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Remembering September 11, 2001: 5 years later, Airmen reflect upon personal experiences

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. James Wilkinson
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Monday, it will be five years since four airliners were hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists and used as weapons against America, killing and injuring thousands and launching a Global War on Terror that is still being fought today, both at home and abroad. 

Sept. 11, 2001 is a date that will forever be engraved in the memory of those who witnessed and lived through the events of that fateful day five years ago. It joins a list of tragic dates "which will live in infamy," as stated by President Franklin Roosevelt; dates like December 7, 1941 - the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, or November 22, 1963 - the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. 

However infamous and unforgettable these dates are, they served to unite, inspire and remind us of our Declaration of Independence's unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Today, Airmen still have vivid recollections of where they were and what they did while the events of 9-11 transpired before their eyes. Some were on scene while others watched from afar, but all of their stories share some common themes of patriotism, honor and a sense of duty. 

At Ground Zero
Master Sgt. Everrick Simmons, 436th Civil Engineer Squadron Water Operations NCO-in-charge, was on leave from Aviano, Italy, to visit a friend and see the Hopkins-versus-Trinidad fight at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He drove into Manhattan Sept. 10, 2001, and checked into a hotel on 71st Street. 

His friend gave him a tour of the city so he could experience New York City and all of its culture. One of his first impressions was New Yorkers' attitudes. 

"As I walked around the city, folks were bumping into me not saying excuse me and some making disrespectful comments when I asked, 'Can't you say excuse me?" he said. "The stores and restaurant workers weren't too friendly either." 

While eating dinner at a Manhattan restaurant, he said he began to get frustrated by the service. 

"I wanted to leave, but (my friend) convinced me to be patient and ignore the so-called New York attitude," he said. 

The next morning, Sergeant Simmons received a phone call from his friend. She told him that a plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers. 

"I got dressed soaking wet, grabbed the camera and car keys, and ran to the Central-Park side of the hotel," he said. "There was smoke coming out the tower and most people were saying that the pilot was drunk." 

As of this point, he said people were carrying on as if everything was normal. Suddenly, Sergeant Simmons saw the second plane crash into the second tower. 

"Chants of being under attack, war and terrorists filled the air," he recollected. "People started running away from the buildings out into Central Park. 

Sergeant Simmons reacted immediately and jumped into his car and drove toward the World Trade Center. He said there were checkpoints at every traffic light but was able to make it to the cordons on 12th Street using his military identification card. 

"I found a safe spot next to the Hudson River and lent a hand wherever needed," he said. "I was a water boy with a motorcycle rider until the first tower started falling. We jumped in the car as the wall of dust blew past the car. The car shook as if I had broken down on the interstate and a semi tractor trailer passed by. I couldn't see anything outside as the dust settled on the car. I could hear people screaming as they walked by, feeling their way through the dust. About 30 minutes went by before we could exit the car and see the river." 

A New York police officer then told him to leave the area, so he cleaned his car windows and headed back to the hotel. 

In Manhattan, all land lines were down, cell phones didn't work, and all exits out of the city were temporarily closed. 

Unlike his first impression of "rude" New Yorkers the night before, Sergeant Simmons noticed the World Trade Center attack had changed the attitudes of many New Yorkers, who became much friendlier. 

"The following two days were just the opposite (of my first impression)," he said. "The same people wanted to talk. They were friendlier and no one bumped into me without saying excuse me or wanting to stop and talk about the planes." 

He even said some of the restaurants and stores were giving away fruits, sandwiches and other items. 

According to the sergeant, the city was like a ghost town with the exception of city workers and law enforcement. He was finally able to leave the city Sept. 13, 2001, where he drove to his home state of South Carolina. 

Called to the Pentagon
On Sept. 11, 2001, Karen Giles, Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs director, was preparing to leave for work in Orlando, Fla., and saw a television news report of an airplane crashing into one of the World Trade Center buildings in New York. 

"I thought it was a terrible error," she said. "(I thought) 'How could they have been so off course?'" 

She continued to prepare for her workday with the impression that the crash was going to be a tough search and recovery operation and probably a great loss of life. 

When she watched as United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center's South Tower, she said she realized the crashes had to be more than just random chance. The subsequent attack on the Pentagon only reaffirmed her theory. 

"I knew the Dover Port Mortuary was probably preparing to receive some - maybe all - of the fatalities," she said. "No one knew the exact numbers that would need care." 

As a U.S. Air Force reservist with a background in mortuary affairs, she knew it was only a matter of time before her expertise would be called upon. Though, when the call finally came, it was not to deploy to Dover Air Force Base, but to go to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and assist the U.S. Army in search and recovery operations and establish a Joint Personal Effects Depot or JPED. 

A JPED was established to recover, inventory, photograph, clean and service, and return the personal effects of all Pentagon fatalities, both military and civilian, said Ms. Giles. 

"One of the things I remember the most was donning the personal protective equipment (which includes a full body suit, respirator and mask, two sets of gloves, rubber boots and hard hat) and walking into the large hole in the exterior of the Pentagon," she said. "(It was) eerie and dark with emergency lighting providing enough light to see an interior hole caused by the aircraft's starboard engine crashing through." 

The Army's 54th and 301st Quartermaster Corps conducted the building search, and a facility for cleaning and processing was established at Fort Myers. There, thousands of items were cleaned, serviced, photographed and returned to families of survivors and the dead. 

"We knew we could not bring the lost back, but we also knew that at times a watch or ring, religious medallion, notebook or calendar or even a child's stuffed animal can bring closure and comfort to a grieving family," Ms. Giles said. 

After the attacks, Ms. Giles was activated and deployed to support Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom as a lieutenant colonel. She was then hired as the director of the Port Mortuary at Dover AFB in July of 2003. 

"9-11 has changed my life forever in terms of both my personal and professional life. Nothing in my life has been the same after that day," she said. "It took me down paths I never would have gone otherwise." 

Watching from a distance
Airman Basic Nathan Ramsey, 436th Aerial Port Squadron, was a freshman in high school during the 9-11 attacks. In fact, his school, DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, N.Y., overlooked the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan. 

"I looked out the window of my English classroom and saw the mushroom cloud of what still remained of the World Trade Center," he recalls. "It was shocking. A building I remembered as a little kid - it stood strong (throughout) eighteen years of my life - and it was gone." 

Within minutes, he said his school was in panic. Many of his classmates had family or friends that worked there. The school tried to get everybody home as soon as possible but traffic was backed up all the way to upstate New York. 

"At that point, I knew we were at war," he said. "We were at war with people that had no mercy on others' lives. The amount of loved ones that were lost can never be replaced by any amount of money or condolences." 

Airman Ramsey graduated from high school in June 2005 and joined the Air Force in November, partly because of the 9-11 attacks. He was considering joining the Army, when his brother, who was in the Army, talked him into joining the Air Force. 

"I wanted to do my time and serve my country," said Airman Ramsey. "As an Aerial Porter, it is an honor to support the troops overseas with whatever they need. Wherever they are, we can take it there." 

Airman Ramsey sees 9-11 as a sign that told him to "get up and go." And that's exactly what he did. 

"Nine-eleven was a great tragedy, but it planted a seed of great courage in me and many others that joined the armed forces in a time of war," he concluded. "It will be a constant reminder of the freedom that we defend everyday. We will never forget."