On the 11th of September 2001 I was at work....I was walking down the hall to ask someone about an order that we were sending out and as I passed the conference room I saw two of the girls from the office clustered at the television and they were crying. I walked in and asked what had happened. Becky told me a plane had hit the WTC. Just then they showed the impact again. I remember thinking that there was going to be Hell to pay after an aviation disaster of that magnitude and I was starting to walk out when I heard them gasp. The camera had switch back to live feed and the second plane was on its approach. All that went through my mind was "Oh Shit"...and then I watched the second plane hit.

I knew when I saw the second plane that we had just been attacked. One plane is probably a mistake...a horrible mistake but most likely an accident. Two was no accident. It was an attack on America and I knew that in a very short period of time I would be getting "The Call". I walked down the hall to the President's office and told him I'd be leaving shortly and I had no idea when I'd be back. Less than 20 minutes later I was walking out to go home and grab my gear before reporting to my unit. I called all my Joes and we all hit the Armory.

We spent a little less than 2 hours packing all of our gear into our trucks and waiting to be told where we were going. After 18 hours of waiting, most were sent home. In the weeks that came after many of us went down to WTC or to the myriad of airports and nuclear plants in the State. As a Unit we went went down to NYC and guarded the bridges and rail tunnels for several weeks. I worked with MTA Police who had been in the rubble pulling people out. I listened to the stories they told of fallen friends, of citizens bodies they found, of fire fighters and EMS people hurt and killed. I stood in the Pit. I stood in the shattered lobby of WTC 7 and looked out over it and felt sick to my stomach. So much death...so much suffering...

Television doesn't do justice to it really....the enormity of it. Television doesn't tell you the horror stories and there were many. The MTA Police I worked with had seen grusome things...horrible things....things no one should ever have to see.

When I think of this date, I don't just remember the building or the dead....no, I remember the survivors and the men and women who are just now starting to suffer the effects of their heroism. I remember and I pray that no one ever forgets....a prayer that I already know is a waste of time....because we already have started to forget.

The Alamo, The Maine, Pearl Harbor / December 7th, WTC / September 11th. With so many things to remember, why do we make the same mistakes so many times.

Because we forget....

I never will