feddoc
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 7,428
I was about 60 miles from DC aboard PAX River NAS. Around 30 of us were attending a meeting when the TV monitors were turned on just a few minutes before the second plane hit. Even with the first plane, we all knew it wasn't an accident. And every single one of us wanted to arm up a Hornet and extract our revenge. None of us knew, or could have know, what was about to unfold, and still is, now 11 years later.
My wife was at home aboard the weapons station at China Lake. The day prior she had troubles with the med clinic over their failure to proved proper treatment for someone with chest pains radiating to the left armpit, nausea and a family history of CHD. Things got verbal and she left, went to the local ER and was treated properly.
Phone service back to the base was nearly non-existent. The base (both NAS PAX and NAWS China Lake) was locked down immediately, no outgoing or incoming traffic allowed.
I finally got through on a DSN line to my Colonel and he volunteered to go over to my house to let my wife know that I was ok. He happened to be in his mess dress uniform (for a previously scheduled engagement) and was driving a USMC vehicle. When the Gunny and the Colonel got out of the car and headed up the driveway my wife was horrified...she was afraid to ask the question; (she knew that I had planned to visit a former Hospital Corpsman-turned intel officer- at the Pentagon) instead she asked if she was in trouble for what happened at the clinic. Due to a schedule change, I never made the trip to the Pentagon to visit the young man who used to work for me. He made it out alive; many of his co-workers did not.
It took us nearly 4 days to get back home. We had airline unusable tickets and no real way to get back to CA. I already had authorization to make a road trip and had secured a 15 passenger van to take us back to China Lake...road trip deluxe. At the last minute a KC135 became available, so the 12 of us loaded up next to what I recall was about 200,000 lbs of fuel.
All those lives lost, and we continue to lose them, over what seems to be jealousy on the part of obl. What a waste.
My wife was at home aboard the weapons station at China Lake. The day prior she had troubles with the med clinic over their failure to proved proper treatment for someone with chest pains radiating to the left armpit, nausea and a family history of CHD. Things got verbal and she left, went to the local ER and was treated properly.
Phone service back to the base was nearly non-existent. The base (both NAS PAX and NAWS China Lake) was locked down immediately, no outgoing or incoming traffic allowed.
I finally got through on a DSN line to my Colonel and he volunteered to go over to my house to let my wife know that I was ok. He happened to be in his mess dress uniform (for a previously scheduled engagement) and was driving a USMC vehicle. When the Gunny and the Colonel got out of the car and headed up the driveway my wife was horrified...she was afraid to ask the question; (she knew that I had planned to visit a former Hospital Corpsman-turned intel officer- at the Pentagon) instead she asked if she was in trouble for what happened at the clinic. Due to a schedule change, I never made the trip to the Pentagon to visit the young man who used to work for me. He made it out alive; many of his co-workers did not.
It took us nearly 4 days to get back home. We had airline unusable tickets and no real way to get back to CA. I already had authorization to make a road trip and had secured a 15 passenger van to take us back to China Lake...road trip deluxe. At the last minute a KC135 became available, so the 12 of us loaded up next to what I recall was about 200,000 lbs of fuel.
All those lives lost, and we continue to lose them, over what seems to be jealousy on the part of obl. What a waste.
