:16,610 eventually after about five or 10 50 00:02:16,610 --> 00:02:18,777 minutes I heard my name over the giant 51 00:02:18,777 --> 00:02:20,777 voice to report back to my office . 52 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,118 I got back up into the office on the T . 53 00:02:25,118 --> 00:02:27,850 V . Was the towers burning . 54 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:31,496 You know at that point we started to 55 00:02:31,496 --> 00:02:35,190 demand aircraft and prepare them for 56 00:02:35,190 --> 00:02:38,150 launch and get into the fight so to 57 00:02:38,150 --> 00:02:40,660 speak . Three members of the main air 58 00:02:40,660 --> 00:02:42,780 guard out of Bangor were flying a 59 00:02:42,780 --> 00:02:44,947 training mission over Long Island on 9 60 00:02:44,947 --> 00:02:47,169 11 . Little did they know that they had 61 00:02:47,169 --> 00:02:49,570 become players in the historic drama as 62 00:02:49,570 --> 00:02:52,110 the Twin Towers fell before their eyes . 63 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:55,440 Mhm 64 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:04,370 contacted 65 00:03:04,370 --> 00:03:06,540 my unit which at the time was the 66 00:03:06,550 --> 00:03:09,360 infantry company had a brewer to see 67 00:03:09,370 --> 00:03:11,592 exactly what was going on . If they had 68 00:03:11,592 --> 00:03:14,650 heard anything . Uh at that point they 69 00:03:14,650 --> 00:03:17,160 had heard some things uh they knew that 70 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,220 there was gonna be a request uh for 71 00:03:19,220 --> 00:03:21,890 soldiers to to support and whether or 72 00:03:21,890 --> 00:03:24,001 not I was interested , you know I was 73 00:03:24,001 --> 00:03:26,168 absolutely interested in let them know 74 00:03:26,168 --> 00:03:28,660 to call me at any time . We really 75 00:03:28,660 --> 00:03:31,800 didn't know who it was 76 00:03:31,810 --> 00:03:35,010 but there was just a sense of needing 77 00:03:35,010 --> 00:03:37,060 to do something . Uh you know the 78 00:03:37,060 --> 00:03:40,700 images on tv were very shocking . 79 00:03:40,710 --> 00:03:43,840 So having been in the military at that 80 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,830 point for about nine years I've done a 81 00:03:46,830 --> 00:03:48,997 lot of different types of training . I 82 00:03:48,997 --> 00:03:50,941 was definitely ready to support my 83 00:03:50,941 --> 00:03:53,940 nation . Anyway , that was needed . 84 00:03:53,950 --> 00:03:56,240 Whether that was at the home front or 85 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,462 deploying , uh , you know , I was ready 86 00:03:58,462 --> 00:03:59,960 to go . 87 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,060 So the rest of time through basic 88 00:04:04,060 --> 00:04:06,116 training and tech school , They were 89 00:04:06,116 --> 00:04:08,227 preaching us , you know , we're going 90 00:04:08,227 --> 00:04:10,393 to war , we're gonna be fighting in Al 91 00:04:10,393 --> 00:04:12,560 Qaeda two weeks after returning home 92 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:14,671 from basic training , technical would 93 00:04:14,671 --> 00:04:16,671 be mobilized and shortly thereafter 94 00:04:16,671 --> 00:04:16,560 ship to the Middle East . 