WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:01.840 Sixty seconds of Service. 2 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:05.080 This sixty seconds of Service is presented by T Mobile. 3 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:08.279 T Mobile offers exclusive discounts for a veteran and military 4 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:11.800 families and are proud supporters of the National Defense Network. 5 00:00:12.039 --> 00:00:14.839 Visit t mobile dot com slash military to learn more 6 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:18.239 about how they support our military community. From Rockford, Illinois, 7 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:21.399 eight local veterans received special gifts last week to show 8 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:26.000 appreciation for their service. Lifescape Community Service's Adult Day program 9 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:29.000 honored the veterans with coins made by the Rock Valley 10 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:32.719 College Student Veterans Association and presented to the veterans by 11 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:37.280 members of Love's Park VFW Post ninety seven to fifty nine. 12 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:40.600 Kelly Sandford, the director of Lifescape, explains, our clients come 13 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:42.840 to us when they're in a more vulnerable state. They 14 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:44.600 need a little bit more help with things than they 15 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:47.119 used to and it's important for us to recognize the 16 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:50.240 things that they have done. Today's sixty seconds of Service 17 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:53.119 is brought to you by Prevagen. Prevagen is the number 18 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:56.840 one pharmacist recommended memory support brand. You can find Prevagen 19 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:59.399 and the Vitamin Aisle in stores everywhere. 20 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:14.840 Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumb. This our guest 21 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:17.079 in this edition is Rob Riggle. You know him as 22 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:20.599 an actor and comedian, but he's also a US Marine 23 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:24.000 Corps veteran who served in both Afghanistan and Kosovo, and 24 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:26.599 he also served in the immediate aftermath of the nine 25 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.159 to eleven attacks at Ground Zero in New York City. 26 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:31.000 And Rob, it's always great to see you. 27 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:33.239 Thanks to see you, Nice to see you. Well. 28 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:34.599 We talked with you last year and we heard a 29 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:37.599 lot about how you joined the Corps and how the 30 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:40.920 Corp actually was a major factor in your success as 31 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:44.760 a comedian and actor. And one of the things that 32 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:46.640 we touched on, but I think we need to go 33 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:50.040 into more detail, is your role as a reservist in 34 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:54.920 New York City on nine to eleven, and so explain 35 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:57.599 what you were doing leading up to that day, what 36 00:01:57.719 --> 00:01:59.840 was your assignment, and then how that day unfolded. 37 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.760 So I had just left active duty, not more than 38 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:08.000 I have nine or ten months prior to nine to 39 00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:12.319 eleven happening. I had joined a Marine Reserve unit in 40 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:18.000 Manhattan MTU seventeen, Marine Training Unit seventeen, and I was, 41 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:22.000 you know, I had a day job and at night 42 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:24.319 I was pursuing comedy and I was staying in the 43 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:27.159 Reserves because I love the Marine Corps and I wanted 44 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:29.520 to stay connected and I wanted to just still be 45 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:31.520 a part of it. But I also wanted to be 46 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:33.800 a comedian and actor, and I needed to stay in New 47 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:36.719 York to make that happen. So when they got me 48 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.080 new orders on active duty, they wanted me to go 49 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:41.120 to Fort Meet and teach journalism or something, and I 50 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:45.719 was like, so, I said, you know what, I'm going 51 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:49.080 to go ahead and get out of active duty and 52 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:51.479 join the reserves and stay in Manhattan and keep pursuing 53 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:52.240 comedy and acting. 54 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:54.960 And then within nine months of. 55 00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:57.800 That happening, nine to eleven happened, and. 56 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.360 We were attacked, and everybody remembers that day. 57 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:05.919 If you were an adult and an American, you'll never 58 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.479 forget that day, just like the generation before us will 59 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:11.719 never forget Pearl Harbor. You know, the shock and the surprise, 60 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:15.159 and we had so much you know, obviously times have change, 61 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:21.479 so we have such graphic video and such recording of 62 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:27.599 it that it affected everybody deeply. And I was obviously 63 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:32.280 in Manhattan on nine to eleven. I was at work. 64 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:34.039 I had gone in. It was a beautiful day. I 65 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:35.520 had just gotten back from vacation. 