1 00:00:03,540 --> 00:00:04,540 in the 2 00:00:08,340 --> 00:00:12,070 good evening today our fellow citizens , 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,380 our way of life , our very freedom came 4 00:00:15,380 --> 00:00:18,280 under attack in a series of deliberate 5 00:00:18,290 --> 00:00:21,340 and deadly terrorist acts . I was in my 6 00:00:21,340 --> 00:00:23,562 office in my cubicle at work . I was in 7 00:00:23,562 --> 00:00:26,290 high school , I was in my english class . 8 00:00:26,300 --> 00:00:28,522 I was in my office at Tyndall Air Force 9 00:00:28,522 --> 00:00:30,870 base . I was actually at school I was 10 00:00:30,870 --> 00:00:32,926 attending a community college at the 11 00:00:32,926 --> 00:00:35,040 time . I was a major doing geo based 12 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,260 stuff and literally was getting ready 13 00:00:38,260 --> 00:00:41,060 packing for a T . D . Y . To go to the 14 00:00:41,060 --> 00:00:43,060 pentagon . I was actually having my 15 00:00:43,060 --> 00:00:45,650 wife's car repaired and watching it on 16 00:00:45,650 --> 00:00:47,872 the television as everything unfolded . 17 00:00:47,872 --> 00:00:51,060 I myself as at school kindergarten 18 00:00:51,540 --> 00:00:54,330 believing that I remember pretty much 19 00:00:54,330 --> 00:00:56,730 everything about that day . The victims 20 00:00:56,730 --> 00:00:59,850 were in airplanes or in their offices . 21 00:01:00,510 --> 00:01:02,660 Secretaries , businessmen and women 22 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,220 military and federal workers , moms and 23 00:01:06,220 --> 00:01:09,440 dads , friends and neighbors . When the 24 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,220 first airplane hit one of the towers I 25 00:01:12,230 --> 00:01:14,397 was in the air still an approach to me 26 00:01:14,397 --> 00:01:17,310 while I was on the train going from 27 00:01:17,310 --> 00:01:20,670 Newark to new york as the train is 28 00:01:20,670 --> 00:01:24,560 traveling you could see while it was 29 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,170 still above ground that there was smoke 30 00:01:27,170 --> 00:01:29,392 coming from one of the towers . We were 31 00:01:29,392 --> 00:01:31,170 in the middle of an air defense 32 00:01:31,170 --> 00:01:33,370 exercise ironically enough and 33 00:01:33,380 --> 00:01:36,180 somewhere around eight o'clock we saw 34 00:01:36,190 --> 00:01:39,190 one of the towers smoking on T . V . In 35 00:01:39,190 --> 00:01:41,412 the corner of my office . I was getting 36 00:01:41,412 --> 00:01:43,523 ready . I was downstairs and I saw my 37 00:01:43,523 --> 00:01:45,579 dad watching the T . V . And usually 38 00:01:45,579 --> 00:01:47,590 he's gone for work before . I never 39 00:01:47,590 --> 00:01:49,423 seen him in the morning . It was 40 00:01:49,423 --> 00:01:51,423 interesting that a couple of things 41 00:01:51,423 --> 00:01:51,360 played out . One was the recognition 42 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,850 that this this is our pearl harbor this 43 00:01:53,850 --> 00:01:55,794 generation . And you start to have 44 00:01:55,794 --> 00:01:57,794 those thoughts about what does that 45 00:01:57,794 --> 00:02:00,080 mean ? Thousands of lives were suddenly 46 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,020 ended by evil . Despicable acts of 47 00:02:03,030 --> 00:02:06,370 terror . It's just crazy , real surreal . 48 00:02:06,380 --> 00:02:08,324 You know it's like these like this 49 00:02:08,324 --> 00:02:10,760 don't happen in the U . S . Yeah my 50 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:14,150 wife was shot , we're just sitting 51 00:02:14,150 --> 00:02:16,520 there like what is going on . This is 52 00:02:16,530 --> 00:02:20,360 there's no way that this is real 53 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,030 is you like you couldn't describe the 54 00:02:24,030 --> 00:02:26,540 feeling you know I don't think anything 55 00:02:26,540 --> 00:02:28,707 can ever prepare you for you know that 56 00:02:28,707 --> 00:02:31,010 that gut feeling that you have of 57 00:02:31,020 --> 00:02:34,030 uncertainty unknown . I think after the 58 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,030 first plane we hoped and prayed that 59 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,510 certainly you know things weren't going 60 00:02:39,510 --> 00:02:41,677 to be as worse as they got the rest of 61 00:02:41,677 --> 00:02:45,120 the day . My feeling was remorse 62 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,340 impactful for the people that were you 63 00:02:48,340 --> 00:02:51,650 know you know my heart was just 64 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:54,462 it just it just hurt for everybody