I Could Not Be More Proud

Today marks the 11th year since the brutal attack on American soil by a group of terrorist. I am sure each of us remembers where we were and what we were doing when those attacks happened. I was at work as an Air Traffic Controller sitting at a RADAR scope. It was just another typical day at work and I had just told a Delta departure he was RADAR contact and turned him towards the Atlanta airport, when the supervisor stood up and announced to the room that all departures were stopped and every aircraft in the air had to land at the closest airport. All the controllers in the room asked "why are we doing this, what is going on?" the supervisor said he did not know what was going on but we had to get every aircraft on the ground as fast as we could. I had been an air traffic controller for over 25 years and never had I seen anything like this happen before. Over the next hour and a half, the air traffic controllers of our nation safely guided over 4000 aircraft with hundreds of thousands of people on board to nearby airports. This had never been done before, there was no plan in place, what my brother and sister air traffic controllers did was truly amazing, and heroic.

Courtesy: NASA/FAA NASA Ames Research Center Future Air Traffic Management Concepts and Evaluation Tool (FACET) animation of September 11th, 2001.
Shortly after that day, my son joined the United States Army. He began his service in November 2001, and has served a tour in Iraq, two tours to Afghanistan, and is scheduled to return to Afghanistan in January 2014. I could not be more proud of my son for stepping up in the defense of freedom. I thank God for his courage and bravery, as well as that of all the other young men and women who have placed their lives on the line to served our country and the the world in the fight against terrorism. I for one am very grateful that they value their own freedom enough to ensure that others throughout the world can also be free. God bless America and all those who have proudly served Her.
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