95 00:04:17,740 --> 00:04:22,850 I 96 00:04:22,860 --> 00:04:25,027 was one of the cruise that was cruel , 97 00:04:25,027 --> 00:04:28,650 rested , ready to go . So went out , 98 00:04:28,660 --> 00:04:30,604 spun the jet up , got it ready for 99 00:04:30,604 --> 00:04:32,493 takeoff . We got called back into 100 00:04:32,493 --> 00:04:34,660 operations before we actually launched 101 00:04:34,660 --> 00:04:36,382 that day and we traded out our 102 00:04:36,382 --> 00:04:39,690 peacetime communications gear for , for 103 00:04:39,690 --> 00:04:42,460 wartime year . And I think that's at 104 00:04:42,460 --> 00:04:44,690 that point , we knew something was up 105 00:04:44,700 --> 00:04:46,700 and something was different because 106 00:04:46,700 --> 00:04:48,910 that was the first time that we , we 107 00:04:48,910 --> 00:04:51,770 actually used the wartime calms . Um , 108 00:04:51,780 --> 00:04:54,720 you know , over the United States , we 109 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:56,998 knew things were serious at that point . 110 00:04:56,998 --> 00:04:59,109 And it was while we were doing that , 111 00:04:59,109 --> 00:05:01,790 that we actually got the call to launch . 112 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,820 So we went down , scrambled and took 113 00:05:04,820 --> 00:05:06,876 off and started our mission for that 114 00:05:06,876 --> 00:05:07,876 day . 115 00:05:07,876 --> 00:05:14,700 A 116 00:05:14,710 --> 00:05:17,430 senior in high school around morning 117 00:05:17,430 --> 00:05:19,830 break , one of our fellow teammates 118 00:05:19,830 --> 00:05:21,941 came in and said that the trade tower 119 00:05:21,941 --> 00:05:24,163 had been hit by an airplane . It didn't 120 00:05:24,163 --> 00:05:26,274 really register what that , what that 121 00:05:26,274 --> 00:05:28,108 meant . We needed to go into the 122 00:05:28,108 --> 00:05:29,719 library where there was a tv 123 00:05:29,719 --> 00:05:31,663 broadcasting the news and I didn't 124 00:05:31,663 --> 00:05:34,060 really understand what , what that , 125 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:36,960 what that day meant until later on 126 00:05:37,340 --> 00:05:39,396 decided to join as actually in basic 127 00:05:39,396 --> 00:05:43,240 training , Uh , 11 , 2002 . Um , and I 128 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:45,720 think that's when it really clicked The 129 00:05:45,730 --> 00:05:47,674 impact of that day and how it will 130 00:05:47,674 --> 00:05:49,397 affect the rest of my career . 131 00:05:49,397 --> 00:05:53,370 343 firefighters that passed away , 132 00:05:53,370 --> 00:05:55,630 they just woke up to , To do their job 133 00:05:55,630 --> 00:05:57,960 that day for me , as a as a military 134 00:05:57,960 --> 00:05:59,960 firefighter for the past 19 years , 135 00:06:00,340 --> 00:06:02,562 that has certainly affected my career , 136 00:06:02,562 --> 00:06:06,160 carrying the tradition 137 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,200 that our brothers and sisters did years 138 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:09,550 ago , 139 00:06:14,340 --> 00:06:17,480 I was in the third grade , I was living 140 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:19,890 in mulberry florida , attending 141 00:06:19,900 --> 00:06:22,910 Kingsford elementary School when the 142 00:06:22,910 --> 00:06:26,730 towers were hit was pretty 143 00:06:26,730 --> 00:06:30,370 confused . The teachers were kind of 144 00:06:30,380 --> 00:06:32,340 a little hysterical and then they 145 00:06:32,340 --> 00:06:34,284 started bringing in the TVs to our 146 00:06:34,284 --> 00:06:36,900 classroom and turning them on and 147 00:06:36,910 --> 00:06:39,132 showing us what was going on and trying 148 00:06:39,132 --> 00:06:41,299 to explain it to us as a younger kid , 149 00:06:41,299 --> 00:06:43,530 you can't really grasp what was exactly 150 00:06:43,530 --> 00:06:45,586 going on , but you could see kind of 151 00:06:45,586 --> 00:06:47,590 the fear in the teachers , which is 152 00:06:47,590 --> 00:06:49,368 something you don't usually see 153 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,240 a lot of my friends that were older 154 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,351 than me going out and they joined and 155 