Remembering September 11th

It has been 7 years since the September 11th attacks. So many people's lives were irrevocably changed that day. I was sitting in the MEPS station in Chicago waiting to go to boot camp, when they turned the TV's to the news. We all watched in horror as the towers fell. They then quietly got up and locked the doors. They didn't want all the kids from Chicago running to take a train back to the city. Everyone going to Navy boot camp was hastily sworn in, while all the other branches were taken back to the hotel since all flights had been canceled and there was no way for them to get to their bases. As I took my oath, I was scared out of my mind. Were we at war? Were there any survivors from the attacks? Were they gonna start attacking major cities? My whole family was in Chicago. I was completely freaking out.

My first day of boot camp I met 10 people who were from New York, and 2 with family members who worked in the Towers. One poor girl received word her father hadn't made it. In the wake of September 11, when we all thought it was a terrorist attack, seeing the pain of those affected, being afraid for my family, I never once questioned my decision to complete boot camp. I wanted justice for those families, for each and every American devastated by this tragedy.

We have all been lied to over the past 7 years. And we were lied to once again March 19, 2003 when Bush used the Sept 11 attacks as a basis to go to war. So many lives were lost that day. Take a moment today to remember those we lost on that day.