On September 11th, 2001 (at around 0845 or so) I was with my college Air Force ROTC instructor. We were in the middle of a paperwork session that would affirm my intention to pursue an officers' commission in the Air Force upon graduation.
I finished up with the papers and as my instructor shook my hand to congratulate me, an Air Force major mentioned in passing "so a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center."
Read the rest here.
UPDATE
(My apologies if the following sounds at all maudlin or saccharine, but it wasn't originally meant for publication.)
To the original post, longtime reader and tipster Mike Daley commented:
Thanks for the link. 9/11 is still a tear up day for me, and reading John's post was a real feel good item.
I emailed Mike back with:
I'm (just) old enough now to think of these 23-, 24-year-old men as "kids." But these ...kids... are commissioned officers in the US Army, Air Force, and Navy. Already they've done more for this country than I have, or maybe ever will. That's a fact, and it will never cease to astonish me.
And neither will these kids.
Mike then suggested that I post our email exchange here on VodkaPundit. So here it is, as a favor to a buddy – and as thanks to guys and gals like John, Charlie, and Curtis.
On a similar note, over cocktails a couple weeks ago in New York, a certain Army Reserve officer said much the same thing. Paraphrase: You look at the new "kids" coming up through the ranks, and you know the country is in good hands.
Stephen,
Thanks for the link. 9/11 is still a tear up day for me, and reading John's post was a real feel good item.
Mike
BTW, I still believe that GCS can't get enough publicity for their wonderful slide shows.
http://www.gcsdistributing.com/?pv=tr
we had drill that weekend before the attacks. one guy re-enlisted on Sunday.
then, on Tuesday, he checked...yeah, they mailed it in on Monday. he was with us when we went to Iraq, too.
"I'm (just) old enough now to think of these 23-, 24-year-old men as "kids." But these ...kids... are commissioned officers in the US Army, Air Force, and Navy. Already they've done more for this country than I have, or maybe ever will. That's a fact, and it will never cease to astonish me."
Amen.
I try not to have too many regrets about my life. Making mistakes is part of living. But I do have one honest regret, and that is that I was too bull-headed in my youth to see what a benefit a stint in the military would have been.
Hindsight's 20/20 I guess.
I spent 13 years on active duty (Army and Air Force), but I wouldn't stack up those 13 years against 13 minutes some young troops are spending in places like Falluga. There simply is no comparison between what they're accomplishing and risking on a daily basis and my service. I am in awe of these young men and women. I'm now 48, so they look like "kids" to me, too. But they're better people than I'll ever be.
I wonder if he realizes that these automatons of his pilot 80% of commercial aircraft... or turn wrenches on nuclear munitions...
