Page 13 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt 9-11-15

Thunderbolt
http://www.luke.af.mil
rget ... Sept. 11, 2001
nior Airman
andon Ford
s 8 and in a classroom. My teacher
d on the news, and that’s how
w it. The towers were burning. I
understand what was going on.
I got home I asked my parents
were both Air Force enlisted about
had happened. As they explained
member feeling angry and upset,
never fully understood it until I
bout 12 or 13. At that age I could
understand the impact of what had
ened. To this day, the anger has
changed when I think about the
ks.”
vers
ornia. I had just come
o my barrack’s room, I
I thought the Marines
he whole thing before
y check. No less than
office and told to be on
that moment, I felt con-
mething like this hap-
e United States; how did
hat was I felt both anger
ing. Not happy excited,
nd the U.S. and do what
k open the door. Now,
nd, I think about it. It’s
a lot of pride knowing I
tty Ogden
just gotten out of bed and
watching it live when the
s hit the towers. When the
lane hit, I thought it was an
ent, but when the second
hit, I said, ‘Oh my God.’ I
elt sick and knew it was a
ist attack. Fourteen years
the emotions from that day
ill very strong. The safety I
elt forever was just gone. I
ish it would all stop.”
Sept. 11, 2015
13Facebook.com/LukeThunderbolt
Petty Officer 1st Class Ira Hardy
“I was in Guam stationed on the U.S.S. Frank Gable. We were in our
birthing and it was about 2 a.m. and the Rover Watch came around,
knocked on the door and told us we were to get back to the ship. They
were panicked. My initial reaction was, ‘What is going on?’ I was scared.
That had never happened before. Driving back to the boat was weird. It
just seemed like a different day. The sky looked scary. It just didn’t look
right. We didn’t know what was going on until we got back to the ship.
My first reaction was, ‘Oh my God.’ We were all trying to call our families.
I called mine in California to let them know I was OK. When I first saw
it on television, I was just sad. I questioned that it could happen in the
United States. My next reaction was ‘What do we do next?’ I had been in
about two years, and the prospect of war scared me. We remember that
day every year and how it played out. The slogan, ‘We will never forget,’
is realized every year as the country tries to remember it. The emotions
14 years later are different. Now it’s more grief and questioning why? It’s
sadness for the families, and our job to never forget … for them.”
Danielle Allen
“I was working at a restaurant in Alabama. My
husband had just left the Army, and he called me
to tell me that the Towers had been hit. I am from
New York and I just couldn’t believe it. I kept say-
ing ‘No way, there is no way. That is not possi-
ble.’ I ran home, and we watched it on the news.
I was very emotional. I had family living in that
area, and I was worried. All I could do was cry
watching it. I couldn’t breathe. It was difficult try-
ing to call my family to see if everyone was OK.
Thankfully, my family was all right but friends
of my mother’s were not. This day is a big deal
for us. To this day, whenever I think about it, my
chest gets tight. We always post for 9/11 for the
families of the firefighters, port authority, police
officers and others who died that day.”
Capt. Michael Barry
“I was on duty at the gunnery range in Gila Bend. Someone came to the stalls and
told us that a large-frame aircraft had flown into the World Trade Center’s North tower.
Having a commercial pilot’s license, my first question was ‘What’s the weather like
there?’ It was a perfectly sunny day and it made no sense at all. We went to watch it
on TV, and we saw the second plane hit the South tower live. That’s when we knew
what was happening but didn’t grasp the depth of how it was going to change the
world. I drove home listening to the radio when the fourth plane went down. I remem-
ber thinking ‘Dear God this has to stop. Please let that this be the last one,’ and it was.
Anger was all I could feel. To see human beings going through what they did, choos-
ing to jump to their deaths over being burned to death, made me angry knowing it
was provoked by people who didn’t agree with what we stood for. I felt rage. Anytime
I watch a documentary on that day, I still get angry. I teach my children about how
many firefighters, police officers, and port authorities went into those buildings with-
out even a second thought, and how many of them lost their lives. I tell them about
the families who suffered that day and the loved ones they lost. I don’t want it to ever
be forgotten.”
Photos and design by Staff Sgt. Marcy Copeland