66 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:39.719 I think it was a Tuesday morning, and so I 67 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:41.560 was kind of it was getting back into the swing 68 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:44.639 of things at the office, and I had just spent 69 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:49.680 a lovely vacation with my with my wife and family, 70 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:54.560 and we had come home and it was gorgeous, and 71 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:56.840 I remember walking to work and thinking, what a perfect day, 72 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:59.919 you know, it was wonderful and got to my office 73 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:04.400 and my assistant at one point came in and said, Hey, 74 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:06.639 I just heard a plane hit the World Trade Center. 75 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:09.080 Then I'm a pilot, you know, I have my pilot's license, 76 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:12.560 and I thought, well, that's interesting, you know, and I 77 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:14.599 kind of was behind on work, so I went back 78 00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:16.800 to work and then I started thinking about it. I 79 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:18.759 was like, well, how did that happen? Because you know, 80 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:21.319 this is a perfect day, you know. So I jumped 81 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:23.480 up and I said, hey, tell me what happened, and 82 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:26.199 she was like, I don't know, it's all happening right now. 83 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:31.560 And so we turned on the television and we found 84 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:33.639 the coverage and you could see smoke coming out of 85 00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:35.879 the World Trade Center and I remember thinking, well, that 86 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:38.480 looks too big to be like a little cess now 87 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.639 or a little private plane to make that much in 88 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:45.800 a smoke, and we were debating it and talking about 89 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:49.040 what it could be, and you know, and that just 90 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:53.199 doesn't seem possible on a day like today for a 91 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:56.480 commercial pilot. So you know, all this is happening, and 92 00:04:56.959 --> 00:04:59.160 nobody knows anything yet. Like the remember that the phone 93 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:03.040 the phone lines weren't bursting out. Nothing had really unfolded. 94 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:05.519 We were still waiting for the other shooter drop, I guess. 95 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:08.000 And I called my my wife at the time, and 96 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:12.160 she was working closer to downtown. I worked on forty 97 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:17.079 second in Park Avenue and she worked down probably around 98 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:19.839 thirtieth and seventh Avenue, so she was down in the 99 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:23.240 garment district a little closer and she had big windows 100 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:26.240 on her facing south, and she said she was watching 101 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:28.000 it live and I said, are you seeing this? And 102 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:32.639 we were talking and then I heard big screaming from 103 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:34.560 her office and I said, what happened? 104 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:35.279 Hap, what happened? 105 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:37.959 And she said, another plane just flew into the to 106 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.000 the other World Trade Center. And I remember thinking, what 107 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:44.600 that doesn't add up at all, And immediately I was like, 108 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:47.519 I think we're under attack, which sounded crazy to say, 109 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:51.040 but I you know, you can't. It can't dispute it. 110 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:54.120 Something's going on. So I said, I think we're under attack. 111 00:05:55.079 --> 00:05:57.480 I ran back out to my office. They were all 112 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:02.240 watching in shock because it happened live. So I had 113 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:04.800 my X on the phone and I said, stay there, 114 00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:07.680 I'm coming to get you. So I left my office 115 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:10.480 and ran down to where she was, and I remember 116 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:13.199 when I got out on the streets. It was a 117 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:18.360 very surreal moment because I think the trains had stopped 118 00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:21.759 at that point, and I just remember everybody was on 119 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:25.560 the surface, so you had the sidewalks were packed, but 120 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:28.079 the traffic wasn't moving. I mean, the hostital bustle of 121 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:31.759 New York City. You know, it's it's legendary, it's phenomenal. 122 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:36.079 But for whatever reason, you had all these people on 123 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.279 the surface. Nobody was underground. Everybody was on the surface. 124 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:42.800 The traffic had stopped, but there were no horns, there 125 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:47.600 was no talking, and it was just this very eerie quiet. 126 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:49.959 And I remember I was going down Fifth Avenue. I 127 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:51.839 had cut over from Park to Fifth and I was 128 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:54.199 headed down Fifth to get over seventh, you know. 129 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:55.480 Thirtieth or whatever. 130 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:59.240 And I remember going down Parking and you could see 131 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:01.839 smoke all the way downtown. You could see it, and 132 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:04.480 there was a state of shock. It was this, you know, 133 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.360 this is happening, but no one knows what it is yet. 134 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:10.079 Nobody knows what it means. Nobody knows what's next, nobody. 