Photo By Frank O'Brien | “One sacrifice we make is the time you can never have back.” Spc. Raul E....... read more read more
ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Seven soldiers with the Virginia Army National Guard, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, currently deployed to Forward Operating Base Lagman in Zabul province, Afghanistan, shared their thoughts on the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“My entire adult life the United States has been at war.”
Sgt. Deon W. Loucks, 26, a married infantryman from Charlottesville, Va., is a nightshift radio telephone operator for the 116th. He was in 10th grade on 9/11. This is his second deployment.
“I grew up in a big military area. I was 16 years old in my high school history class on 9/11. Our teacher was a retired Marine lieutenant colonel. We turned on the news and everyone in the class was upset because our fathers were in [Washington] D.C. We even had some kids in our class whose parents were hurt during the attack. I drove home … guess I was driving back then… and got my dad’s 12-gauge shotgun out of the closet and sat on the couch to watch the news. I was angry and scared - didn’t know if we were being invaded. Didn’t know what to expect, but right then I was ready to fight and kill for my country. No joke.”
“My entire adult life the United States has been at war and it’s made me into the man and soldier I am today. There’s one thing I‘ll never forget my dad told me. He was sitting around a campfire in Saudi Arabia and going in and out of Iraq into Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and he was in a circle talking about the war and how they hoped it ended now. He’s quoted as saying that he hoped his son never has to come over here and fight. Then he told me when I got home from Iraq in 2008 that he never could believe while he was sitting in Iraq his son would have to go there 20 years later and fight. That really hit home with me and I definitely hope my son doesn’t have to go back to the same theaters and fight again.”
“Yeah, all of this has happened before and all of it will happen again. Our country hasn’t gone without a war for a long time if you look back at history, unfortunately.”
“9/11 happened. I always felt like a real, true public servant and a patriot who serves his country. I did the best I could – I did two tours – I don’t feel like I gave enough because some guys have given five or six deployments and some guys gave their lives - came home with no limbs; gave their all. Those are the true heroes that really fought for their country after we were attacked. The ones who gave their lives are the true heroes. I did the best I could as a patriot who loves his country, the same as everyone else who fought.”
“I believe in mandatory service.”
Spc. Zachary R. Finch, 23, of Fredericksburg, Va., single, is an unmanned aerial vehicle operator for the 116th. He was in 7th grade when the attacks took place. This is his first deployment.
“I was in 7th grade science class. We took a class vote to watch it [the attack] and we ended up just watching the whole thing go down in science class. Later when I was in college, I was looking for something as a jump start to get my life rolling and the Army did it for me … it’s opened up a lot of doors. So quite possibly yes, war is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
“I believe in mandatory service - everyone should give two or three years of government service time and then go about their business afterward. America is a hodgepodge of everything; we don’t have any experiences that define us as Americans. I believe in government service to find a common experience for all of us to come together, like how 9/11 is an experience that now defines all Americans. It’s something so bad that everyone knows about it and nobody forgets. Everyone can relate … everyone knows where they were, what happened. It’s an American experience versus everyone having an individual experience.”
“When 9/11 first occurred, I think people thought it would be another Desert Storm. You go in. You kick some [butt], and you get out within a couple of months, a year. Come in, kill the Taliban, and leave. That’s not how this area of the world works. This area has been in conflict for thousands of years - people fighting over land, fighting over resources because it’s a desert. It’s scarce. And I don’t think America realized you can’t just come in, do the mission and leave. The mission now is to set up the ANA [Afghan National Army] and ANP [Afghan National Police], the Iraqi army - all the different theaters here to be self-sustaining once we leave. Our time here is going to end. I believe in the mission that we’re doing here … and how it is a direct result of what happened on 9/11 … but everything is coming to a close.”
“We were attacked in a way that we never were before, so the irony [using aircraft in new ways as a weapon] has a kind of symmetry to it. Now we’re finding new ways to develop warfare to combat a threat that we never engaged before – an insurgency over a long period of time.”
“I can finally do something.”
Spc. Christopher A. Loney, 22, born and raised in Richmond, Va., is a field artillery automated tactical data systems specialist. He performs base defense for the 116th. This is his first deployment.
“I was 12 years old in English class. We were watching TV because our teachers wanted us to keep up with the news. It was ironic because in our history class next period we were studying Pearl Harbor, talking about severe blows to our country. So 9/11 was like another blow. But it feels pretty good to be part of history, like those people who went to war in World War II after Pearl Harbor.”
“I had several reasons for joining the Virginia Army National Guard. My cousin was in the Air National Guard and he was killed when a Black Hawk [helicopter] was shot down back in 2007 in Afghanistan. So I wanted to enlist as a dedication to him. It had always been a childhood dream of mine to be a soldier, but the actual joining was a last minute decision right after high school. In my childhood dreams, I saw myself doing just about everything – fighting with bayonets, jumping out of airplanes, manning a tank. Also, there are some people who didn’t expect me to make it - to be locked up or dead. I was a troublemaker when I was a kid, and I wanted to prove them wrong.”
