I had worked late the night before, so I was still sleeping heavily when the sound of my phone woke me up. My mother was calling, and she sounded bad, like someone had died. All she could say was that I needed to turn on the TV, bad things were happening. For the next two hours, I just sat and watched the coverage. At one point, I called my unit HQ, asking if I was needed (I was in a public affairs unit at the time - we got lots of calls from local news outlets asking about security, and how Missouri Guard soldiers would be affected by all of this, etc). All I could do was watch, and wait for the rest of the world to come crashing down around my ears. I was absolutely horrified.
Five months later, to the day, I got the call to do my part in putting an end to these ridiculous terrorist groups.
I will never forget what happened that day - the images, the stories, will always be remembered.
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