When I first heard about 9/11, I was sitting in my high school Freshman English class and our school principal came on the intercom and told us that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. As more information came in, he continued to update us. My English teacher was a war veteran, and what he said really touched me- “We’ve been attacked and the sense of security we’ve had for so long is gone. I hope y’all are ready to fight, because I promise you will be fighting.” One of my friends lost her mother in the attacks, and at that point I started asking myself what I could do to keep this from happening again. After I graduated from high school, I joined Army ROTC and eventually became an officer. Not to become a hero, but to try and keep a tragedy like this from ever befalling our great country again.