135 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:15.639 It's very confusing and shocking time. Obviously that's what happens 136 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:21.040 in a surprise attack. So I remember getting down to 137 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:24.639 my again, my wife at the time. I remember getting 138 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:29.920 down to her office, getting her, and then we walked 139 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:33.480 back to our apartment, which was up like forty fourth 140 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:36.120 in Lexington, So we got back up there and then 141 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:38.079 we just did what everybody else did, hunkered down in 142 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:41.240 front of our television and tried to figure out what 143 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:43.800 was happening. And we watched, like everybody else in horror, 144 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.439 as the towers fell and people were running for their lives, 145 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:49.680 and this was happening just you know, less than a 146 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:54.160 mile or a mile away from us, in a place 147 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:58.279 that we were very familiar with My wife at the time, 148 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.319 you know, I the night I proposed to her, I 149 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:03.720 took her to Windows on the World, which is the 150 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:07.680 restaurant on top of the World Trade Center, and we 151 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:10.040 had gone there a couple of times for one or 152 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:12.600 two of our anniversaries, and so we were very familiar 153 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:15.680 with the whole downtown area and we knew people up 154 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:19.000 there and the World Trade Center, so you know, we 155 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:23.480 were very concerned and it felt like a sucker punch, 156 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:29.519 just like everybody else. That night of September eleventh, pretty 157 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:33.360 much that afternoon evening, I got a call from my 158 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:40.039 commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Brozak called and said, hey, listen, 159 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:43.759 our unit has been activated. So I thought, wow, that 160 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:46.279 was fast, but you know, it made sense because we 161 00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:49.360 were the only marine unit. We were on the reserve 162 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:52.759 unit in Manhattan, and all the bridges and tunnels were closed, 163 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:54.799 and you know, they didn't know what they were dealing with. 164 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:56.639 Everybody was still trying to figure a lot of things 165 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:59.639 out there, a lot of questions, a ton more questions 166 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:01.120 than there were answers at that time. 167 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:03.360 And so I said, what was that? What does that mean? 168 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:06.200 He says, we'll put on your boots and utes, utilities 169 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:09.320 and boots, and that means for a lot of cami, 170 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:12.679 your cami uniform camouflage. 171 00:09:12.679 --> 00:09:15.039 And so I did what he said. I put it on. 172 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:20.000 Next morning, reported to Ground zero one police Plaza, which 173 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:23.559 was very close to ground zero, and we formed up 174 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:26.919 and they said, okay. 175 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:27.039 Well. 176 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:30.080 Nobody knew what was going on, but it was like 177 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:34.879 it's search and rescue, so let's go find a place 178 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:38.679 and we're going to start moving rubble by hand because 179 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:40.960 of the time it was search and rescue, because we 180 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:44.519 still thought there could be hundreds, maybe thousands of people 181 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:47.919 trapped in this rubble. There was six stories of rubble. 182 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:52.679 So you know, these these the towers collapse and when 183 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:58.159 they collapsed, they gutted other buildings, They smashed out foundations 184 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:00.600 of other building, they smashed out windows of all the 185 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:05.120 surrounding buildings. So those had collapsed into six stories of 186 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:11.440 rubble and twisted metal and iron and pulverized concrete, which 187 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:15.159 that pulverized concrete was kind of a moon dust. You know, 188 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:16.639 you'll never forget it, you know, you step on it, 189 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:19.720 and it was these clouds and it was everywhere. I 190 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:23.759 mean it was a huge radius and papers, papers like 191 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:29.039 just everywhere, paper everywhere for blocks in every direction because 192 00:10:29.080 --> 00:10:30.559 you know, when it came down, it just compressed it 193 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:31.759 all out and pushed it out. 194 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:34.000 So you got six stories of rubble. 195 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:37.679 You've got this powder, which a couple of days later 196 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:41.639 it rained, and then that turned into a paste, and 197 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:44.120 you had burnout cars and all these fire trucks that 198 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:46.679 were burnt out, but there are skeletons of the trucks 199 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:50.279 and skeletons of cars, and it was very surreal when 200 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:51.320 you walked downtown. 