Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree

Have you seen the Google today? I ran across it at work and I teared up a little.


Almost 5 years ago my mom, my siblings, and I spent a Saturday morning tying yellow ribbon in the four trees on our front lawn.

We filled every tree, using a ladder to reach the highest branches.

We did this because later in the week, dad was finally coming home from Iraq!

A year before, we were getting ready to say goodbye. My mom remembers...

The worst part of Paul's deployment to Iraq was the weeks leading up to him leaving.  I started clenching my jaw.  I could hardly open my mouth which turned out to be convenient because I wasn't hungry.  It was terrifying to me to try and plan for every possible eventuality.    "What if I need a new car?" "What is the plan if I am hurt or killed while Paul is gone?"  "What is the plan if . . .?"  It was too much.   In a way it was a relief the day he left.  Finally!  We can get on with this and get it over with!  I dropped him off at the 4th Infantry Division Building, drove home and slept for four hours.  
 
It was about a week before dad was leaving, maybe it was just a few days.  Paul and I drove to Ft. Hood.  We were running errands and taking care of last minute things.  I think that day we needed to update a power of attorney or something like that.  Anyway, we were at the intersection just before the train tracks on South Ft. Hood Street and Business 1-90.  Before the light turned green the railroad crossing bars came down and we knew we were going to be sitting there awhile.  On the radio the DJ announced that the next song was "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".  Bing Crosby sang and we were sad.  What we were enduring didn't feel little or merry.  Then he sang the words.  "A year from now our troubles will be out of sight."  It is a powerful but unhappy memory. 

I remember the train and the song and the pressure and crying into my hands, praying that Paul and I would be up to the tasks we were facing.  

That year we decorated our house in blue and silver for Christmas, instead of red and gold, and had a Blue Christmas. It was a rough year, but it ended with the safe return of our soldier.

So, on Veteran's Day, I think about those who have fought and who are fighting. But I also think of the wives and children who are eagerly counting down the days, those who are saying their goodbyes, and those who are in between, just praying not to hear bad news today.

But mostly, I think of my dad.

This Generation Remembers

Those of us who were in our early teens on September 11, 2001 usually get brushed off as too young to really remember the events of that day. At least this has been the case in every college class I have been in where 9/11 was brought up. The professor would indulge the conversation for a few minutes and then say, "you guys were too young, anyway."

Please, give us some credit.

Marissa Lang, a Geology Major from San Diego, CA, remembers her teachers expecting her to be grown-up on that day.

"They pulled all of us fifth-graders into the library to talk about being mature and helping everyone understand what happened," she said. "I remember being upset and confused and I was pretty sure they were going to attack California next."  

Twenty-two year-old Animation Major, Chrisser Alvarez grew up in Falls Church, VA, about twenty minutes from Washington, D.C.

"We watched some of the footage in a few of my classes," he said. "Some of my friends were scared because their parents worked at the Pentagon or at the World Trade Center. I also knew some of the firefighters that were sent in."

Jaden Mitchell, an Economics Major from Portland, OR was twelve.

"Being so young, I believe it did have an effect on me," he said. "Suddenly I knew that so much of what we have can easily disappear from us and there's a lot of contention out in the world. In the United States we have a really strong sense of security. This event made me realize how lucky we are to have that security."

Janelle Miller, Recreational Management Major from Boise, ID was only ten on that day.

"I was pretty young, but I was old enough to remember it and remember what I was doing," she said. "It just made me not take for granted, as much, the freedoms that we have. It also made me more aware of terrorism and the price you have to pay for liberty."

9/11 effected me on more personal level. I grew up as an Army Brat and at the time my family was living in Germany. Dad was gone a lot after the attacks that day. The military base where we went to school was shut down for a while. When we did go back to school, our buses took alternate routes and had to go through extensive security searches. After things began to get back to normal, I remember asking my dad if he was going to have to go to war. He could really only say, "not right now," but he didn't seem too concerned. Four years later he left for a year-long tour in Iraq, and the very profound impact that this has had on my life is immeasurable.

Not only do we remember what happened on that day, it also had a major impact on our lives as children. This event ripped us all, simultaneously, out of our blissful ignorance where our mommies and daddies could always protect us from anything. That state where we were somewhat aware of bad people in the world, but we were more preoccupied with Pokemon, or whatever the cool thing was at the time. This was the major event for our generation that would become the foundation for political attitudes and life-long goals. 9/11 began to shape our futures, even though we barely knew it at the time.

Now we are young adults, trying to figure out what we want to do with our lives a midst two wars and financial chaos. Soon we will be filling the work place and then government positions. Already, we are making up the armed forces in the Middle East. Rest assured that throughout all of this we will remember 9/11 and the effects it has had on this last decade when we grew up. It is forever branded on our memories.

Lang remembers, like the rest of us, watching one of the most shocking images that these events presented.

"My mom and I were watching the news and there was a part where it showed people jumping out a window," she said. "I started crying and my mom was horrified that I saw that. She started crying and just kept apologizing that I had to see that. I just remember it was really traumatizing."

 It happened ten years ago, but this generation remembers.