9/11 Remembered: A reflection on the 10th anniversary

(Staff Sgt.Nicola L. Dunham is a diagnostic imaging technician for the 374th Medical Support Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan)

In August 2001, I decided to join the military. My history of dead-end jobs and dropping out of college was leading me nowhere, and I feared I would never be able to support myself. I remember being hounded in high school by an Army recruiter and, despite his best efforts, I had no intention of ever joining the military. But now the idea looked different to me. It was an easy way out. The military would send me to school, give me a career, housing and food. It would provide the independence I sought. Where else could I achieve that?

A few weeks later, before I had raised my right hand, something happened, something horrific, something that I would remember for the rest of my life. I was a housekeeper, on my way with two other women to our next cleaning job. We were half listening to the radio and heard New York was under distress. We thought it was some type of natural disaster and went about our work. Eventually, we turned on the TV to see if there was updated news, and there was. There was major news. We saw two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon. We immediately packed up our things and went to be with our families.

No one knew at this point that it was an act of terrorism, but everyone knew something was horribly wrong. I soon learned the truth: Sept. 11 was the day the U.S. had been attacked. At first I felt relief that no papers were signed, but that feeling quickly changed. That night I huddled around a TV with a friend and his family, waiting to hear words of hope and promise, to feel safe as President Bush addressed the nation. His speech changed me, and I knew that not only did I want to defend my country and the innocent people who lost their lives by the hands of terrorists, but that President Bush was the leader I wanted to follow. I believed he loved our country and its people, and I supported his trust in God. As long as our country kept faith, we would fear no evil.

I was soon placed in the Delayed Entry Program and waited to be called to arms. More than nine years ago, on March 26, 2002, I set foot on Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, for my first day of Basic Military Training. Wow, it doesn’t seem that long ago! I was placed directly into the medical career field, first as a dental assistance and later as a radiologic technologist. I have cared for everyone from children of military members, young healthy Airmen, WWII vets in the ICU, and even spent time at the Dover Port Mortuary. I do love patient care, but my true love in the military has been serving on the Honor Guard. There is no job more rewarding and no feeling better then presenting honors for those Airmen, Sailors, Marines and Soldiers who have fallen.

The job of serving my country and representing all of those who served before means everything to me. I still proudly support the war against terror and continue to serve my country in the United States Air Force. Unfortunately, over the years we have lost many of our men and women in uniform to this war. But I always go back to the 3,000 unarmed, unaware, civilian men, women and children who lost their lives within hours on Sept. 11, 2011. It is for them that I serve.