“When I joined, I didn’t expect to be over here in Afghanistan. I expected this war to be over. I expected there to be another war starting and going off to that one, not this one. I never expected this war in Afghanistan to last as long as it has.”
“This is why I’m here - for September 11th - to answer the call of my country. I wished that I could do something, and now that I’m here, I feel like I am. Just the thought of feeling helpless and can’t do anything … that’s what’s really driving me right now – that I can finally do something.”
“I’m down with the cause.”
Spc. Horace L. Moore, 22, a single parent from Newport News, Va., is a field artillery automated tactical data systems specialist. He was 12 when the attacks took place. This is his first deployment.
“I was 12 years old in social studies class on 9/11. We were in the middle of a quiz. Then the school put out an announcement about the attack. I was shocked. I didn’t believe what was going on. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. It was crazy. We had to stay in school all day. When I went home, I watched the news with my grandmother… it was all over the TV.”
“I enlisted in the summer of 2007. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go active duty, so I went into the Virginia Army National Guard just to see … just to get the feel of it. I wanted something involving computers and my recruiter just threw this [13D field artillery] at me and I said ‘sure I’ll try it.’ It has kind of worked out. I wanted to make some money because I was working at [a fast food restaurant] at the time. I thought I was working hard before, but I’m really earning my paychecks now. After this deployment, I know I can handle active duty. I want to go for a full 20 years, and I’m glad to be getting this experience in Afghanistan.”
“We’ve lost a lot of people, but at the same time we have made progress; helped out this country. I think people are mad at how Soulja Boy said things, but they are probably thinking the same things. Soulja Boy came about it the wrong way. I have a daughter. I’d rather my daughter grow up in a world at peace instead of a country at war like her daddy.”
“I don’t know anyone who lost family on 9/11, but to everyone who did, I send my condolences, and I appreciate your support. I’m proud to be part of the search for justice. I’m helping out people I don’t know, and it makes me feel good. Even if we are at war for 10 more years, I will continue to support the mission.”
“At first I enlisted because I just wanted a job and to make money, but as I get into the flow of things, I’m down with the cause.”
“My recruiter said: ‘You will deploy if you join.’”
Spc. Geoffrey C. Jackson, 25, of Charlottesville, Va. and single with a two-year-old son, is a fire support specialist with the 116th. He was in high school when the attacks took place. This is his first deployment.
“On 9/11, I was a sophomore in high school in my history class. The initial news reports were pretty vague, just that an airplane had crashed into one of the towers. We didn’t find out until later that day that it was a lot bigger than we thought. My family didn’t have any strong reaction, mostly because it was so sudden and unexpected. I went on with my life to finish high school and graduate Christopher Newport University with a major in political science.”
“I enlisted in October 2009 to repay my student loans. A13F’s [fire support specialists] aren’t known for their survivability, but I had a good recruiter and over the course of six months he really sold it to me. He said that there was plenty of upward mobility in the MOS [military occupational specialty] and I’m not the type to stay indoors all day. So something that gets me out into the field is a pretty good fit. My recruiter said: You will deploy if you join. I couldn’t say no. I guess I could have turned to crime or drugs … but this is far nobler and well respected. That really appealed to me.”
“I grew up with role models that were idealistic: knights, samurai. I had hundreds of Army soldiers, the little plastic ones. They [the plastic soldiers] are expendable, and you might say that there’s some similarity between the toys and the real thing. But when you get out here you realize that no life is expendable.
“If I could say thank you to all the people who send and donate care packages and much needed supplies, I would. My thanks aren’t enough. When we do get something here, we share it with each other. There’s nothing like a reminder of home.”
“9/11 to me represents American foreign policy from the grass roots level. It’s not just a political foreign policy; it’s what the nation believes in. To be a part of that even in some small way … there’s something to be said for the pride that comes along with that. As for toy soldiers, I definitely feel like one sometime … but without the expendability aspect. I tended to hang on to my broken toys.
“My son turned two recently. Growing up either at war or at peace is… an equal preference to the other, barring having a war in your front yard as it is here. I think there are lessons that children can learn from war as long as they don’t have to pay the consequences.”
“I had harbored a feeling of guilt for getting out.”
Sgt. Matthew E. Barry, 29, a single former Marine from N.J., now living in Arlington, Va., is a fire support sergeant for the 116th. He was in college when the attacks took place. This is his second deployment.
“As a Marine Corps reservist, I was just starting my first semester of studying criminal justice at Ocean County Community College in N.J. after the Marine Corps equivalent of AIT and combat training. I was just about to leave for class. My grandmother called me inside about something interesting on TV. I woke my dad up - he was working from home at the time - right around the time when he got up, that’s when it happened.”
“I deployed with the Marine Corps in January 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom One. I was part of the invasion of Iraq. I was a little bit of everything, but mostly what I did was convoy ops. I was in southern Iraq at a place that has since been dismantled called Camp Viper.”
