Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Tom5572 on September 10, 2011, 03:19:25 AM
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As I sit here feeding my daughter, I reflect on the most cowardice attack on our country ever. After three tours in Iraq and an upcoming one to the Stan coupled with all the rhetoric that has accompanied there wars I have seen the American people change. This is not a post to tout my service, this is to tell the story of what happened on that day, half a world away.
I was stationed in Germany and we were going into a divisional level field exercise. The 1st Infantry division was training. Were woke up at the butt crack of dawn, as we always did when going to Grafenwhoer (sp?). The five thousand men and women of the 4th Aviation Brigade departed in multiple convoys to take the four hour trip. We grumbled about how the Army can make something, which should only take an hour and a half, be so painful. We arrived and there was flurry of movements on the ground as we began to set up the cammo net and tents.
I was in charge of setting up the brigade TOC (Tactical Operations Center) coms. I remember how the S3 staff officers would always give me crap about when NIPR would be up (nonsecure internet) so they could check their email. One of these was Captain Christopher Siefert. The day progressed as field set up always does, so much to do and not enough people to do it with.
I do not remember what time my girlfriend (now my wife) called me with tears in her voice as she told me. As she told me, it was like a cold knife sinking deep in my soul. The whole brigade was finding out at the same time. We did not stop the work but the typical complaints disappeared. Everyone got deadly serious. We were given time to swing by the division TOC to get some of the news feeds coming in. Those images seared in only feeding the anger welling inside of all of us.
Our brigade chaplain was asked to speak that night during the shift change brief. Our chaplain was normally pretty reserved but not this night. He gave his prayer beseeching God to give us the opportunity to "send the bastards who were responsible straight to hell". He was extremely animated, and his prayer was laced with words not typically heard from a man of the cloth. He summed up our collective thoughts in that prayer so well, I do not remember what he said anymore but I remember it striking a chord deep within which resonated through out the brigade headquarters.
Ten years later I still remember how I felt that day. Captain Siefert was killed when a traitor rolled some grenades into his TOC in Kuwait. The friends I have lost and the time away from my family, is it worth it? Damned right it is! I am proud to have the opportunity to live in our great nation and the privilege to defend her.
V/R
SSG Tom Glaser
edited to fix typos from iphone
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I go to this web site every year on the 11th. I am still just as angry as the day it happened.
http://attacked911.tripod.com/
:salute to those who ran towards the danger and those who serve today.
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:( :salute
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Ten years ago today, our country was attacked by cowards. Four citizen aircraft were hijacked, one hit the North building and South building of the WTC, another hit the pentagon, and another crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. 2,973 people were killed, and the American psyche will always hold this infamous day in its memory.
Ten years later, we remember the men and women who died as a result of this senseless bloodshed. We remember those who bravely fought back yet couldn't succeed. May we never forget their valor, selflessness, and bravery.
This attack did not harm just America, but all countries around the globe. This event, no matter who you are, shows the binding force that is so human, and resides in us all. Please, take a moment of silence today, and reflect upon those moments, as so we may never forget. Thank you.
"Let's Roll."
(http://www.miltees.com/images/Products/911-Shirt-AA0408X9019-l.png)
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(http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c352/diamondshark/other/309436_190114937727704_129868660418999_451758_1582130715_n.jpg)
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kinda like the modern day pearl harbour...
maybe one day we'll all learn to live with another peacefully...
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:salute :pray
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kinda like the modern day pearl harbour...
maybe one day we'll all learn to live with another peacefully...
as long as one country has what another wants or needs there will never ge peace im afraid....
Let us never forget the 343track firefighters who died infamously doing what they were trained to do knowing that day could very well be their last. For those that don't know, an airpack a firefighter wears while he's in the building has something called a pass alarm. If the firefighter stays still for more then a few seconds it will be gin to beep quietly, and progress through three stages. Gradually getting louder, higher in pitch and qhicker in pitch. Imagine 300 of the most obnoxious sounds all playing at once after seeing a two building collapse. If someone doesn't understand what im saying about the pass alarm noise, let me know I can get a video very easily.
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There were a number of Police Officers from various departments who also went inside to help evacuate the buildings. They had no protective gear but went to help anyhow. It takes a certain kind of person to run to the sound of the guns or disaster to help their fellow man.
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I go to this web site every year on the 11th. I am still just as angry as the day it happened.
http://attacked911.tripod.com/
:salute to those who ran towards the danger and those who serve today.
I hate watching that video, but I do every year, and every American should be required to.
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There were a number of Police Officers from various departments who also went inside to help evacuate the buildings. They had no protective gear but went to help anyhow. It takes a certain kind of person to run to the sound of the guns or disaster to help their fellow man.
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didn't onow this,. I knew they were helping in the aftermath, but didn't know they went in the buildings.
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I go to this web site every year on the 11th. I am still just as angry as the day it happened.
http://attacked911.tripod.com/
:salute to those who ran towards the danger and those who serve today.
That video makes me cry every time I watch it.
:salute
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See Rule #14
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:pray :rock
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for those itching to be annoyed by a single thing, here is what a Pass Alarm sounds like... every company of the airpack has their own sound, but it gives you an idea of what the firemen and other first responders heard 343 times over after the collapse of the Towers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3nThzsNHZU
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I have been so busy with getting ready to leave Fort Lewis and head to Fort Riley, I am finally able to get on the forums and make this post. Ten years ago I was a member of the USS IWO JIMA(LHD-7) as we sat tied up to pier 10South at the Norfolk Naval Station. I was on the USS Wasp(LHD-1) tied up next to us getting some spare parts when I headed back to my boat. I walked into GSE shop and everyone was huddled around the tv. I turned in time to see the second jet hit the other tower and I turned to one of my fellow crew members and fellow native New Yorker in disbelief. Even 10 years later it is still something I find hard to believe. I remember driving across the Verranzano's Narrows Bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn with my wife and looking to my left to see the still smoldering remants of the Twin Towers. I remember when the Towers were built in the late 70's much to the shagrin of some and then eventually they were an inseparable part of the New York skyline. I had and still have family that live in the City and connected to some who were there. A couple of years prior to 9-11, I drove up to NYC with friends of mine from Pennsylvania ( where I was living at the time) and we went to the Ladder 8 house(ghostbusters house) and we met some of the crew from 8 Truck. On 9-11 Ladder 8 lost one member, Lt Vincent Halloran, to this day I believe he is one of NY Bravest that we met. 9-11 was and still is tough for me. I was a fire-fighter in Pennsylvania for about 6 years and I felt the loss of 343 of my bretheren. In 2004, when I was faced with a career choice either face discharge from the Navy due to downsizing or go into the Army, I chose the latter. New York was and still is my home and I took the attacks personally and I wanted to be involved in the fight to bring those who planned, perpetrated and financed the attacks to justice or actually ; revenge. Like my father before me, my dad fought in the Great War that defined his generation, I have fought and continue to fight in a war that defines mine.
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SSG Ed Kaufmann( formerly AT2 Ed Kaufmann)
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Land of the free, because of the brave. :salute
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See Rule #14