nmah140.xml

nmah140.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-14

I was working here at Medical Automation Systems in Charlottesville, Virginia, when a co-worker named Wayne came up to me and said that an airliner had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. Citing at first that this was a joke, I glanced out the window to see one of our employees frantically grabbing a small television from her truck. I then realized that something really did happen.

Bringing it upstairs, she connected the tv and watched the horrors unfold. After seeing the second plane hit we knew then that this was no accident. After watching this for about 15 minutes or so, I went back downstairs, shocked in disbelief.

My wife then called me on her cell phone screaming and crying, "Are we at war? The Pentagon just got hit with a bomb or something." I went to the Internet but it wasn't working. I ran out to my car and listened to the radio to hear more of the shocking news.

Greg, our company owner, let us go home that day. We were all completely numbed and some were unable to work that day. When I got home I spent the rest of the night and most of the early morning watching the news.

My life changed dramatically because I lost 8 friends and co-workers at the Pentagon that day. I didn't find out until my former Senior Chief called me with names. The plane had apparently hit the Navy comm center. I had retired from the Navy 18 months before this happened and worked at the Navy Yard comm center. The Pentagon Comm Center was a sister unit of ours and it came under the same command, NCTS Washington DC.

Since then, I have been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I was unable to sleep most nights for weeks after the attacks. I have also been diagnosed with a minor heart problem (a murmur) attributed to the emotional shock I went through.

Because of the need for something to do to help others, I implemented and organized 8 local unsigned bands, including my own rock band, LoosEndz, to come together in concert at Alston's Pub in Harrisonburg, Virginia, to raise money for the Twin Towers Fund that was set up through Mayor Guliani. We called the concert "WTC-AID."

Although we didn't raise a huge sum of money, we came together and had a nice concert and sent the money off in the form of a check that same night to the Twin Towers Fund. The reward to me was witnessing human solidarity, and how a group of people came together as one to pull off this fantastic event.

I realize life is now very short and we must live our lives to the fullest.

The fact that innocent people went to work that day to feed and clothe their families, only to meet their tragic ends all because of ignorance and violence from a religious group that is based entirely on hate.

Yes, and with that, I also posted a large sign that read "WAKE UP AMERICA! LET'S GIVE THEM THEIR JIHAD!"

My feelings on the American Flag: It has become more than an icon to me. Every time I see it, and I mean each and every time, a lump wells up in my throat and I think about 9/11. I served twenty years in the US Navy proudly; my patriotism still remains strong as ever. I wanted to come back into the Navy to help, but they wouldn't let me.