Tomorrow marks the 10 year anniversary of the event that my generation will always remember where they were when they found out about the tragedy. Before 9/11/2001, for my parents it was the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I remember quite clearly where I was and I know that event has truly shaped the course my life has taken in the last ten years.
I grew up an Air Force brat during a peace time military. My father left service before Operation Desert Storm. I never imagined I would join the military. However, in 1997, during my first year of veterinary school, I became interested in the Army Veterinary Corps. The interest was because I wasn't really sure what kind of veterinarian I wanted to be and I was facing an incredible student loan debt. The Army Health Professions Scholarship looked like a good deal so I applied. I didn't get the scholarship but they offered me an Early Commissioning Incentive Program slot. So in June 1998 I committed to enter active duty service upon completion of my veterinary degree in May 2001.
I headed off to Fort Sam Houston, Texas in July 2001 to start my Officer Basic Course. I was overweight and out of shape. I failed my first Army Physical Fitness Test and did not meet the weight standard. I pushed myself just hard enough to meet the standard, but didn't establish permanent habits that would stick. But that's not the point of this blog.
I finished the initial portion of Officer Basic on the Friday before September 11th. My mother had flown in for the ceremony and spent the weekend with me in San Antonio. She flew home on that Monday, September 10th. That week I started the Veterinary Corps Track of my initial training. On September 11th, about 18 brand new Veterinary Corps Officers showed up for class at 0800, Central Time. We sat through a quite forgettable hour of training and had a 10 minute break at 0850. I decided to call my mom to make sure she made it back to Virginia safely. She answered the phone and was freaking out about something on CNN. She told me something was happening in New York City with airplanes and the World Trade Center. I had to get back to class so we ended the call. When I came back into the classroom, some of my friends had similar stories from phone calls or browsing the web during the break. We mentioned it to our instructor and she left the room briefly. She returned with a television and we briefly watched what was happening.
At this time it was about 1000 on the East Coast. Unbelievably our instructor told us we needed to continue with the day's lesson plan. No one really understood what was happening at that time. But she kept the TV in the room on mute. We watched in horror as the first tower started to collapse. That whole day is a haze now. I remember going back to my room after we were finally released from class and being unable to pull myself away from the television for hours. I know a lot of tears fell that day.
The next month at Fort Sam was crazy. The base security increased exponentially and it became quite clear that life in the military would change drastically. I left for my first assignment at Fort Irwin, California in October. For the next year and a half I wouldn't say that I forgot about 9/11 but the operations in Afghanistan were still on a small scale and life as an installation veterinarian was pretty normal.
I volunteered for an assignment in Korea to start in the summer 0f 2003, but first I needed to complete the next level of my military education back at Fort Sam Houston. I will always remember that trip from California to Texas. I left Barstow, California on the 19th of March and spent that night with my friend, Emily, down in 29 Palms, CA. The next morning I headed down I-10 toward Texas. I turned the radio on and very quickly the regular programming was interrupted to report on the invasion into Iraq. I still can't believe it, but I listened to news reports all the way to El Paso, Texas that day. I didn't know him at the time, but my husband was over there with the 86th Combat Support Hospital. All I knew was that I was listening to the beginning of combat operations and I was in the military. Wow!
The two months of training were interesting. The curriculum was still based on Cold War tactics and we focused many of our exercises on historical battles from the Korean War. Great for my understanding as I headed to my next assignment, but looking back it was odd to have our military engaged in current battles while discussing battles from so long ago. Something started to change in my mind regarding my service in the military. Up to that point, I figured I would finish my three year commitment and then leave the service. It had nothing to do with agreeing or disagreeing with what our country was doing. I was a Soldier and I had volunteered to serve our military in whatever mission our country's leadership directed. That held a great deal of value to me.
While in Korea, those feelings grew stronger and in January of 2004 I found myself volunteering to go to a veterinary detachment in Texas that was already destined to deploy to Iraq. I know that freaked my family out big time. Why would I willingly put myself in harm's way? It's hard to explain, but I felt like I had to. I was on active duty and we had Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines in Iraq risking their lives. My job as a veterinarian is to protect their health and the health of the Military Working Dogs that assist in their missions. To me, that veterinary mission was the most important thing happening in my world in the military and if I had the opportunity to help, I must.
That time in my career ensured that I would make the military a career. And it was also the beginning of my realization that being a Soldier meant I had to do more than just meet the standard for physical fitness. It obviously didn't happen right away because here I am almost six years after returning from Iraq and I'm just finally getting there. My commander and 1SG in that unit, the 43rd Medical Detachment, played a big role in laying the groundwork. I still remember COL Taber telling me that it didn't matter how good of an Army officer he thought I was from a professional or leadership standpoint, if I didn't do what was necessary to keep myself in shape. I had to set a good example for my Soldiers and peers in that area as well. It didn't matter what my job in the military was...I was a Soldier first, period. 1SG Hepperly was an outstanding female role model for me as well; both in fitness and leadership as an NCO.
So here I am ten years later looking back. I truly believe that if 9/11 hadn't happened, I wouldn't be in the military. That means I wouldn't be married to Cesar, have my wonderful Amelia, have seen parts of the world I could only imagine, and be proud to be part of our country's Armed Forces. My family has always served - Grandfather Carl Boyd, a career in the Air Force before a tragic airplane crash ended his life too early; Grandfather Arthur Snyder, a career in the Navy to include service in WWII; Grandfather Eugene Tulley, a brief stint in the Army during WWII right before it ended; my father, a career in the Air Force; and many cousins serving in the Navy, Army, and Air Force over the years with several deployments under their belts. My cousin, Jared, has deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he finds himself again...a newly graduated Army Apache pilot. So proud of all of them and humbled to be part of our family's tradition of service.
I am more humbled by the men and women I have had the pleasure of working with over the last ten years from all branches of the military. They really are the reason that in 2011, I vowed to finally get my act together and spend the next ten years of my career doing a better job with the physical aspects of military service. And this morning, I honored the men and women who lost their lives ten years ago in that tragedy by running a 10k race. The girl who struggled to run two miles in under 20 minutes, ran 6.2 in less than 60 today. I've finally found I sort of enjoy running, but I don't think I would have signed up for a race if it weren't involved with this anniversary. I had fun though and I could see doing this more...for the right reason or in the right location. Today was pretty awesome though. This race was held on Ramstein Air Force Base. Part of the course went along the fence line at the beginning of the runway where flights come in to land. A C-17 flew right over me. Wish I had a camera to capture that moment.
It was a beautiful day in Germany. I am so blessed to have this opportunity to live here and experience the world outside of America. There are a lot of things about our country that aren't that pleasant at the moment, but that is true around the world. Living overseas has shown me humanity and taught me that we are all interconnected and so similar, regardless of race, religion, economic status, the language we speak, or the politics we follow. I truly wish everyone realized that. It would be wonderful to live in a world where I found myself out of work because we didn't need a military.
To close this, you may be thinking that I am connecting the 9/11 tragedy too much to the two wars that we have found ourselves fighting this past decade. Much has been argued about this in the media and amongst politicians. As a Soldier, that is not my lane. The lines all converge for me and in my life experience, each event built upon the others to strengthen my dedication to service. My thoughts and prayers are with all the families who have lost their loved ones either on 9/11 or during the aftermath.
