Today is September 11th. I know you know this. I think our first reaction on today is to remember where we were and what we were doing 11 years ago. But I don’t like to think about that day. How has what happened 11 years ago impacted your life? Where are you today? How have you changed?
I am different. My life is different. I live nearly 1,000 miles away from my home, just outside a military installation. Eleven years ago I would have never imagined this would be my life. So much has happened. I am now sure that any day you live to tell about is a good day.
I am married to a service member. He used to be in the Air Force and now he is in the Army. At the time of September 11th he was an 15 crew chief. Now he is an EOD tech. A fellow EOD tech from his Battalion was killed in Afghanistan ten days ago. The part of the Battalion not deployed had a memorial service for him on Monday morning. My husband told me his widow was inconsolably sobbing. I can’t stop thinking about her. I wonder how she feels. Does she have someone to be there for her and with her? Will she be ok? Will their son be ok?
Hug your loved ones tightly, if you can.
I had no idea that your SO was an EOD tech. From one blaster’s wife to another… good tidings. I have enjoyed your blog since you switched to this address. Nice to find a connection!
Kat, I’ve been keeping up with your blog too. I’m so glad things are going in a better direction this year for you guys. We think of you guys often, I think there are/were a few people in Zach’s unit that know Aaron. EOD is really a small world. Thanks for stopping by!
We flew back to the West Coast from Chicago on September 11. Of course I was aware of the date when I made the reservation, and of course it went through my mind that some might avoid flying on that date. But not me. I thought maybe the airport wouldn’t be as crowded because it was 9/11. (It wasn’t.)
Meantime, that day keeps coming back and back and back. My brother Joh and I took our kids up to the top of the World Trade Center on August 15, 2001, a beautiful summer day in New York. Mostly we talked about the guy who climbed up the face of one of the buildings (his autograph had been left visible on a girder on the rooftop) and about Philippe Petit, the man who walked between the towers.” John talked about an incident some years earlier in which an airliner had passed within a few hundred feet of the buildings–a pilot’s mistake. That was the first thought that came to mind when CNN started showing pictures of smoke pouring from the North Tower …
I’m sorry to hear about the guy in your husband’s unit. That is a tragedy. I’m even more sorry that the impacts of such losses seem to be so invisible and so little felt among so many of us.
Dan, I know you stay very connected to the world around you. But why do you think so many people are disconnected from these types of things?
Belatedly: Why do I think so many people are disconnected from the wars and their impacts? I share the view of some that it’s because, by choice, our nation has decided the costs and sacrifices that go along with the wars will not be shared. In Vietnam, and long before that in Korea and the world wars, everyone knew someone who had been called to service and was psychically involved in the struggle. For a huge majority of us now, it’s someone else’s kids, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, or parents who are on the front lines. I think there’d be a lot more awareness (and accountability among the Deciders) if we still had a draft.