“When I left the Marine Corps, I didn’t think I’d be interested in doing it any more … washed my hands of the whole thing, did my time. Oddly enough, it didn’t take me very long to start missing the military lifestyle, but I didn’t act on that right away. Once I’d settled in, my life hit a normal routine, that’s when I decided to act on it. As an institution, the Marine Corps has some quirks that I’m too old for. The Virginia Army National Guard fit my more laid back attitude at this phase of life, offered me a much cooler job.
“I volunteered for this deployment. Yes, I was looking to get my war on. I had harbored a feeling of guilt for getting out while my buddies were still going over here in Iraq and doing the hard stuff. I want to have a normal life when I can, but if a deployment comes along; I’m going to take it. I want to put that feeling behind me -- everyone else going but me. That feeling of guilt was part of my motivation to re-enlist.”
“I feel that the soldier and the warrior’s role are as a guardian of society. I don’t begrudge people that don’t serve, because I recognize that it’s not appropriate for everyone. It’s not compatible with how most people live. I know that I’m one of those people that can shoulder the burden, that can accept it, and to a certain degree enjoy it, otherwise I wouldn’t have re-upped. Philosophically, I do believe that my place is out here doing the stuff that no one else really wants to do, at least for a certain amount of time. I see myself as a champion of the citizensSoldier role in the Greco-Roman tradition. We’ve been here for 10 years … so our people can sleep at night, but as I wrote in an e-mail home recently: Don’t forget we’re out here.”
“We need to memorialize it [9/11] properly … and start putting it in context. For the longest time it was a hole in the ground, which really made me angry when I used to go up to N.Y. It [9/11] is not the only thing that’s happened in the last decade and while it’s a huge tragedy, things should get easier in time. We shouldn’t have to have that all hanging over us all the time.”
“There’s a lot at stake in Afghanistan besides the whole war on terrorism - geopolitical motives, national prestige and capital. It just seems like we’ve done as much as we can with Afghanistan, so we need to start looking at a way to leave and cross our fingers.”
“One sacrifice we make is the time you can never have back.”
Spc. Raul E. Quintanilla, 24, single and child of immigrant parents, is an information systems operator for the 116th. He was a freshman in high school when the attacks occurred. This is his second deployment.
“I was taking a practice SAT test at Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va. Another faculty member grabbed on our teacher and took her outside. She let us know that there had been some sort of attack, but didn’t have any information other than N.Y. and D.C. had been attacked. We thought they had dropped bombs. The teacher turned on the TV but since we were still taking the test, they muted everything. We watched everything happening without sound – pretty much watched everything go down without volume while taking a practice SAT - watching people jumping out of buildings and not able to talk because of the test.”
“I was 18 when I enlisted in the Virginia Army National Guard, a little less than a year after I graduated high school. I didn’t like where things were headed and wasn’t doing well in Northern Virginia Community College. I didn’t want to be a regular Joe. I wanted to do something different – life changing. The Army is as life changing as you can get. Then I deployed to Kuwait Naval Base from 2007-2008. It was a very complicated mission working as a military policeman. It was the first time I’ve done anything that involves police or security.”
“I feel fortunate that we’re in the situation we’re in right now. I know other people are in worse situations than we are, so I can’t complain at all. I re-enlisted for a year so I could come on this deployment.”
“9/11 hasn’t really had an impact on my decisions or military career, but it’s been the most significant event other than Michael Jackson’s death in my lifetime. It brought the nation together – no matter the color, class – it brought people together. People who weren’t patriotic before appreciate America a little more. Now that we’re at war people look at the troops a little differently. People are more thankful for the service the troops provide and thankful that they’re fighting for the cause.”
“I’m a child of immigrants. I grew up with my mother who is from El Salvador. She was never really around a whole lot because she was trying to raise her only son on her own. Patriotism wasn’t really instilled in me, coming from a Hispanic family that’s a very strong value back home, in “the motherland” as we call it. After I joined the military and around my first deployment is when I started to appreciate being from the United States and the patriotism and the honor of being able to serve in the U.S. Army. It was something I’d never thought of before - never felt that way - but afterward I felt proud to be doing something that only one percent of Americans have done. It makes me appreciate the sacrifices my mother made.”
“One sacrifice we make is the time you can never have back. You’re risking your life not only for the people around you, but also for the people back home who don’t support the soldiers - native-born Americans, who don’t do anything patriotic or supportive. To those people, I’m inclined to say: I have made the sacrifices that others haven’t, so I - all of us troops in general - should be respected in my opinion a little more because of our military service and sacrifices.”
“I see 9/11 as something that brought the nation together. There were protests during the Iraq war. People thought the protests were pulling the country apart, but I see things differently. When people saw the actions that these police, firefighters and soldiers made – the sacrifices, including the ultimate sacrifice – it definitely created a greater interest in public service.”
| Date Taken: | 09.11.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.13.2011 06:57 |
| Story ID: | 76928 |
| Location: | QALAT, AF |
| Web Views: | 295 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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