story11197.xml

story11197.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-12-12

My third day of basic training for the United States army started off like the 2 before it, very early and with lots of yelling. That day I was scheduled to do KP, kitchen patrol. The drill sergeants marched us down to the dinning facility and we got our assignment for the day. Being one of the bigger guys I was put on the loading dock, which is not really a good job because you are out side and away from the radio in the kitchen. This may not sound to important but when your in basic any contact with the outside world is a very big deal.
After a long morning unloading 2 eighteen wheelers and a small cargo truck, I decided it was time for a break. The first thing on my mind was food but lunch was not going to be ready for a while so I decided to sneak back to the sinks and listen to the radio for a minute. After listening to the new Brittany Spears and wishing that this was a TV not a radio, the dj cut in with some ? breaking news?. He announced that a plan had crashed in to one of the world trade towers. The first thought in my mind were so far from terrorism that I figured it must have been some guy in a propeller plane who?s GPS failed. On that note I thought it was a good time to go back to the loading docks and get back to work.
About an hour later I went back inside for lunch. When I walked up to the table I noticed that everyone was whispering to each other and not eating. Now this may sound like a normal lunch break to you but in basic talking during a meal is not exactly smiled upon. That?s when I saw all of the drill sergeants where outside talking, this really got my interested in what was going on. The next 2 minutes or my life where something to remember, I was told by the others on KP that the plane that hit the world trade was a 747, not a propeller plain, and that the second tower had been hit 30 minutes before. For once in my life I was speechless. My mind went racing, who would do such a thing, was anything else going to happen.
In the hours that fallowed we heard about the planes that went down in the pentagon and Pennsylvania. After KP was over there was a formation of the entire company out side our barracks at which we where told of all the news the drill sergeants had at that time. Any one from NYC or D.C. got to make a 2 minute phone call home to check on loved ones. Being from Northern Virginia I got to make a call. I was fairly sure my family would be ok because none of them worked at the Pentagon but I still wanted to make sure. My conversation was not more then 30 seconds, my mother said that they where all fine and asked if I was ok, I said yes and then the drill sergeant took the phone out of my hand and told me to go inside. The feeling of relief was amazing.
The events of 9/11 will never feel real to me. After that day we heard nothing about it for the remaining 4 months of training. I did not even see one picture of the events till Christmas that year. When ever I see replays of it now it?s like I am watching a movie. I keep expecting some hero to come in and save the day, but that never happens. I ended up serving in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry division during the initial invasions of Baghdad. It seems ironic to me that I an event that shaped today?s world and hand such a personal impact on my life seems like bad movie when ever I see it.