I'll never forget that day.  I got home from work that day at my usual time of ~7:30 - 8:00 AM.  My usual routine was to surf the internet a bit (it was different back then) while listening to the radio while my wife got up and got ready for her day at work.  I used to listen to Rock 105 which had Lex & Terry on.  I remember them saying something about it, then they got very serious.  For those that don't know, Lex & Terry were basically comedy "shock jocks" on the radio similar to Howard Stern though they were local at the time.  This was back before satellite radio or various other forms of entertainment on the internet (the internet was still in it's infancy).  My "normal" routine was to listen to them until they went off the air at 10:00 AM then I would go to bed (I worked overnight shift at the time).

When they "got serious" about it, I turned around and flipped the television on and tuned into CNN (at the time they were considered THE news channel on cable).  I saw the second plane hit not long after I turned it on and got sick to my stomach.  I immediately called my parents who live in New Mexico.  It was early for them, but when I called I told my father to turn on the news.

I kept my eyes glued to the TV all day and stayed up all day.  I got the call that I wasn't to return to work until further notice and my wife was sent home without even getting to work (we both worked on the Navy base here).  This was almost exactly 2 years after I had left the Navy and immediately my first thought was to go back.  I chose not to because my job at the time was directly supporting the very Navy that I loved, and the aviators that I knew needed the training and support that my job offered.

Much of the younger generation just don't understand what that attack did to us as a country.  We had very little 24/7 news and there was no such thing as "social media".  When the attack happened our country came together and was united.  I don't want to get political, but it didn't take long for it to be exploited by career politicians to begin dividing us.

Think about this.  Patrick Tillman was a promising athlete and a good NFL player.  He left the big NFL salary to serve his country and paid the ultimate price.  I don't know that there are many today willing to make the same sacrifice.

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