story2969.xml
Title
story2969.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
It was the beginning of what I thought was an ordinary work day. I was in the process of sorting mail when I heard on the radio that one of the towers at the World Trade Center was hit by a plane. Another co-worker had come into my office and had said she heard the same thing. I thought it was bizarre that a plane could become off course and hit the trade center, but went back to going through the mail. Not long after that, the same co-worker came down to say that the second tower was hit by another plane. My heart fell, I knew.
My 17 year old son had joined the Navy in January of 2001 and had done basic training and had done his special training and was stationed at Norfolk, Va. He was scheduled for a routine 6-month deployment on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
I tried immediately to reach William on his cell phone and couldn't get through, I then immediately called my mother is South Carolina. I knew if he couldn't reach me he would reach her.
A while later the phone rang and it was William. He said that the base was on high alert (of course by this time the Pentagon was hit and the plane had gone down in Pennsylvania).
Waiting to hear if his deployment was going to change. Hour-to-hour, day-to-day. I knew where they were headed.
It was a mother's worst nightmare come true.
The Roosevelt pulled out of Norfolk, Virginia on September 19, 2001 headed directly to the Mediterranean to participate in "Operation Enduring Freedom." The Roosevelt traveled down the Suez Canal and to the Persian Gulf, where, on October 16 it relieved the USS Enterprise and joined the USS Carl Vinson in the air strike against the al Qaida terrorist network and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
The Roosevelt earned awards while they were out on deployment. They broke the record being out to sea for 159 consecutive days without going to port.
William returned safely aboard the Roosevelt on March 27, 2002. While he was out to see he turned 18 years old and when he returned to Norfolk he returned as an 18-year old veteran.
We now have some time to get ready for the the next 6 month deployment in wartime.
My 17 year old son had joined the Navy in January of 2001 and had done basic training and had done his special training and was stationed at Norfolk, Va. He was scheduled for a routine 6-month deployment on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
I tried immediately to reach William on his cell phone and couldn't get through, I then immediately called my mother is South Carolina. I knew if he couldn't reach me he would reach her.
A while later the phone rang and it was William. He said that the base was on high alert (of course by this time the Pentagon was hit and the plane had gone down in Pennsylvania).
Waiting to hear if his deployment was going to change. Hour-to-hour, day-to-day. I knew where they were headed.
It was a mother's worst nightmare come true.
The Roosevelt pulled out of Norfolk, Virginia on September 19, 2001 headed directly to the Mediterranean to participate in "Operation Enduring Freedom." The Roosevelt traveled down the Suez Canal and to the Persian Gulf, where, on October 16 it relieved the USS Enterprise and joined the USS Carl Vinson in the air strike against the al Qaida terrorist network and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
The Roosevelt earned awards while they were out on deployment. They broke the record being out to sea for 159 consecutive days without going to port.
William returned safely aboard the Roosevelt on March 27, 2002. While he was out to see he turned 18 years old and when he returned to Norfolk he returned as an 18-year old veteran.
We now have some time to get ready for the the next 6 month deployment in wartime.
Collection
Citation
“story2969.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 10, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5614.