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9/11
My Sept. 11, 2001
It changed all our lives
I know exactly where I was and what I was doing on the morning of September 11, 2001. I will never forget that day as long as I live. It changed my future in so many ways, as it did for so many other people.
Several thousand people who died that morning had their lives snuffed out instantly or had a few minutes to understand what was coming. That has to be the worst feeling; knowing you are going to die and can’t do anything but watch it unfold.
I was an Army reservist. A week prior, I had signed the paperwork transferring/enlisting me from the Tennessee Army National Guard. I switched from the 278th Armored Calvary Regiment, Troop B , 1st platoon, 1st squad sergeant to the 489th Civil Affairs Battalion. I hadn’t even been to one drill yet with my new unit.
On the civilian side of my life, I worked as a restaurant equipment repair technician for a company in Knoxville, Tenn. called Abbtech. Their headquarters was in Nashville, and I worked out of their satellite office in Knoxville with two other techs plus our manager, a former Air Force veteran.
As I was the low man on the totem pole, I did a lot of preventative maintenance jobs at restaurants around town when we didn’t have any emergency repairs to do. This involved mostly cleaning…
