1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:19,460 --> 00:00:22,490 This September 11 commemorates 20 years 3 00:00:22,490 --> 00:00:24,860 since the attacks on New York City and 4 00:00:24,860 --> 00:00:27,490 Washington D . C . These attacks were 5 00:00:27,490 --> 00:00:29,712 directed at more than just our citizens 6 00:00:29,712 --> 00:00:31,910 and institutions . They were directed 7 00:00:31,910 --> 00:00:33,799 at our nation's guiding ideals of 8 00:00:33,799 --> 00:00:36,340 freedom , liberty and the pursuit of 9 00:00:36,340 --> 00:00:38,680 happiness . They also brought us 10 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:40,680 together like no other events since 11 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,570 Pearl Harbor In total , nearly 3000 12 00:00:44,570 --> 00:00:47,040 people were killed and countless more 13 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,550 suffered serious injuries and long-term 14 00:00:49,550 --> 00:00:52,050 health issues . While that number is 15 00:00:52,050 --> 00:00:54,340 painfully high , we must never forget 16 00:00:54,350 --> 00:00:56,760 that each of those lives was more than 17 00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,870 just a number . We lost sons and 18 00:00:59,870 --> 00:01:03,040 daughters , fathers and mothers and 19 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,010 brothers and sisters . They were 20 00:01:05,010 --> 00:01:07,880 students and athletes , blue collar 21 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,850 workers and professionals . They were 22 00:01:10,850 --> 00:01:14,560 soldiers , sailors , military civilians 23 00:01:14,570 --> 00:01:16,980 and defense contractors faithfully 24 00:01:16,980 --> 00:01:19,100 serving their nation , but never 25 00:01:19,100 --> 00:01:21,267 expecting to be in the line of fire at 26 00:01:21,267 --> 00:01:24,440 home they were firefighters , police 27 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,290 officers , paramedics and emergency 28 00:01:27,290 --> 00:01:29,123 medical technicians who ran into 29 00:01:29,123 --> 00:01:31,234 burning buildings , putting the lives 30 00:01:31,234 --> 00:01:34,250 of others before their own . They were 31 00:01:34,250 --> 00:01:36,840 good Samaritans , brave service members 32 00:01:36,850 --> 00:01:38,906 and civilians who stepped in to save 33 00:01:38,906 --> 00:01:41,370 the hurt and wounded and prevent even 34 00:01:41,370 --> 00:01:44,470 more lives from being lost . There were 35 00:01:44,470 --> 00:01:46,248 a group of strangers who banded 36 00:01:46,248 --> 00:01:48,414 together as americans to prevent their 37 00:01:48,414 --> 00:01:50,637 aircraft from being turned into another 38 00:01:50,637 --> 00:01:53,700 weapon of destruction . Every time you 39 00:01:53,700 --> 00:01:56,310 hear the number we lost on 9 11 40 00:01:56,740 --> 00:01:59,260 remember that every number has a name . 41 00:01:59,740 --> 00:02:02,430 Every name has a story and every one of 42 00:02:02,430 --> 00:02:04,763 those stories matters to their families , 43 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:09,090 to our country and to God . 20 years 44 00:02:09,090 --> 00:02:11,530 ago today I felt proud to be an 45 00:02:11,530 --> 00:02:13,586 american . As I witnessed our nation 46 00:02:13,586 --> 00:02:15,690 come together as one to rebuild and 47 00:02:15,690 --> 00:02:18,360 respond with ferocious determination . 48 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,462 We resolved on that day to not let fear 49 00:02:21,462 --> 00:02:24,040 and hatred win but to live our lives in 50 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,270 freedom and in love we resolve to 51 00:02:27,270 --> 00:02:29,890 defend not just ourselves but others 52 00:02:29,890 --> 00:02:32,420 around the globe to be that beacon of 53 00:02:32,420 --> 00:02:36,330 hope and force for good . Still our 54 00:02:36,330 --> 00:02:39,420 fight continues On this day . 20 years 55 00:02:39,420 --> 00:02:41,531 later we must renew our commitment to 56 00:02:41,531 --> 00:02:44,420 our values and to one another . We must 57 00:02:44,420 --> 00:02:46,587 remain steadfast in our defense of the 58 00:02:46,587 --> 00:02:48,531 greatest nation the world has ever 59 00:02:48,531 --> 00:02:50,860 known . But most importantly we must 60 00:02:50,860 --> 00:02:53,940 never forget the lives lost and the 61 00:02:53,940 --> 00:02:57,670 sacrifices made over the last 20 years . 