nmah2564.xml

nmah2564.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-10

Early that fateful morning, my wife Brenda went into labor with the impending birth of our first daughter, Bernadette. Amidst the excitement of that moment and the scrambling to gather everything necessary to make the trip to the hospital, I remembered that I needed to call family and friends and let them know that the big day was upon us at last. As I called the first contact on my list (an old Army buddy and fellow Persian Gulf War Vet) and told him "I can't believe it, but it's finally happening", his reply was "I know...I've been watching it on TV". I was surprised for a second, and asked how he could be watching it on TV, we were obliviously talking about two different things. I'm talking about my wife, what was he talking about? He told me to turn on the TV and see for myself; so I did. I was shocked to see the north tower of the World Trade Center on the news, smoking after being struck by the first plane. This must have been at about 8:50am or so. I reiterated the news of our trip to the hospital and proceeded to call the other few people on my list as well.

We left for the hospital at around 9:00am and heard of the second plane hitting the south tower during our short trip. Upon arriving at the hospital, all of the TVs in the admitting area were trained on the news coverage. At around 9:30am, President Bush stated that the country had suffered an apparent "Terrorist Attack". Less then 15 minutes later (during my wife's intensifying labor and urges to watch her and not the TV), Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.

My eyes kept jumping back and fourth between my wife, who was in the most excruciating pain that I had ever seen her in, and the TV coverage that was detailing a horrific attack on our country. My feelings as a husband and as a father-to-be were in direct competition with my ardent patriotism. Since I could do nothing to improve the situation abroad, I focused my attention toward assisting my wife in any way that I could. Our baby daughter was finally born at 7:10pm on September 11th, 2001 after over 11 hours of hard labor.

My life has definitely changed in many ways because of September 11th. Firstly, I now have a beautiful and healthy baby daughter who gives me more joy and pride then I have ever known. After having experienced this horrible act of hatred, cowardice and terror perpetrated against our country along with the rest of America, I can honestly say that something good did in fact come from that day.

Secondly, my wife and I have now vowed to celebrate some form of human kindness on our daughter's birthday every year. We have prepared a scrapbook to record the events each year, so she will learn and remember that the horrible things in this world can always be overpowered and overcome by goodness, charity and love for others. Our first entry in her book will take place on September 11th, 2002 when we attend a prayer vigil at our church in Yorba Linda, California. We will teach our daughter to pray for many things on this day: for all of the victims and heroes; for all of the victims families and friends who must learn to live without them; for the misguided and disillusioned men who committed this dreadful act; and for the world...that an event like this may never again take lives of innocents.

I believe that the impact of the horror speaks for itself. The terrorists who executed this attack need no more regard, for their actions were that of cowardice. We need to support our nations military and our President in any just endeavors he undertakes to ensure that this type of act cannot happen again. I want people to strive to remember that there were also good things that happened on September 11th, 2001. While life was being taken from this world, new life was also entering into it. Furthermore, it should not have to take an act of terrorism to unite Americans and focus them upon acts of kindness, memoriam and patriotism. Our country's history is rich with acts of heroism and great sacrifice. You need not look very far to find inspiration.

I am a former US Army Sergeant and Persian Gulf War Veteran. I have the highest regard for the flag of the United States of America and everything that it stands for. I served my country diligently for nine years in the military because of this pride as well as a personal need to protect the values that I hold true. I will always honor and display and protect the emblem of our country with pride and dignity. The violence of September 11th has only proven to solidify and strengthened my resolve.