September 11: A Short Story

On the bright sunny day of September 11, 2001 in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, I was a 17-year-old young man that was seating in History 1 class in Lawrence County High School. My history teacher walked in to our classroom as the period was about to begin and said, “we are fix to watch history as we speak, so pay attention.” I would have never thought that by watching the tragic events that occurred in New York City against the World Trade Center’s that day, would change the course my life forever. That day as my classmates and I walked the long hallway that entered the cafeteria, I seen a gentleman standing at a small table. The gentleman was very clean cut, slim, with a brown button up blouse on, blue trousers with a red strip going from his brown belt to the bottom of his trousers and had on the shiniest shoes I had ever seen.

I got out of the lunch line and walked up to the table. The Marine (Sgt. Solomon) handed me a recruiting pamphlet and asked, “Do you want to be apart of the best fighting force in the United States of America?” With all the images running through my mind from the news that morning, I remember telling him that after what I had seen this morning in New York, of course I did. He handed me his card and said, “Call me after graduation!” Over the next two and half years, I played sports year-round making sure that I keep myself in shape for recruitment. I keep in touch with Sgt. Solomon about my future in the Marine Corps. and how I wanted to make a difference in the