62 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:00,190 We can do that best buy once again 63 00:03:00,190 --> 00:03:02,510 committee to serve one another By 64 00:03:02,510 --> 00:03:04,970 treating one another with love and 65 00:03:04,970 --> 00:03:07,180 respect and by never giving up on the 66 00:03:07,180 --> 00:03:10,490 hope for peace and freedom . Please 67 00:03:10,490 --> 00:03:12,323 take a moment to listen to these 68 00:03:12,323 --> 00:03:14,379 stories of our army , family members 69 00:03:14,379 --> 00:03:17,060 who remember exactly where they were on 70 00:03:17,060 --> 00:03:20,840 that fateful day . I was in columbus 71 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,360 Ohio . Um a few years before that I had 72 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:26,582 gotten out the military and I thought I 73 00:03:26,582 --> 00:03:29,650 was done . Um so I started focusing on 74 00:03:29,650 --> 00:03:33,460 being a civilian at the time I owned a 75 00:03:33,470 --> 00:03:35,637 hair salon and I was acquiring another 76 00:03:35,637 --> 00:03:38,560 one and I had a really large clientele . 77 00:03:38,570 --> 00:03:42,060 Um I was very satisfied with my life 78 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,150 but then I saw the tv . 79 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,560 Yeah I saw the first tower go down 80 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:52,460 and it just didn't register in my mind . 81 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:56,850 Um I had family in new york and I tried 82 00:03:56,850 --> 00:04:00,060 to call them phones weren't working . 83 00:04:00,540 --> 00:04:02,840 That's when it became real . And I saw 84 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,660 the next tower . I never thought 85 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,340 that an enemy could infiltrate the 86 00:04:09,340 --> 00:04:13,340 United States . At first I thought it 87 00:04:13,340 --> 00:04:14,970 looked like a movie . It was 88 00:04:14,980 --> 00:04:18,190 unbelievable . It made me angry . 89 00:04:18,740 --> 00:04:22,220 It made me ask why people were 90 00:04:22,220 --> 00:04:24,331 gathering around in my shop because I 91 00:04:24,331 --> 00:04:28,010 had a large T . V . And it 92 00:04:28,010 --> 00:04:30,770 changed everything . I no longer wanted 93 00:04:30,780 --> 00:04:32,970 to be a civilian . I wanted to be a 94 00:04:32,970 --> 00:04:36,150 soldier Again . I came in with the 95 00:04:36,150 --> 00:04:39,220 mindset of being active duty . I asked 96 00:04:39,220 --> 00:04:42,030 my recruiter whatever unit I can get in 97 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,210 that is deploying and here I am . I 98 00:04:45,220 --> 00:04:48,660 haven't look back ever since . We've 99 00:04:48,660 --> 00:04:51,250 never been attacked on our ground 100 00:04:52,430 --> 00:04:55,850 As significant as 9 11 for 101 00:04:55,850 --> 00:04:59,060 that . I feel as though even if I'm 102 00:04:59,060 --> 00:05:02,400 just a small piece of the puzzle , I'm 103 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,560 helping supporting a Champion Army 104 00:05:06,140 --> 00:05:08,550 That has prevented that for the last 20 105 00:05:08,550 --> 00:05:12,210 years . I was an officer 106 00:05:12,620 --> 00:05:14,509 in the army and I was working for 107 00:05:14,509 --> 00:05:17,510 income in that particular day . We were 108 00:05:17,510 --> 00:05:21,400 conducting uh no CS board to screen 109 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,511 out a candidate to screen a candidate 110 00:05:23,930 --> 00:05:26,450 and somebody interrupted the board , 111 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:28,896 which amazed me . I'm like you never 112 00:05:28,896 --> 00:05:31,118 interrupt the board . And I was closest 113 00:05:31,118 --> 00:05:33,229 to the door . And the person motioned 114 00:05:33,229 --> 00:05:35,670 me out and they said that a plane had 115 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,480 flown several planes had flown into the 116 00:05:38,490 --> 00:05:41,930 twin towers and I didn't believe them . 117 00:05:41,940 --> 00:05:43,884 So they took me down the hall so I 118 00:05:43,884 --> 00:05:46,440 could see it on the tv and while we 119 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,670 were standing there watching they 120 00:05:48,670 --> 00:05:50,781 started to announce that the pentagon 121 00:05:50,781 --> 00:05:53,070 had been attacked and Aaron was in the 122 00:05:53,070 --> 00:05:55,500 pentagon that day and we had just 123 00:05:55,500 --> 00:05:57,611 gotten cell phones so I tried to call 124 00:05:57,611 --> 00:05:59,944 him on my cell phone but didn't get him . 