I was at the on-base club in Yokosuka, Japan when I saw the first plane hit on TV at the bar. I was on my out, so shortly after I was back on the ship and everyone was watching TV and I saw that a second plane hit. Shortly after that our ship went to Modified Zebra condition (all hatches below a certain deck are closed) and they were flying the recall flag. This was somewhere around 10pm over there. The next day we were loading on ammo and missiles, and two days later we were out to sea.
I remember sitting a couple miles off the coast of Afghanistan and I know it wasn't near as scary as being in the thick of it all, but it wasn't pleasant. I had just arrived to Japan (my first ship) on August 29th, and that was the first time I went to sea and we were at sea for 96 straight days before we pulled in anywhere.
Seeing anything like documentaries or TV shows or movies covering those events still brings tears to my eyes to this day. Definitely not something to be forgotten.
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2009 Nissan GT-R - Premium - Black Obsidian/Black
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