Normally I will wake up on the morning of 09-11 and post something on Social Media reference the horrific events on that morning. Today, I sit here and watch some news, scroll through Facebook, Instagram etc. It is flooded with 9-11 stories, clips, and interviews.

For me, from actual morning of 09-11-2001 is when my life changed. Late September, I left Fort Bragg North Carolina, heading to the Middle East. I had follow-on deployments until my retirement in 2008. The morning of 09-11-2001 is the last day that Fort Bragg was considered an “open” post. There were security gates that were rusted, and permanently open. 09-11-2001 is the morning at 343 firefighters were killed, with a total of nearly 3,000 killed in total and over 7,000 since then. This does not count thousands of casualties resulting due to PTS or other sickness.

When I remember 09-11, I remember exactly what I was doing on Fort Bragg and every year since the attack. I have deployed, lost friends both in combat, and in peacetime due to what happened on 09-11. From that morning, until the time I click “submit” on this blog, 09-11 impacted life. I won’t say much more, but I do slow down a bit and reflect. I proudly know the America on 09-11 is still the America we know now, we just all got to understand this is all we have.