00:07:01,351 --> 00:07:03,573 they were getting deployed . I just , I 156 00:07:03,573 --> 00:07:05,600 wanted to be a part of the 157 00:07:05,610 --> 00:07:07,832 organizations that are helping keep our 158 00:07:07,832 --> 00:07:08,832 borders 159 00:07:08,832 --> 00:07:15,600 safe 160 00:07:52,940 --> 00:07:56,830 post 9 11 , we went into 24 161 00:07:56,830 --> 00:07:59,460 7 ox . Um , and we really haven't 162 00:07:59,460 --> 00:08:02,550 slowed down much since operationally in 163 00:08:02,550 --> 00:08:05,660 the fight here defending the homeland 164 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,760 as well as out in the cars 165 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:12,562 doing business there as well . 166 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,350 What since 9 11 I've deployed three 167 00:08:21,350 --> 00:08:23,720 times in support of the nation , twice 168 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:25,942 to Afghanistan and wants to Iraq and to 169 00:08:25,942 --> 00:08:27,942 this day , you know , if the nation 170 00:08:27,942 --> 00:08:30,164 calls me , I'm ready to deploy , it can 171 00:08:30,164 --> 00:08:31,442 be in effect on family 172 00:08:33,740 --> 00:08:36,570 being there and fulfilling my duty as a 173 00:08:36,570 --> 00:08:39,940 soldier was a top priority . And 174 00:08:39,950 --> 00:08:42,280 thankfully my family understood that 175 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,502 and supported me throughout each one of 176 00:08:44,502 --> 00:08:45,502 those deployments 177 00:08:57,010 --> 00:09:00,880 911 has become one of 178 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,550 these symbolic moments for America . An 179 00:09:03,550 --> 00:09:05,439 inflection point in the country's 180 00:09:05,439 --> 00:09:07,900 history . It was and it remains a 181 00:09:07,900 --> 00:09:11,010 moment of deep trauma . 182 00:09:11,110 --> 00:09:14,820 Almost 17 years now I've been in , 183 00:09:15,140 --> 00:09:18,060 when I joined , It was basically a year 184 00:09:18,060 --> 00:09:19,838 later I knew that I was getting 185 00:09:19,838 --> 00:09:22,230 mobilized to go to Afghanistan , early 186 00:09:22,230 --> 00:09:24,340 20s , going overseas into combat 187 00:09:24,340 --> 00:09:27,660 theater . Obviously from those 188 00:09:27,660 --> 00:09:31,630 experiences you grow , you build the 189 00:09:31,630 --> 00:09:34,220 camaraderie in the service is one of 190 00:09:34,220 --> 00:09:37,460 the biggest pieces that I love about it . 191 00:09:39,540 --> 00:09:43,530 I'm extremely proud . I would like to 192 00:09:43,530 --> 00:09:45,586 take this opportunity to thank every 193 00:09:45,586 --> 00:09:47,697 single person that has chose to serve 194 00:09:47,697 --> 00:09:49,863 that is currently serving or served in 195 00:09:49,863 --> 00:09:51,919 the past that I truly do . Thank you 196 00:09:51,919 --> 00:09:55,150 and I'm proud to be a brother in arms 197 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,216 with , with anybody who has served , 198 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,107 you know , the maniacs have a 199 00:10:01,107 --> 00:10:03,700 reputation here in the D . O . D . As 200 00:10:03,710 --> 00:10:06,720 as being experts at our craft and we've 201 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:08,664 been right there with our activity 202 00:10:08,664 --> 00:10:10,720 counterparts throughout the world in 203 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,050 many different Kors both aviation 204 00:10:13,050 --> 00:10:15,161 packages as well as the expeditionary 205 00:10:15,161 --> 00:10:18,020 combat support folks . Mm . And 206 00:10:18,030 --> 00:10:20,660 anywhere we go we bring that maniac 207 00:10:20,660 --> 00:10:22,771 pride maniac