September 11th once again. I must be honest, the date doesn't really inspire me to write. Not because I don't have anything to say, mind you, but because I don't feel like writing about... it.
Like most of you, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and four airliners fell victim to a terrorist plot.
So... Where was I? I was in South Korea on a small Army camp called Camp Castle. What was I doing? I was getting ready to go to 121 Army Hospital in Seoul. How was I told? A soldier named Miguel Figueroa knocked on my door and told me to change from civilian clothes I was wearing into my uniform. It was almost comical the way he told me how the planes ended so many lives... he was in so much disbelief himself, that I couldn't believe him... much less a plot so... cinematic.
Needless to say, I had to check for myself, so I went up to my company's office (in my civilian clothes, naturally) and just about shit my pants when I saw the televisions and computer monitors.
Anyway, the rest of that particular anecdote is unimportant to everyone else but me, and it's not the point of my rambling tonight (or this morning, depending on perspective). The point is that I just noticed that I turned in my packet to rejoin the Army yesterday. On 9/10. Which means my processing will start on 9/11. I doubt there's any significance behind that, other than subtext falling into the cracks of a skewed imagination.
Where there is significance, however, is that I can finally rejoin the friends and colleagues whom I somewhat selfishly left behind. I've asked them to do what I haven't been doing for long enough. I no longer feel as though I've earned the past seven years of relative comfort. 9/2/02 is when I left active duty the first time... September has it out for me, I suppose.
Or something like that.
Perhaps I'm just crazy.
8 comments:
I will probably always remember where I was that day too. Playing hookey at home, eating late breakfast in front of the news thinking I must still be dreaming. Then, I remember how we extended our friendly arms to our poor American friends whom were stranded here for a time, since they couldn't return to their country until it was all over. Then I remember, maybe 4 years later (?) us getting a thank-you from Bush. That's the first time I truly felt bad for the US.
New beginnings don't happen without something ending. September's good for openings and closures.
Sometimes it is necessary to remember. Sometimes it is necessary to go back. I, for one, wish you success, happiness and fulfillment in the new direction your life is about to take.
Perhaps? hahahahaha
Anyway - I have said it before, and I will say it again: I am positive this is the right thing for you. It is part of you, even though you 'fought' it for so long. You need it.
And like you and everyone else, I remember, too. My wife, our youngest and I were headed to the real estate lawyer's office to sign the papers for the closing on our house. At first, we talked with the lawyer about 'a' plane that had hit 'a' tower. Too soon, we realized the truth of it all. Later, at a restaurant, all eyes sat focused on the TV screens on the walls. Utterly shocking and sad.
i was in the air that morning...but this isn't about then, but about now. you know, it sounds like this is the right move for you. i wish you great success and happiness or fulfilment.
I feel angry and sad, and not for the correct reasons.
I lost alot that day.
I lost my best friend, neighbors and parents of my daughters friends.
I lost as well, a feeling of security I had always enjoyed and perhaps took for granted.
I can still smell the smell.
and Jeff...."Once a soldier, always a soldier"
I turned on the TV and thought the world was going to end.
Sx
I was in Midtown working security in the lobby of a high rise building. My father was downtown three blocks from the towers. I found out when a girl who worked on the top floor came out of the elevator in tears. The news filtered to us standing our posts in the lobby a little at a time. Most of us had friends and relatives working downtown, but we held our posts as Manhattan became a warzone. I cannot tell you the relief I felt hearing my father's voice after the towers collapsed. Today I went to work as usual for the TSA. A despised and misunderstood organization. Today we caught a gun at my checkpoint. September 11th 2001 was the day the war started. I like to think we are winning. We also screened a pelican. :)
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