8 years ago today, I woke up expecting to enjoy my first day of leave (I was still in the Army stationed in the DC area at the time). I slept in, then turned on the television to check the news as I always did. It was perhaps a minute before the second plane hit.

As I watched the events unfold, I felt all of the emotions that all Americans felt, with one additional - I distinctly remember leaning against the counter and weeping because I was ashamed. You see, I was assigned to a special ops unit whose primary mission was counter-terror. I felt a immense feeling of personal failure - I was supposed to help prevent this sort of thing from happening!

It wasn’t rational, but it was a very real feeling. I remember that each time I hear a toofer spouting off on how the US military participated in these attacks. That evokes an entirely different reaction, and tests my self-control each time.