I’m proud to be an American! Many people take for granted what we have, who we are and the rights we have.
I’m a non-traditional transfer student. “Non-traditional” means I’m not right out of high school; I’ve lived life. I took a different route to arrive at Mississippi State. In fact, I’m 41 years old! I’m a veteran. When most current students were still on baby formula, I was part of a Navy combat task force escorting cargo ships across the Atlantic Ocean. These ships were carrying parts, ammunition, tanks and MREs, which were part of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990.
I want to take you back 10 years to Sept. 11, 2001 with my story of what I encountered as we were attacked.
I took a business trip to Freeport, Bahamas.  We were to fly back on Monday afternoon. However, due to a thunderstorm in Miami, our return flight was delayed two hours, causing us to miss the connecting flight bound for New Orleans. When we arrived in Miami, we checked in with United Airlines to see about an alternate flight. We tried every conceivable combination to arrive in New Orleans by the next morning, needing to return to work in the coast casino I was employed by. At one point, we thought we could catch an immediate departing flight, which would require another connecting flight once we were in New York, on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. Had the connecting flight in New York not been leaving at 9 a.m., we would have taken that route.
We stayed the night in the hotel at the airport to catch the first flight bound for Memphis. Come 7 a.m., we were airborne. Our flight arrived in Memphis at 8 a.m. central time. With an hour delay, I decided to grab a biscuit and soda for the flight and watch the ESPN commentators going over the Monday night football game from the night before while sitting in the terminal.
Once we boarded the aircraft, I settled into my seat. The pilot came on the public announcing system in the plane. Having been my fourth flight in four days, I knew the routine: the pilot was coming on to say, “Welcome to United flight xx, we’ll be departing in 15 minutes and arriving in New Orleans in about an hour.” Instead, we were shocked and terrified to hear, “This is your pilot. Due to the plane which just crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the FAA has grounded all aircraft nationwide effective immediately. You may remain on the plane if you wish; however, I recommend you exit the aircraft now and evacuate the airport immediately!”
I was one of the first people off the aircraft, aside from the pilot! My thoughts were, “What the ___!”, and I wanted to get back inside the terminal to see CNN and what was going on. Once back inside the building, we quickly discovered the TVs were all snow; the cable signal had been deliberately cut to avoid giving any information to potential terrorists.
I rushed to the payphone (because no one could get a cell signal) to call home, and I’ll never forget the words I heard from my crying mom, “Please tell me you aren’t in the air right now,” before I could even ask what was going on. After the initial assurance I was safe, she briefly told me the first tower had been hit and there were other planes unaccounted for. I promised I would get home (Ocean Springs) as quickly as I could.
I wasn’t fully aware of the magnitude of the situation and noticed a crowd outside the airport bar because it had a satellite signal. As I joined the crowd, I watched in horror as the second plane crashed into the second World Trade Center tower. At that point, I knew we were in trouble.  My friend and I quickly found each other and began strategizing to first escape the airport, second to find a way back to the coast.
Naturally, all rental vehicles were quickly taken. We tried downtown Memphis but these too were rented, just as every U-Haul, Rent-a-wreck and Ryder truck rental. We even tried to luck into buying a cheap car just to get home. Several times my mom called with updates, between sobs she said, “Phil, both towers are gone. They’re just gone, and the Pentagon is on fire!”
We caught a shuttle bus to the Greyhound Bus Terminal, where we waited until 3 p.m. to depart for New Orleans. Thirteen hours later, we arrived in New Orleans at the Greyhound/Amtrak station. We checked in with Greyhound only to find out there wasn’t a bus bound for Biloxi until late afternoon. (Our car was sitting at the New Orleans airport, which was closed and restricted at that time.)
Along the way, we heard terrifying rumors of numerous attacks across the nation and world, the president possibly missing, the Pentagon attacked, the White House attacked and many more.  Normally a seven-hour drive from Memphis to Ocean Springs, it took over 24 hours, three buses, hitchhiking and a three-hour Amtrak ride from New Orleans to Biloxi to arrive home on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001.
If any message comes from this, I want people not to take anything for granted. Be thankful for those around you, your family, our education we’re receiving and our freedoms we enjoy.
We are all victims of the attacks on 9/11, but remember the 2,983 people who lost their lives. Always — no matter what your political opinion — support our troops!