Deployed soldiers remember 9/11

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Klutts | U.S. Army Col. Patrick Matlock, the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, speaks during a prayer breakfast Sept. 11, 2011. The brigade is roughly halfway through its deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.  

CAMP MIKE SPANN, AFGHANISTAN

09.11.2011

Story by Sgt. Christopher Klutts 

170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

CAMP MIKE SPANN, Afghanistan – To commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, soldiers with 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and their multinational partners held a prayer breakfast at the Mark Mitchell Dining Facility Sept. 11.

A multimedia presentation projected onto a wall and images of the attacks reflected off soldiers’ solemn faces. Video clips of soldiers recalling where they were on 9/11 were mixed throughout. One soldier said he was in fifth grade, while another said he was well into his military career.

Maj. Steve Dunn, the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team chaplain, read portions of the 9/11 Commission’s report regarding United Airlines Flight 93, when passengers overcame hijackers who intended to fly the plane into the White House.

“The passengers of United Flight 93,” Dunn said. “Due to their indivisible spirit, in their last five minutes of life, changed the world forever.

“Do you remember the nation’s shock, pain and tears which eventually gave way to a resolute spirit? Ten years later, are you still united to the memory of 9/11?” he asked attendees.

Col. Patrick Matlock, the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, also spoke at the breakfast.

“Like all of you,” he said. “I have a searing memory of when I first learned of the attacks.”

Matlock said he returned home to Texas the night before from a training exercise. Shortly after arriving to his office the next morning, he watched the planes hit the Twin Towers on television.

He recalled thinking immediately of his brother, who worked in Manhattan not far from the World Trade Center. It took several hours before he learned his brother was safe.

“There was no question, but that all our lives would change, and those of use serving in the armed forces would be engaged directly in the response to the attack,” he said.

Matlock then referenced the men whose names were remembered everyday on the camp.

“Now most people probably assume that Mark Mitchell was killed in action, and that is why this building is named after him,” he said of the man whom he met while attending a military course in Kansas. “In fact, he is alive and well.”

Mitchell had commanded a ground force in late November 2001 to rescue Americans trapped at Qala-I-Jang Fortress, which still stands less than two kilometers from the camp.

“One of those Americans he sought to rescue was Mike Spann, the first American killed in Afghanistan,” Matlock said. “Every one of you has a story that is connected in a very personal way to hundreds of other servicemen and women. It is these stories that make our nation’s military response to 9/11.”

Soldiers with 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed from Baumholder, Germany, in early 2011 and are roughly halfway through their deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

• Date Taken: 09.11.2011
• Date Posted: 09.11.2011 07:03
• Story ID: 76828
• Location: CAMP MIKE SPANN, AF