I was on my way to work when the planes hit. I heard the radio news break that the first plane hit. Having heard of crashes in the past of planes hitting a building in New York, I didn’t think much about it. Then I entered a dead zone for the radio and expected to hear a song when it tuned back in. But to my disbelief, I heard the DJ sound very quiet and somber in his speech as he said that a second plane had hit the second tower while I was in the dead zone… My first thought was, “WTH! is going on!” and my second was, “This can’t be an accident… I think we are being attacked…” At that moment I was thinking about turning around and going straight home. This debate in my head lasted almost the whole way to work. The base (Edwards AFB) hadn’t made any changes yet and let me drive through the gate. But by the time I reached my work area, the base went into DefCon Delta and locked down. No one was allowed to enter the base and anyone already there had to remain in the building that we were at. We were told that at one point that due to the heavy traffic of getting planes out of the air, some commercial planes may have to land on the base. The next 8 hours were torture. No work was really done because everyone was glued to the TV or webcast reports. My ex asked me if she should keep the kids home or send them to school, I said they didn’t need to see this, and unless the schools closed it would be better to send them…
Thank you, teachers, for working that day, I can only imagine how hard it was to know what was going on and still keep the kids…
When the base allowed us to leave, we weren’t sure if we would be allowed back to work the next day or what to expect as we left. Driving by the runways we saw 4 F-15′s at each end ready to launch.
Will I forget that day? Nope, that day is forever engraved into my memory… All those lost lives, the families that lost loved ones, those that fought back, and those that were just questioning why they lived when their friends and family members died… No, that horrible day will stay with me until I no longer breathe…
Thank you, my Brothers and Sisters, in the Armed Forces for taking up the call. God Bless America…
