mark42202
Well-Known Member
Just got done with PT (physical training) while stationed at Ft. Campbell. We always did PT from 6am to 730am (central time) and would be let go for personal time until 9am to eat/ shower/ etc. I lived off post and would always go home after PT and have breakfast with my wife before she went to work. I had been promoted to SGT on 9/7/01, and was the newest Non Commissioned Officer and therefore got tasked with the crap duties that the other NCO's didn't want. On 9/11/01, immediately after PT my Platoon SGT informed me we had a soldier that was being kicked out of the Army and needed an NCO escort to go through the various sections for clearing purposes. I went into my Company HQ and called my wife to let her know I wouldn't be coming home for breakfast. She always put the news on and muted the TV while she got ready, and while talking to her, she told me the Trade Center was burning. Remembering the 98 bombing, I asked light-heartedly if it got bombed again and she said she didn't know. A few minutes later she said "Oh my God. A plane crashed into it!" I said "So that's why it's on fire?" and she replied "No! Just now while I was watching a plane flew into it!!!". About 30 seconds later my Company Commander came bursting through the door, white faced. I told my wife I had to go and I would call her when I could. We immediately were briefed on what was going down and were issued weapons and live ammo. Ft. Campbell was locked down, no one comes or leaves, and we were put on guard details at the various schools and hospitals on the base. We were all begging for a target, pissed off, and just wanted to exact revenge on whoever dared do that to innocent people. I always compared the way we felt to a pissed off dog chained in the front yard when you walk by... pissed as Hell and wanting to lash out with everything you have but being restrained against your will. We were locked down for 3 days with very little to no use of phones for operational security reasons. One day 2, we were taken to the 5th Special Forces Group HQ and started getting briefed on the Afghanistan area, the Taliban, and Al qaeda. We now knew for a fact we were going to war. The rage we felt, as Soldiers who had taken an oath to protect our freedoms, for the massive loss of innocent life gave us a whole new outlook on our combat training. NOW it was for real. NOW it was no longer running around in the woods pretending to look for bad guys. NOW it was no longer going to be a tap on the shoulder for a young Soldier saying "You stayed exposed for too long, now you have to play dead and your team goes on without you". We all knew right then that everyone around us would not stay alive. The funniest/ oddest thing is, my original enlistment in the Army was up in June 2001. In March 2001, I decided that I wanted to be a career Soldier and didn't feel my obligation to my country was completely fulfilled. When the events on 9/11/01 unfolded, I had never been more proud for making that decision. I don't know how I would have lived with myslef if I had gotten out in June, 3 short months before, and watched this all happen with my hands tied as a civilian. I left Ft. Campbell in January 2002 on orders for Italy and one month later, my Brothers from the 101st were in Afghanistan. A little over a year later, I was in Iraq.
