Elect Yantis Green

Archive for September, 2009

9/11/2001 changed my life forever. 

The following is my personal recollection of the events of that day, and the effect it had on my family and my life. 

Like many Americans, I was at work, going about business as usual.  I probably knew about the attacks before most; you see, I was a news director at the time.  I had just finished the morning newscasts for KGKL & KELI radio stations.  We had a small tv in the newsroom.  Like all newsrooms, we had the tv to check on our competition; to make sure we had the news first and to check our facts and see how our peers were reporting on the same stories. 

That day was very different.  We were watching the CBS morning news.  They showed video of the first tower smoldering after the first plane hit.  We watched live as the second plane hit the South Tower.  At that point, we knew we were under attack and at war.  The rest of the day was a blur of tv, phone calls, questions, and few answers.  We heard the reports of the hit on the Pentagon, and the plane down in Virginia.  I remember reading that all planes were grounded as we waited to see what was going to be hit next. 

It took hours for the management team to suspend regular programming and go live with the ABC News national feed.  We were glued to the tv, and numb to what was happening. 

We were worried about our President, George W. Bush of Texas, who just a few short months ago was our governor. Where he was, and was he safe? What about the Congress?  Who did this to us? Who had the nerve to attack the greatest nation on earth, the only remaining superpower on her own soil?  The answer came swiftly, Islamic terrorists from the middle east who had attempted to take down the World Trade Center Towers back in 1993.  Al Qaida, Usama Ben Laden. 

I remember hearing for the first time, on that day, we were all New Yorkers, we were all Americans. 

The terrorists didn’t attack just Republicans or New Yorkers or the U.S. Government or even the U.S. Military; they attacked all of us, Americans and our way of life, our freedoms, our Democracy, our Constitution, our successes, everything good we stood for then and now. 

It was that day and the days that followed that led to my decision to leave the field of journalism.  I could no longer stand on the sidelines and be objective.  I was an American, I was a Texan, I had been attacked and I was mad enough to want to fight.   I thought about joining the military, but I was too old.  I donated blood, I was already involved in politics as an elected official (school board trustee) so I concentrated my efforts there. 

Eventually I left the media so I could concentrate on being involved in local, state and national government.  I worked on political campaigns, I wrote letters to the editor, I managed campaigns, I was elected to the Republican Party of Texas Convention as a delegate, and eventually, to the Republican National Convention as a delegate representing the 11th Congressional District of Texas.  An honor I still enjoy today. 

As 9/11 affected me, it also affected my family.  Our oldest son joined the U.S. Marine Corps as soon as we let him.  He recently re-enlisted after serving two tours in the middle east.  I couldn’t be more proud of his service and the Marine Corps family that adopted us.  My son’s service has brought us into the Marine Corps family and allowed us the priviledge of bonding with a family we never would have know otherwise.     

I know that 9/11 changed the lives of all Americans forever.  I know that many families sacrificed much more than mine.  But on this day, I’m proud to say I am a New Yorker, I am an American, and I am a Texan.  And any attack on any part of my country is an attack on me.  Like all Americans, I will stand united with my fellow citizens against all the powers of tyranny.  We are as determined to defend Freedom, Democracy, and the American way as they are to destroy it. 

May God bless every family who lost loved ones on that day and every family who has lost someone since then in defense of us. 

Let us be ever vigilant; let us resolve to be more involved in our government and the defense of our freedoms and the perpetuation of the American Dream. 

Semper Fi.