Before 9/11, I never really thought about the military. Having a military force ready to respond to threats or deter conflicts never crossed my mind. If adults mentioned the military in conversation when I was growing up, I was oblivious. I was even unaware of the jets that flew overhead occasionally out of the Air National Guard Base in my town.
Wars were part of the past— not the present.
The attacks
I was a high school senior on Sept. 11, 2001. The attacks were life changing for so many Americans, including myself. For me, it was the life event that eventually led me to join the military.
I woke up on the morning of Sept. 11, not to my alarm clock radio, but instead news anchors talking. While the words I heard on the radio were confusing, it didn’t sound good. Something about their voice triggered awareness that something was wrong. I knew before I even put my rolled out of bed that everything had changed.
The night before, my homework assignment had been on the history of the radio. I had studied the 1937 Hindenburg disaster — which was one of the first and most famous radio eyewitness disaster broadcasts — as well as the 1938 War of the Worlds report that many mistook as fact, causing panic of an alien invasion. With this fresh in mind, I was on edge when I heard the voices on the radio. I couldn’t help wondering if this was real. But even while I tried to make sense of it all, there was growing dread.
Over 20 years later, and I still remember walking down the hallway with a buzz of adrenaline and fear to ask my mom what was going on.
“How did this happen? Wars still happen today? There are people in the world who want to hurt us just because we are from America?” These were foreign concepts to me then. My world cracked open, and the day was filled with shock and sadness.
Each day afterward, I walked into history class to see a different newspaper headline plastered on the classroom blackboard. My teacher spent time discussing how the military and the nation were responding to the terrorist attack.
I was dumbfounded that the military was ready to respond so quickly. The military showed its capability by gathering information within days of the attack, and was preparing to strike back against al-Qaida training bases in Afghanistan within a month. The F-16s that had flown overhead from the local base now were something that didn’t go unnoticed now; I now saw them as both a source of protection and something to be proud of. I watched with curiosity, and — deep in my mind — wondered if I could be part of this great force during this time of crisis in our country.
But as a senior, college was the way for me to move forward. It had been something my father had drilled into who I was, so I didn’t consider any other options at the time. However, my freshman year, I made friends who steered me toward the military. They opened the door to my future.
My own path
At that time, a couple of my friends were enlisting in the military. Another friend was activated through the Air National Guard and would be deploying soon. Yet another was in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. Their stories and boldness to take a new path inspired me to investigate military service as an option. I started with the Air National Guard, but before I could complete all of the paperwork, my ROTC friend invited me to lunch to explain the difference between enlisting and becoming an officer. He then invited me to the open house to learn more about the program.
Finding a way to join the military and continue working toward my college degree was the push I needed to take the leap to join. Once I started ROTC, I knew that I had finally found the place I had unknowingly been longing to be a part of since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
When I graduated from college, I also commissioned into the Air Force as a second lieutenant, serving as a civil engineer. My career began at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, and I deployed to Afghanistan with the Army as part of a Provincial Reconstruction Team. Shortly after returning home, I moved to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. As a dual-military couple, I chose to leave the military after our son was born while my husband continued his career in the Air Force.
I am a veteran. I am a military spouse.
The attacks on Sept. 11 changed American life as we knew it. And on a personal level, that fateful day changed my life as well. It led me to dedicate my life to military service, where I will never forget the cost or sacrifice of freedom.