125 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:02,780 And so then 126 00:06:03,940 --> 00:06:06,260 couple hours later he eventually got 127 00:06:06,260 --> 00:06:09,330 through to me . I remember 128 00:06:09,340 --> 00:06:12,770 distinctly getting called over to see 129 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:15,010 pictures on one of the lieutenant 130 00:06:15,010 --> 00:06:17,720 colonels desk on his computer where he 131 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:21,230 was watching the planes , the second 132 00:06:21,230 --> 00:06:24,020 plane ran into the building , the twin 133 00:06:24,020 --> 00:06:26,810 towers and I said then we need to brace 134 00:06:26,810 --> 00:06:29,860 for impact . So I went back to my 135 00:06:29,860 --> 00:06:32,050 office and normally I would have been 136 00:06:32,050 --> 00:06:34,200 walking around the corridor , the 137 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,620 outside ring of the pentagon . But I 138 00:06:36,620 --> 00:06:39,510 had delayed that morning because one of 139 00:06:39,510 --> 00:06:41,850 our employees wanted to talk to me , 140 00:06:41,860 --> 00:06:43,710 but that delayed me doing what I 141 00:06:43,710 --> 00:06:45,932 normally do for relationship building , 142 00:06:45,932 --> 00:06:48,290 walking around into meetings on the E 143 00:06:48,290 --> 00:06:50,820 ring and I think it saved my life . So 144 00:06:50,830 --> 00:06:53,052 next thing you know , we got hit in the 145 00:06:53,052 --> 00:06:55,910 building . Um and the story for me is 146 00:06:55,910 --> 00:06:58,480 that had it been just two months 147 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,820 earlier we were on the ring , that's 148 00:07:01,820 --> 00:07:04,960 where office was . But uh they were 149 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,071 refurbishing the pentagon and so they 150 00:07:07,071 --> 00:07:10,530 moved the logistics FM component up to 151 00:07:10,530 --> 00:07:14,240 the third floor into the C ring and as 152 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,560 a result um I was pretty lucky with my 153 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:19,890 staff . So I got everybody out for both 154 00:07:19,890 --> 00:07:22,290 the FM side , the animal side and the 155 00:07:22,290 --> 00:07:24,290 other portions of logistics that we 156 00:07:24,290 --> 00:07:27,690 were co located with . I , if I felt 157 00:07:27,700 --> 00:07:29,930 very fortunate for the people he was 158 00:07:29,930 --> 00:07:32,630 with because I figured if anybody could 159 00:07:32,630 --> 00:07:36,000 be of help , you know to get people out 160 00:07:36,010 --> 00:07:38,121 and to take care of things that would 161 00:07:38,121 --> 00:07:40,232 be Aaron . Um and that's exactly what 162 00:07:40,232 --> 00:07:43,330 it did . Well I tried to call you on 163 00:07:43,330 --> 00:07:45,552 the cell phone at the first rally point 164 00:07:45,552 --> 00:07:47,441 and my cell phone wouldn't work . 165 00:07:47,441 --> 00:07:50,360 Towers were impacted by by the attack . 166 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:52,880 And so just immediately started 167 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:54,547 gathering folks along getting 168 00:07:54,547 --> 00:07:57,070 accountability for my personnel then . 169 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:59,650 So we went from rally 0.1 rally point 170 00:07:59,650 --> 00:08:01,830 to the rally 0.0.3 at rally 0.3 . The 171 00:08:01,830 --> 00:08:04,140 army G four , General mayhem came 172 00:08:04,140 --> 00:08:06,310 through and said for all of you to go 173 00:08:06,310 --> 00:08:08,670 home and stand by for calls . But on 174 00:08:08,670 --> 00:08:11,200 the way home I ran into Gerald Barrett , 175 00:08:11,210 --> 00:08:13,390 Lieutenant Colonel , army finance , 176 00:08:13,570 --> 00:08:16,790 working in army G one and uh he had 177 00:08:16,850 --> 00:08:19,250 1000 yard stare in his face and I 178 00:08:19,250 --> 00:08:22,120 learned later his story , his story was 179 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,342 they met someone else coming out of the 180 00:08:24,342 --> 00:08:26,509 building baby . And he and Roy Wallace 181 00:08:26,509 --> 00:08:28,676 now at tier three SCS for the army and 182 00:08:28,676 --> 00:08:32,640 G one and this person was burning and 183 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:34,862 they grabbed them and save them both of 184 00:08:34,862 --> 00:08:36,918 them earned the soldier's medal that 185 00:08:36,918 --> 00:08:39,029 day and things started to calm down a 186 00:08:39,029 --> 00:08:41,029 little bit but immediately , what's 187 00:08:41,029 --> 00:08:43,196 tomorrow going to look like ? And when 188 00:08:43,196 --> 00:08:45,418 is that car going to come to say , what 189 00:08:45,418 --> 00:08:47,473 are you going to do ? It was at that 190 00:08:47,473 --> 00:08:50,150 point in time it turned into um full 191 00:08:50,150 --> 00:08:52,261 steam ahead . Everything that you can 192 00:08:52,261 --> 00:08:55,290 do to support the formation to figure 193 00:08:55,290 --> 00:08:57,401 out who these folks are and make sure 194 00:08:57,401 --> 00:08:59,750 that we're supported armed to the teeth 195 00:08:59,750 --> 00:09:02,028 to go after him . That was the mission . 196 00:09:02,028 --> 00:09:03,917 There was a sense of folks coming 197 00:09:03,917 --> 00:09:07,420 together to show that 198 00:09:07,420 --> 00:09:10,760 America could be hit but not destroyed . 