WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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[Music]

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So, that morning I happened to be off,

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because of being a shift worker in the

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operations center, and

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listening to the news and watching the

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news, as everybody was,

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and as I kind of suspected, soon got a

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call recalling me to come bags packed

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ready to deploy to an unknown

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location for an indefinite period of

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time. I had no idea what I was doing,

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where I was going, when I would be back

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[Music]

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Offloaded our equipment, and we were

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quickly met by state patrol, who

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escorted us, red lights and siren, high

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speed down to manhattan

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where the FBI had a building about

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six miles from Ground Zero that they

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used as a vehicle

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storage and maintenance area,  

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and they needed that set up as office

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space. Well, that's kind of what we do and

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so, we quickly went about moving vehicles

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to the side and began establishing

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communications links and setting up

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voice, video, and data transmissions in

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that office space to support FBI

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operations. So, that was our primary role

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in how we initally responded to 9/11.

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We could see the smoke bloom and all

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that kind of thing. The streets were

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almost empty people; were just not out

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and about.

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But, there were some places that we would

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have an opportunity to go to eat in some

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corner deli kind of places, and they were

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just so appreciative they didn't want to

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be paid for anything. They were just so thankful

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for us being there. Just like

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everybody in the nation,

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our thoughts were reeling, but maybe

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differently than other folks, many other

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folks, is that we had something

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constructed that we could do with those

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emotions. We had a task to do and so it

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allowed us to kind of focus those

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emotions and energies towards something

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that we thought was extremely important

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and extremely productive as we went

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about setting up that center for the FBI.

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[Music]

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During that time, some of the folks

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transitioned over to the Javits Center

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to help set up that JFO, and they

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directed others of us to

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go to virginia to support other

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operations that were part of the

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response effort. This is my second career.

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I spent almost 27 years in the Air Force.

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And so, as a second career it really

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solidified for me that this was some

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place that I wanted to work, and this was

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a job that I wanted to do and really

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really reaffirmed the critical

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importance of FEMA and then particularly

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in my case of MERS.

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[Music]

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I love this nation so much, and it

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to see the unity that was in this nation

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but also to see how

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I guess racked as a nation we were

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with what had transpired and the loss of

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life, and so,

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you know it's not unusual for me to

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at some point in time on the anniversary

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of 9/11 to find myself with tears of my

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eyes

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as I reflect not only on how it affected

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this nation, but how it affected my

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family. I'm always reminded of that,

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and the fact that, as part of what I do

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with denver MERS, this part is what what

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MERS does in general,

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that we're faced with that 

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possibility...that real possibility at all

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times. That with things are going

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terrible for others,

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and maybe even going terribly for our

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own family and our own locality, 

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that's often when we may be called and

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have to go elsewhere...

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that's a sobering thought.

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[Music]