that 65 00:02:54,462 --> 00:02:56,407 was gonna be impacted . And then I 66 00:02:56,407 --> 00:02:58,590 remember those first responders and 67 00:02:58,590 --> 00:03:00,757 those heroes of the day , you know the 68 00:03:00,757 --> 00:03:03,790 police , the firefighters who didn't 69 00:03:03,790 --> 00:03:06,140 think twice about running in and there 70 00:03:06,140 --> 00:03:08,140 were stories all throughout the day 71 00:03:08,140 --> 00:03:10,307 about them running in . You know we're 72 00:03:10,307 --> 00:03:12,470 charging into the dust cloud you know 73 00:03:12,470 --> 00:03:14,710 on a fire truck and a police vehicle 74 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:16,776 you know to run in and to save those 75 00:03:16,776 --> 00:03:18,780 folks lives the Great Americans on 76 00:03:18,780 --> 00:03:22,520 Flight 93 who overpowered the plane 77 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:24,660 and crashed it into Pennsylvania 78 00:03:24,660 --> 00:03:26,771 because they didn't know where it was 79 00:03:26,771 --> 00:03:29,480 going or what it would do . These acts 80 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,450 shatter steel but they cannot dent the 81 00:03:32,450 --> 00:03:34,600 steel of american resolve . 82 00:03:38,140 --> 00:03:39,140 Yeah . 83 00:03:43,540 --> 00:03:46,550 Well okay 84 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,490 so the size of the plane 85 00:03:51,540 --> 00:03:54,660 Just sheer another panic hit because my 86 00:03:54,660 --> 00:03:57,520 family works in the World Trade Center 87 00:03:57,530 --> 00:04:00,330 and so I raced out of the building and 88 00:04:00,330 --> 00:04:02,441 try to get ahold of my mother who was 89 00:04:02,441 --> 00:04:04,890 actually in tower one on the 31st floor . 90 00:04:04,900 --> 00:04:06,820 It wasn't really just her , my 91 00:04:06,820 --> 00:04:08,876 brother's wife worked in there , she 92 00:04:08,876 --> 00:04:11,000 was seven months pregnant and he had 93 00:04:11,010 --> 00:04:13,110 literally just dropped her off and 94 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,120 turned around and watched the first 95 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:17,060 plane hit . It was just a lot of 96 00:04:17,940 --> 00:04:21,880 changing uh emotions that uh 97 00:04:21,890 --> 00:04:24,112 all I could do literally was just burst 98 00:04:24,112 --> 00:04:26,500 out and tears . Did everyone in your 99 00:04:26,500 --> 00:04:29,260 family get out ? Yes . Not a grace of 100 00:04:29,260 --> 00:04:32,650 God . Everyone knew if you couldn't get 101 00:04:32,650 --> 00:04:35,210 ahold of anybody call my grandma first 102 00:04:35,220 --> 00:04:37,331 it kind of came and rolling waves and 103 00:04:37,331 --> 00:04:39,053 then finally able to hear from 104 00:04:39,053 --> 00:04:41,276 everybody that third plane knowing that 105 00:04:41,276 --> 00:04:43,498 it was heading to D . C . Um and nobody 106 00:04:43,498 --> 00:04:46,900 knew where um you know just really was 107 00:04:46,910 --> 00:04:50,310 scary when it hit the pentagon . Just 108 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,690 panic . Um I literally would have been 109 00:04:52,700 --> 00:04:54,756 on a bus that put me at the pentagon 110 00:04:54,756 --> 00:04:56,922 and at that stairwell because that was 111 00:04:56,922 --> 00:04:59,033 the renovated side of the pentagon is 112 00:04:59,033 --> 00:05:01,089 the only one that had an escalator . 113 00:05:01,089 --> 00:05:03,144 Well my thoughts were with my little 114 00:05:03,144 --> 00:05:05,200 brother who was on the 84th floor of 115 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,367 tower two . So I called him right away 116 00:05:07,367 --> 00:05:09,422 and uh had , what I learned later on 117 00:05:09,422 --> 00:05:11,589 would be my last conversation with him 118 00:05:11,589 --> 00:05:13,589 from what people are calling ground 119 00:05:13,589 --> 00:05:15,756 zero . The devastation is complete and 120 00:05:15,756 --> 00:05:17,820 utter and video just can't really 121 00:05:17,820 --> 00:05:19,800 represent the human toll and 122 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:21,856 destruction . My brother was a great 123 00:05:21,856 --> 00:05:24,078 guy and he was , he was a light hearted 124 00:05:24,078 --> 00:05:26,244 guy , very hard worker . We missed him 125 00:05:26,244 --> 00:05:28,411 a lot and life has changed a lot since 126 00:05:28,411 --> 00:05:30,600 then , not just for our family , but 127 00:05:30,610 --> 00:05:32,860 for America in general as a whole . I 128 00:05:32,860 --> 00:05:34,971 guess I believe we just realized that 129 00:05:34,971 --> 00:05:37,150 hey , if we don't stick together then 130 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,610 we're