199 00:09:11,140 --> 00:09:14,720 That America was , you know , an 200 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:18,100 idea and that a group of folks that 201 00:09:18,100 --> 00:09:20,433 would not take getting attacked lightly . 202 00:09:21,340 --> 00:09:24,400 I just remember the flags on every 203 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:28,180 house , every house had a flag . We had 204 00:09:28,180 --> 00:09:30,180 concerns for our next door neighbor 205 00:09:30,180 --> 00:09:32,180 because they were , the husband was 206 00:09:32,180 --> 00:09:35,360 Jordanian Jordan . Yeah . And 207 00:09:35,740 --> 00:09:38,030 people started to pull away so we made 208 00:09:38,030 --> 00:09:41,360 sure that we didn't . Good man , 209 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,090 Good family , good family . 9 210 00:09:46,090 --> 00:09:49,890 11 . I was at a call center and I was a 211 00:09:49,890 --> 00:09:53,830 supervisor who oversee um , emergency 212 00:09:53,830 --> 00:09:55,910 calls for service that came in from 213 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:59,360 vehicles . I remember that calls 214 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:01,720 started coming in from all over . We 215 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:03,831 had calls coming in from new york and 216 00:10:03,831 --> 00:10:06,120 pennsylvania . There were , there was 217 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:07,953 debris that was falling from the 218 00:10:07,953 --> 00:10:10,064 buildings that landed on the vehicles 219 00:10:10,064 --> 00:10:12,120 and when that happened , the vehicle 220 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,287 itself triggered an emergency response 221 00:10:14,287 --> 00:10:16,509 into the call center . So we would have 222 00:10:16,509 --> 00:10:18,731 to determine whether they were actually 223 00:10:18,731 --> 00:10:20,898 vehicle . People in the vehicle , they 224 00:10:20,898 --> 00:10:22,787 needed help or if it was just the 225 00:10:22,787 --> 00:10:24,842 vehicle . But at that time we didn't 226 00:10:24,842 --> 00:10:27,120 know that the twin towers had been hit . 227 00:10:27,540 --> 00:10:30,220 We only knew that there were hundreds 228 00:10:30,220 --> 00:10:32,276 of calls for service coming from the 229 00:10:32,276 --> 00:10:35,590 vehicles . Um , one of our managers 230 00:10:35,590 --> 00:10:38,800 came in and put on the news so we could 231 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,022 see exactly what was going on around us 232 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,060 and we discovered that we were under 233 00:10:45,060 --> 00:10:47,860 attack . We were still having 234 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:52,510 all kinds of debris falling down on the 235 00:10:52,510 --> 00:10:55,230 cars . We had people injured , we're 236 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,210 hearing horns going off , people were 237 00:10:58,210 --> 00:11:00,610 screaming , people in the cars were 238 00:11:00,620 --> 00:11:02,731 trying to get other people out of the 239 00:11:02,740 --> 00:11:05,450 arms away . When I first learned that 240 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,940 we had these attacks , my first 241 00:11:09,940 --> 00:11:12,107 question was , how many more are there 242 00:11:12,107 --> 00:11:15,020 going to be today ? The events of 9 11 243 00:11:15,030 --> 00:11:18,210 affected the way we serve . My 244 00:11:18,210 --> 00:11:20,660 husband served the military for 21 245 00:11:20,660 --> 00:11:23,310 years . My two sons and my son in law 246 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,580 are a serving and myself enormous 247 00:11:26,580 --> 00:11:29,260 civilian . I like to think that I'm 248 00:11:29,260 --> 00:11:32,550 doing my part here at Gavin Hall 249 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:35,860 up in the soldiers with their finances . 250 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:38,607 I think it's important for us to teach 251 00:11:38,607 --> 00:11:41,190 our Children To be good citizens . The 252 00:11:41,190 --> 00:11:44,010 events of 9 11 helped me as a parent to 253 00:11:44,010 --> 00:11:47,750 train my Children to respect the flag , 254 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,720 to respect the military and to 255 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,942 be aware of their surroundings and no , 256 00:11:53,942 --> 00:11:56,320 you know that they can make a 257 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,050 difference . 258 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:14,390 Mm 259 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:21,440 Yeah , 260 00:12:32,340 --> 00:12:35,160 priests . It Oh 261 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:56,350 mm 262 00:12:57,940 --> 00:12:59,860 mm 263 00:13:01,540 --> 00:13:03,850 mm 264 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,750 or there . Oh