traditional excellence , 208 00:10:22,771 --> 00:10:24,993 incredible amount of pride and what the 209 00:10:24,993 --> 00:10:27,049 organization has been able to do and 210 00:10:27,049 --> 00:10:29,160 what will continue to do in the years 211 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,160 to come . These acts of mass murder 212 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:33,216 were intended to frighten our nation 213 00:10:33,216 --> 00:10:35,800 into chaos and retreat but they have 214 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,550 failed . Our country is strong . 215 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:41,218 Terrorist attacks can shake the 216 00:10:41,218 --> 00:10:43,273 foundations of our biggest buildings 217 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:46,262 but they cannot touch the foundation of 218 00:10:46,262 --> 00:10:47,262 America . 219 00:10:59,040 --> 00:10:59,700 Yeah 220 00:11:20,710 --> 00:11:24,190 20 221 00:11:24,190 --> 00:11:26,980 years since 9 11 . Never 222 00:11:26,980 --> 00:11:29,870 forget some of the stories that you 223 00:11:29,870 --> 00:11:31,870 heard . There's a lot of folks that 224 00:11:31,870 --> 00:11:33,981 haven't forgotten where they were and 225 00:11:33,981 --> 00:11:36,203 what it has meant to their careers into 226 00:11:36,203 --> 00:11:38,450 their lives . So primarily my message 227 00:11:38,450 --> 00:11:40,672 today is to say thank you and thank you 228 00:11:40,672 --> 00:11:43,950 for your service but thank you for not 229 00:11:43,950 --> 00:11:46,172 forgetting thank you for not forgetting 230 00:11:46,172 --> 00:11:48,117 that it really was a day about the 231 00:11:48,117 --> 00:11:50,283 first responders and about the U . S . 232 00:11:50,283 --> 00:11:52,228 Citizens that lost their lives and 233 00:11:52,228 --> 00:11:54,339 citizens from all over the world that 234 00:11:54,339 --> 00:11:56,339 lost their lives that day but never 235 00:11:56,339 --> 00:11:59,750 forget that you've chosen to serve and 236 00:11:59,750 --> 00:12:01,750 many of our members of the army and 237 00:12:01,750 --> 00:12:04,690 International Guard . Never remember 238 00:12:04,690 --> 00:12:07,000 that day other than seeing it on tv and 239 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,222 seeing the pictures like you've seen in 240 00:12:09,222 --> 00:12:11,910 this video but you still chose to serve . 241 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:14,087 You still chose to make a difference . 242 00:12:14,087 --> 00:12:16,270 Yet . That decision to serve still 243 00:12:16,270 --> 00:12:19,160 meant we were a nation at war this year . 244 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,300 That's different . You know as we've 245 00:12:21,300 --> 00:12:23,356 pulled troops and watched on tv what 246 00:12:23,356 --> 00:12:25,467 happened in Afghanistan . There are a 247 00:12:25,467 --> 00:12:27,522 lot of emotions . I know we all have 248 00:12:27,522 --> 00:12:29,633 them . We all have different emotions 249 00:12:29,633 --> 00:12:31,911 uh what we saw over the last few weeks . 250 00:12:31,911 --> 00:12:34,440 But again , I want to remind you that 251 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:36,850 your service made a difference and it 252 00:12:36,850 --> 00:12:39,072 will continue to make a difference . As 253 00:12:39,072 --> 00:12:41,290 we remember 9-11 and we remember the 254 00:12:41,290 --> 00:12:43,401 first responders in our lost citizens 255 00:12:43,401 --> 00:12:45,568 and we remember how it changed our own 256 00:12:45,568 --> 00:12:48,070 careers . Mine included . Never forget 257 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:50,024 that your service matters and will 258 00:12:50,024 --> 00:12:51,430 continue into the future .