201 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:51.879 It was. 202 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:55.360 It was it was surreal. That's the only way I 203 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.240 can describe it, because it looked like a movie. It 204 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:01.720 felt like it smelled, you know, that of burning whatever 205 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:07.080 it was, metal concrete, pulverized concrete, that wet pasty concrete. 206 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:09.320 You know, you can it's a very distinct smell. 207 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:17.240 And so our unit we went down to one of 208 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:18.399 the corners. 209 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:20.159 Of the towers. 210 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:21.960 I don't know which tower was Tower one, maybe it's 211 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:27.720 the one further south, and there was a Burger King 212 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.600 across the street kind of and the windows had been 213 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:33.799 blown out, and you know, all those businesses were just 214 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.000 you know, devastated, but the burger King, I just remember, 215 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:40.159 that's where we staged our gear. That's where we put 216 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:44.279 our backpacks and our and canteens and whatever. We would 217 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.200 stage our gear there and then we literally just formed 218 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:50.000 a bucket brigade all the way up this hill like 219 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:52.879 ants going up a hill of this rubble, and then 220 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:56.480 we were handing buckets up and buckets down and just 221 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:00.240 moving the rubble off the pile and down out to 222 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:05.879 the outskirts of the you know, the blocks away because 223 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:09.720 you couldn't bring any heavy equipment into the area because 224 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:12.200 we were afraid of cave ins. And again we thought 225 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:13.960 it was you know, search and rescue, so we're trying 226 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:16.960 to We're thinking there's bodies under here. So you're picking 227 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:18.720 up chunks of rocks and putting in buckets and you're 228 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:22.360 sending them up and down, up and down. And from 229 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:26.960 the twelfth until the eighteenth, I think we worked, you know, 230 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:30.080 twelve hours on, twelve hours off, twelve hours on, twelve 231 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:34.840 hours off, twelve hours on, twelve hours off. And you know, 232 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:37.120 they gave us a little eventually, like day two or three, 233 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:39.440 they gave us a little surgical mask because that moon 234 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:42.600 dust was all over the place, right, and so we 235 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:44.720 had the little surgical mask on. It wasn't much. It 236 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:46.600 was literally just a little paper. I think I had 237 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:52.759 more protection at COVID, but we had those. Eventually. Nobody 238 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:54.679 liked them because they just it was harder. It was 239 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:56.559 so hard to work, you know, trying to breathe through 240 00:12:56.600 --> 00:13:01.000 that thing. And then our unit stayed there until the eighteenth. 241 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:04.720 And then after the eighteenth the word came down that, 242 00:13:04.919 --> 00:13:07.320 you know, it was no longer search and rescue, that 243 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:10.159 it was more search and recovery. And so they started 244 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:14.799 bringing in heavier equipment and started moving things with bucket loaders, 245 00:13:14.840 --> 00:13:20.759 and they started making better progress. And then we were 246 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:23.960 pulled off the rubble piles at that point and they 247 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:27.240 left it to the firefighters and more to the first responders. 248 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:31.399 And our orders were from the September twelfth to the 249 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:36.919 September thirtieth, so, and then from the eighteenth or whatever, 250 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:39.039 I went over to one police plaza and then just 251 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:43.799 tried to help coordinate civilian military efforts whatever that means, 252 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:47.840 you know, equipment, cadaver dogs, you know, whatever was coming 253 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:51.440 in from military. I would liaison with the NYPD and 254 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:54.080 try to work with them. I was a captain at 255 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:59.000 the time. I just remember, like everybody, wanting to do something, 256 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:02.039 you know, feeling the as every day that ticked off, 257 00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:03.919 you got more and more upset, more and more angry. 258 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.960 You couldn't believe this happened, you know, that first couple 259 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:10.360 of days. I remember F sixteen's flying around Manhattan very low, 260 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:13.919 and you know, it was that shocking moment of oh 261 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.200 my gosh. I never thought i'd ever see a day 262 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:20.759 when I'd have to have F sixteen's flying cover in 263 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:26.159 New York City. You know, it just seemed impossible. And 264 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:29.000 if you remember back, everybody was hurting, everybody was angry. 