Five Years

   Five years ago today, terrorists attacked our country.  My buddy Bizkit asked “Where were you?”  And I am going to put my answer here instead of taking up space on his site.  

   I wasn’t even in this country.  I left home once again on my wedding anniversary, 9 September, for an overseas training mission.  Entirely routine, normal.  Our C-5 had to land in the C-5 black hole that is their home base.  Once there, we had to transfer our aircraft, and all associated equipment, to another C-5, without a tug.  And wait till it was ready to go, which was supposed to be at around 0330.  Someone got the bright idea to go to a hotel for the night, but by the time we got there it was around 0100.  We got charged $80 to stay in the room for about an hour and a half.  Great!  We should have stayed in the terminal.

   We get to the terminal, board the C-5, and fly to Tazar AB, Hungary.  (I hate C-5s because there is nowhere to lay down.  You’re in commercial airline style seats, and you’re usually not allowed to go down where the equipment is to get some sleep.)   We land, on the 11th, and begin building up our two aircraft.  We were making record breaking time too.  If we had had another 3 hours, we would have finished.  Anyway, I’m working on the forward transmission area when the CO drives out and gathers everyone to him.  

   “Everyone stop working and listen up.  Terrorists have just flown airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  As of right now, we don’t know if we’re going to launch missions from here.  Or return back to Campbell and then redeploy.”  He gave us some instructions about what to do and then left.

   Of course, none of us believed him.  We all thought that it was part of the training scenario.  So, we pretty much ignored his instructions and went back to work.  We didn’t even discuss it, just went back to our jobs.  About half an hour later, the CO comes back and tells again to “Stop working.  Now!”  The tone in his voice this time made us take notice.  And we began to wonder if it was just another part of the game.  He gives us the same instructions, and a few more, and goes back to our “information center”.

   We start doing the things that he told us to do and getting ready for whatever the next phase was going to be.  All the while, we are talking about it, and getting more and more angry.  One of the guys had a shortwave radio and tuned it in to VOA (Voice Of America).  And we start hearing the reports.  We know that we were going to be part of any retaliation against Bin Laden.  (We already knew in our hearts that it was him.  We had no doubt!)  We were already forward deployed, within our helicopter’s range, and we wanted revenge.  The only question was, would G. Dub going to send us.  

   We completed the tasks that the CO set to us and sat around the aircraft waiting to find out our next move for about an hour.  The CO and First Sergeant come up with vans for all of us.  “Guys, we can’t go home just yet.”  Then he looks to Top and then back to us, (I remember how angry he looked.  The only time I ever saw him like that.) “All air traffic over the US is grounded.  As soon as we get clearance, we’re heading back to Campbell.”  

   We stayed at Tazar for three days before we loaded back up to head home.  But while we were waiting to take off, we went to the terminal area for some snacks.  They had a big screen TV there.  And this is when we saw what happened for the first time.  We watched in disbelief as it was shone over, and over again.  We flew a direct route.  No landing to get fuel along the way, in-flight refueling for us.  The CO came over the intercom shortly after we passed New York and told us what he had seen, or rather couldn’t see.  The entire city was covered in smoke.  

   When we got back to Campbell, I was shocked at what had changed.  The amount of security was unbelievable.  There was a three to four hour wait to get on post.  It was completely unreal.  And we all knew that we were going, all we were waiting on was the word.

   I remember that day very clearly, down to the last little conversation.  The days around it, I remember what happened, but only in generalities.  The video of the Towers coming down and the crater at the Pentagon filled me with such anger the first time I saw it.  And still does to this day.  I’m not an easy person to get angry, but this one thing can do it in an instant.  And I have no outlet for that anger.  No one I can direct it at.  But, it doesn’t transfer over either.  What I mean by that is, I want to get my hands on Bin Laden and his terrorists.  (If I got a hold of him, I don’t know if he would be shot trying to “escape”.)  But, I don’t hold all Muslims in the same light.  Bin Laden’s version of Islam is twisted for his own gain.  I’m starting to ramble again and will stop here.  But please, tell me your 9/11 story.  I want to hear it.


   I’ll talk to ya’ll later.