9/11
Personally, I find it extremely annoying when 9/11 comes around, yet again, and everyone starts talking about where they were and how it changed all of our lives forever. Whatever. I don't need to see the footage of the planes coming down 700 times to remember what happened. I remember it fine. And it didn't really change anything, it was just a tragedy. People like to pretend things that happened in their lives are more important than they actually are.
But then I started thinking about it, and I think that 9/11 really did change my life. True, we probably would've gotten involved in a Middle East war regardless, but it definitely was the kick start. I enlisted in the Army on 7/15/2001, just two months before 9/11. My military career was supposed to be about one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer, free college, and that's about it. It was about the college money for me, and about the fact that both my parents were in the Army, and my grandfathers too. But mostly the money. And I'm not ashamed of that, like some people are. I have no problem admitting why I joined. It put me through college and made it so I didn't have to work. But once 9/11 happened, my military career was about waiting for the FedEx truck to show up outside my house. I had forgotten about the terror of the FedEx truck until I saw one the morning of 9/11 this year. I saw the truck and remembered the feeling I would get everytime I saw it coming down our street - how I hoped it wasn't a certified letter for me with my orders for deployment.
And then it was. If 9/11 hadn't happened, I might have gotten through my military career without getting orders. As it turned out, I got them twice, but never went overseas. The first time I was placed into a combat engineer battalion, no females allowed. A clerical error. The second time, I made it through all of the deployment training and everything with my unit, and I was ready to go. Unfortunately, this time I didn't get to go and I was honestly depressed about it. I had to have surgery and my entire unit went to Iraq without me.
If I hadn't been called up the first time, I wouldn't have missed a quarter of classes at Wright State, and I probably would have graduated a quarter earlier and I wouldn't have taken Dr. Sumser's class in Spring 2005 when I met Ryan. So really, it's possible that if it weren't for 9/11, I wouldn't have met Ryan and we wouldn't be together. Maybe not, but it's possible. But it's definitely true that my military career would have been different, less stressful, probably more fun, but not as interesting. So maybe 9/11 did change some stuff.
For the record, when 9/11 happened, I was between classes, heading to Mrs. Murdock's AP English class when a seventh grader (I went to a 7-12 high school and I was a senior) said a plane hit the World Trade Center and I rolled my eyes like seventh graders are morons. And then I got to class. I remember that I thought my sister was supposed to be in Washington, D.C. protesting... something. She was a freshman in college, that's what they do. And I called her from class to make sure she was in Dayton, which she was. I'm pretty sure she was asleep. I remember people worrying that Wright Patt would be next, which was so stupid to me. And I remember that I got out of a test that day that I hadn't studied for.
So there's my 9/11 story. Don't worry, I won't tell it every year.
But then I started thinking about it, and I think that 9/11 really did change my life. True, we probably would've gotten involved in a Middle East war regardless, but it definitely was the kick start. I enlisted in the Army on 7/15/2001, just two months before 9/11. My military career was supposed to be about one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer, free college, and that's about it. It was about the college money for me, and about the fact that both my parents were in the Army, and my grandfathers too. But mostly the money. And I'm not ashamed of that, like some people are. I have no problem admitting why I joined. It put me through college and made it so I didn't have to work. But once 9/11 happened, my military career was about waiting for the FedEx truck to show up outside my house. I had forgotten about the terror of the FedEx truck until I saw one the morning of 9/11 this year. I saw the truck and remembered the feeling I would get everytime I saw it coming down our street - how I hoped it wasn't a certified letter for me with my orders for deployment.
And then it was. If 9/11 hadn't happened, I might have gotten through my military career without getting orders. As it turned out, I got them twice, but never went overseas. The first time I was placed into a combat engineer battalion, no females allowed. A clerical error. The second time, I made it through all of the deployment training and everything with my unit, and I was ready to go. Unfortunately, this time I didn't get to go and I was honestly depressed about it. I had to have surgery and my entire unit went to Iraq without me.
If I hadn't been called up the first time, I wouldn't have missed a quarter of classes at Wright State, and I probably would have graduated a quarter earlier and I wouldn't have taken Dr. Sumser's class in Spring 2005 when I met Ryan. So really, it's possible that if it weren't for 9/11, I wouldn't have met Ryan and we wouldn't be together. Maybe not, but it's possible. But it's definitely true that my military career would have been different, less stressful, probably more fun, but not as interesting. So maybe 9/11 did change some stuff.
For the record, when 9/11 happened, I was between classes, heading to Mrs. Murdock's AP English class when a seventh grader (I went to a 7-12 high school and I was a senior) said a plane hit the World Trade Center and I rolled my eyes like seventh graders are morons. And then I got to class. I remember that I thought my sister was supposed to be in Washington, D.C. protesting... something. She was a freshman in college, that's what they do. And I called her from class to make sure she was in Dayton, which she was. I'm pretty sure she was asleep. I remember people worrying that Wright Patt would be next, which was so stupid to me. And I remember that I got out of a test that day that I hadn't studied for.
So there's my 9/11 story. Don't worry, I won't tell it every year.
Comments
Post a Comment