265 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:33.080 It was a sucker punch, and everybody was couldn't get 266 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:36.480 their head wrapped around that. They couldn't understand the evil. 267 00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:39.080 They were searching for answers. They they didn't know what 268 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:41.440 the answers were. They you know, they just a lot 269 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:44.600 of people when they're in shock, they can't process. It's natural, 270 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.440 that's fine. But I and people wanted to help. I 271 00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:50.399 remember so many times in New York. The people in 272 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:52.039 New York were so great. They wanted to help, and 273 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:55.080 any way they could. They were bringing clothes and food 274 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.919 and waters and you know, down to the as close 275 00:14:57.960 --> 00:14:59.919 as they could get to ground zero and just stay 276 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:03.559 right there so that the first responders and anybody down 277 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:06.360 there could actually just walk out to where the boundaries 278 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:09.480 were and grab water and grab you know, at night, 279 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:11.720 if they needed a jacket or whatever. You know, they 280 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:15.320 could grab those things and people were donating blood, and 281 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:19.639 you know, they just they needed to do something. And 282 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:21.879 I was a thirty one year old captain in the 283 00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:25.039 Marine Corps. I had a pretty high security clearance. I 284 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:26.960 knew they were going to need people that I knew 285 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:28.960 what this meant. This is not something that you just 286 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:31.879 on that scale. You just don't batch your eyes at 287 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:33.840 and walk away from. This is going to be We're 288 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:38.519 getting involved now. So I called my COO and I 289 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:40.879 just said, listen, I know, I've got a green badge, 290 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:44.840 which is a TS top secret with a skiff clearance. 291 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.600 I'm like, they're going to probably need me or they're 292 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:50.600 gonna want me, especially for my job at the time, 293 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:54.600 which was public affairs. So he h, I said, put 294 00:15:54.600 --> 00:15:57.000 me back in if you can, you know. And he 295 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:00.840 called Central Command down to Tampa and said, hey, I 296 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.200 got a young captain up here. He's got a green badge, 297 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.600 if you know, and he wants to get back. In 298 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:12.200 November tenth Marine Corps birthday, I got my orders to 299 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:17.360 go back to active duty. Down to Central Command. I jumped. 300 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.200 I rented a car in New York and I drove 301 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:21.440 because I didn't have a car at the time, and 302 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:23.960 I drove down to Camp La June and I had 303 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:25.840 to in process back into active duty. 304 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:27.000 From there. 305 00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:31.039 My parents met me in Camp La June. They were 306 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:33.000 in Kansas. They drove out from Kansas and met me 307 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:35.759 in Lea June. I turned the rental car back in, 308 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:38.600 they gave me their car, and then I drove their 309 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:42.039 car down to Tampa and they flew back home, and 310 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:46.399 that way I had a car. Got to Tampa on 311 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:52.480 the seventeenth of November, checked in to the Public Affairs 312 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:57.879 office there and then sent Coome got briefed up on 313 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:01.279 what was going on, what we were doing. And then 314 00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:04.720 the colonel came to me and said, all right, yeah, 315 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:10.039 don't unpack. You're going to you know, you're going to Afghanistan. 316 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:13.000 So I said, okay, And I was on a plane 317 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:16.279 I think the thirtieth of November, and I headed over 318 00:17:16.359 --> 00:17:21.880 to Uzbekistan to k two, landed there, spent a couple 319 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:25.440 of days there, tried to get into Afghanistan a couple 320 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:29.559 of times, tried to go over the mountains in a 321 00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:34.319 Chinook forty seven and that was a harrowing experience. We 322 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:37.160 couldn't make it over the mountains. We were flying at night, 323 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:40.279 Snow's coming in through the gunner report, you know, So 324 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:43.640 you got snow and the fuselage and it's the roughest 325 00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:46.279 ride ever had my whole life. And so we had 326 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:48.279 to turn back halfway and it was I mean, that 327 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:51.960 was the longest night. So we didn't make it in 328 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:53.400 that night, but I did kiss the ground when I 329 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:56.680 got back to Uzbekistan. And then a couple days later 330 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:01.440 we I got into masarish Reef and joined up with 331 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:06.960 a unit there, an army unit, and started working with 332 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:11.480 them and at public affairs and civil affairs capacity and 333 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:17.920 stayed with them till early February and then mid February, 334 