story6426.xml

story6426.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

I was at work. Someone menitioned that the WTC was hit by a plane. I had no TV, just a radio. So I got on line. It took a long time to get on line. I guess a lot of people were doing the same. As the day's events unfolded, I still had a job to do. Work was going on as if nothing has happened. I mean, we still had to load and ship Mack Truck engines to our customers. At one point, I said to a friend, "we act like nothing has happened. Don't you understand that we have just witnessed the start of a war. We are at war. This won't end today. This will go on for years." As a Gulf War Vet., I know the taste of war. As an instructor at Gettysburg, I know that the bodies of that great battle were not all recovered until the following March. I did not want to think how long it would take at the WTC.

I was to leave the Marine Corps after 20 years. I was lucky my continuance was approved until 2005.