definitely doomed to fail . Of 131 00:05:39,610 --> 00:05:42,010 course your sense of security changed a 132 00:05:42,010 --> 00:05:44,370 lot of that day . Just every citizen , 133 00:05:44,370 --> 00:05:46,700 you didn't feel , you know , you can 134 00:05:46,700 --> 00:05:48,922 work on the street and feel like you're 135 00:05:48,930 --> 00:05:50,874 in America and no one's gonna come 136 00:05:50,874 --> 00:05:52,986 touch us here . You know , it's gonna 137 00:05:52,986 --> 00:05:55,319 invade us . I think it made everyone uh , 138 00:05:55,319 --> 00:05:57,152 emotionally invested in national 139 00:05:57,152 --> 00:05:58,986 defense . We no longer have that 140 00:05:58,986 --> 00:06:00,930 standoff distance that things were 141 00:06:00,930 --> 00:06:03,208 happening in other countries elsewhere . 142 00:06:03,208 --> 00:06:05,319 We hadn't thought about , it wasn't a 143 00:06:05,319 --> 00:06:07,208 military strike was strike out of 144 00:06:07,208 --> 00:06:09,263 civilian population . What I noticed 145 00:06:09,263 --> 00:06:11,770 was that uh , that everybody around me 146 00:06:11,780 --> 00:06:15,110 felt felt this particular sense of 147 00:06:15,110 --> 00:06:18,140 vulnerability that I don't think was as 148 00:06:18,140 --> 00:06:20,080 present present . Prior to these 149 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,980 attacks . I realized how much life 150 00:06:23,980 --> 00:06:26,500 is too short . All those people that 151 00:06:26,500 --> 00:06:28,960 was on those flights , they didn't 152 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,182 realize that that was going to be their 153 00:06:31,182 --> 00:06:33,404 last flight , although it was a painful 154 00:06:33,404 --> 00:06:35,620 reality that we were facing . Uh I 155 00:06:35,620 --> 00:06:37,731 really saw folks come together , they 156 00:06:37,731 --> 00:06:39,676 rarely talk to each other with the 157 00:06:39,676 --> 00:06:41,453 central focus and it brought us 158 00:06:41,453 --> 00:06:43,342 together as a nation . I think an 159 00:06:43,342 --> 00:06:47,080 incredible way everything has been uh 160 00:06:47,090 --> 00:06:49,670 at a certain level and it hasn't gone 161 00:06:49,690 --> 00:06:52,280 down to like it was before 9 11 , 162 00:06:52,290 --> 00:06:54,290 you've probably heard the september 163 00:06:54,290 --> 00:06:57,140 12th perspective . You should live your 164 00:06:57,140 --> 00:06:59,770 day like september 12th . We should all 165 00:06:59,770 --> 00:07:01,770 live for days like september report 166 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:03,951 because the day after that I've never 167 00:07:03,951 --> 00:07:07,390 seen more patriotic , more flag waving 168 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,860 more freedom , loving more um 169 00:07:11,740 --> 00:07:13,796 people from all walks of life coming 170 00:07:13,796 --> 00:07:15,962 together with a single purpose . These 171 00:07:15,962 --> 00:07:18,018 acts of mass murder were intended to 172 00:07:18,018 --> 00:07:19,962 frighten our nation into chaos and 173 00:07:19,962 --> 00:07:23,390 retreat but they have failed . Our 174 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,990 country is strong . None of us will 175 00:07:26,990 --> 00:07:29,520 ever forget this day . Yet we go 176 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,530 forward to defend freedom and all that 177 00:07:32,530 --> 00:07:36,030 is good and just in our world . 178 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,910 Thank you . Good night . And God 179 00:07:39,910 --> 00:07:41,420 bless America Yeah , 180 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,900 I can trace back to September 11 , I 181 00:07:53,900 --> 00:07:56,530 can trace back to that event as one of 182 00:07:56,530 --> 00:07:59,150 the key turning points that really made 183 00:07:59,150 --> 00:08:01,750 me join the air force , you know , when 184 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,890 are you ? 100% behind it . When is that 185 00:08:04,900 --> 00:08:07,250 what you want to do as a career , when 186 00:08:07,250 --> 00:08:09,480 is doing something bigger your than 187 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,830 yourself kind of take over and you're 188 00:08:11,830 --> 00:08:14,108 part of something bigger than yourself . 189 00:08:14,108 --> 00:08:17,690 So that as a personally that day 190 00:08:17,700 --> 00:08:20,420 kinda help me join the Air Force and I 191 00:08:20,420 --> 00:08:22,420 decided , you know , hey , what I'm 192 00:08:22,420 --> 00:08:24,364 doing , you know , this is a noble 193 00:08:24,364 --> 00:08:26,720 cause where and you know , the blue 194 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:28,860 uniform of our nation .