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:21.359 I don't know, somewhere in that February frame, and then 335 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:24.000 they had stabilized their mission a lot. We had started 336 00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:28.480 doing more operations in the south, and so Sentcom called 337 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:31.759 me back. I went back, and I got back just 338 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:35.400 in time for Operation Anaconda, which I worked at SINCAM 339 00:18:35.559 --> 00:18:39.119 from the Joint Operation Center out of the JOCK and 340 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:44.279 did that and then ended up going back to Afghanistan 341 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:49.799 in the summer of two thousand and two for just 342 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:53.240 a couple months to two maybe three months tops and 343 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:59.640 then came back and my year was up. And then 344 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:04.559 I went back to New York and stood by because 345 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:08.000 they were gearing up for Iraq, and I didn't know 346 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:09.640 if I was going to be involved in that or not. 347 00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:12.799 And then a year after that, I got on Saturday 348 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:18.799 Love and then you know, things started happening on the 349 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:22.480 entertainment front. But that's kind of the the story as 350 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:23.599 I you know, as I remember it. 351 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:26.559 From nine to eleven, there was one story when you 352 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:29.000 were working on the rubble pile where you were almost 353 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:32.119 seriously injured with life well. 354 00:19:32.599 --> 00:19:36.039 Because the buildings were all unstable around us, Like even 355 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:38.880 a day or two after the nine to eleven you 356 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:41.799 had a whole another building collapse like you know World 357 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:44.440 Trades hour six or something, you know it was there 358 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:47.279 was another whole building that collapsed, and there was another 359 00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:50.079 building that the Brooks Brother store was it. I remember 360 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.519 the Brooks brother was down low, but it was an 361 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:54.519 office building up top. But it looked like Godzilla had 362 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:58.039 just clawed out the front of those building because there 363 00:19:58.039 --> 00:20:02.559 was just this gash missing. So there's its buildings run stable. 364 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:06.960 So with the winds, you know, everybody just didn't know 365 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:09.480 what we were dealing with another building could fall, it 366 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:12.559 could collapse, and we were working against the clock because 367 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:15.519 again we thought there were survivors, so we had to 368 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:16.079 be down there. 369 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:17.079 We couldn't just leave it. 370 00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:20.880 And so they had an air raid siren, one of 371 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:28.559 those old wirlwater and when that sounded, our job was 372 00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:32.720 to get out of there, get out, because they were 373 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:37.160 afraid of something, a cave in, a collapse, something. So 374 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:39.119 that was the only instruction we had was just get out. 375 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:42.079 If you hear that, exit, get away from get away 376 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:46.680 from ground zero. So yeah, I remember I was down closer. 377 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:48.359 I wasn't way up high. I was down closer to 378 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:50.960 the base of the pile. And they fired up the alarm, 379 00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:54.160 so we all start. You know, anytime you start moving quickly, 380 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:56.400 it can turn into a route very quickly. You can 381 00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:58.880 turn into everybody's just running because they don't know, you know, 382 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:00.880 it's a panic thing, you know, you know, why why 383 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:01.359 are running? 384 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:03.160 Why are we running? And then everyone just takes off running. 385 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:05.599 And I came running around the corner and they had 386 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:09.480 a generator with one of those big lights on top 387 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:12.359 of it for night work, and you know, it was 388 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:16.359 set up around this in this alleyway and so naturally 389 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:19.799 everybody's like ants trying to find their way out. And 390 00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:22.720 so I came around the corner and ran into this 391 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:27.480 generator where the trailer hitch extended out and it was 392 00:21:27.559 --> 00:21:31.079 right about shin level, and I remember I hit it 393 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:34.000 and no problem. You know, I've thought, okay, I'll just 394 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.920 get it, but the body wave behind me. People just 395 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:39.039 kept stacking up on me, and I couldn't necessarily get 396 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:41.039 my legs out, and I could feel the pressure, and 397 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:43.359 I thought, oh god, I'm going over, but my legs aren't. 398 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:46.240 So I thought I'm gonna break my legs here. So 399 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:49.720 I remember I had to use my old low post skills, 400 00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:52.359 give me the old Charles barklay and just drive my 401 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:53.920