9/11: From Across the Pond

By Alec:

Lunar Landing 

There are seminal moments in life shared by generations that may not be as obvious at first and indeed we may make light of some events, but one thing they all have in common is they all leave a deep impression on those who remember. 

 Not necessarily in chronological order, significance or importance; the Great War leaves scars to this day despite the loss of all our WW1 Veterans in recent years, The Second world War, The Cuban Missile Crisis, Korea, Vietnam, The first Lunar landing, The Beatles, our first clumsy sexual encounter, the assassination of President Kennedy, the Falklands War and the bombing of a Remembrance Parade in Enniskillen by the Provisional Irish Republican Army… 

Now I can’t lay claim to being around during some of the events above being a mere 40 something, and as much as I like to think my first sexual encounter was something akin to when Adam met Eve, I’d be as misleading as an MP in the Houses of Parliament when questioned about their expenses. However I do remember the shock and outrage of the Enniskillen bombing, the effect it had on me and the eventual direction my life would take. 

The call to arms for some young men and women happens in much the same way I guess; a sense of moral outrage and wanting to protect all that your parents have taught you to hold dear, which I term the ‘for King and Country’ calling, as first exhibited by the men and children of the Commonwealth countries at the outbreak of hostilities in 1914.

 9/11 

 There is little I can say that more eloquent people than I haven’t said on the “cause and effect” of 9/11 indeed, some of you will have lost Sons, Brothers, Fathers, Husbands, Daughters, Sisters, Mothers and Wives amongst other family members either in the atrocious attacks directly or since, after answering the call to arms. 

There are few words that I can offer which adequately express my sympathy at your loss and sacrifice and, I can say with confidence I don't think there is one community in the UK that hasn't been touched by the loss of a loved one in the War On Terror. For me, 9/11 is one of those shock and awe moments that will live with me until my last breath as I know it will for many of you.

 My personal experience of 9/11 I shall briefly share with you, there's no heroics, because I'm no hero just an old engineer. 

To set the scene... I had worked in Northern Ireland for a joint service unit on and off for a few years and decided, or rather it had been decided for me that the unit should be scaled down and the role handed to another recently formed unit which had a more 'global' sphere of operations, that I should return to the mainland for retraining. For the most part I was happy as I'd become tired of the job, the politics and with one eye on the future I needed a trade for civvy street. Occasionally I would have to dip my toes back into the past for one reason or another, mainly to answer questions but some times when everyone else was too busy, I was asked back to make the tea's and coffee's. 

9/11 was one of those times. 

 "You should see this film." 

 I'd just returned to an aircraft Squadron after further training, getting divorced and all the usual crap that both those situations bring to the table when I met a lass who would ultimately become ex wife number two, but that's another story... 

Anyway, I had been on a 12 hour night shift for three nights and was looking forward to heading down to Devon with the 'dragon' for a weeks leave after the last night shift in the rotation of four on four off. I awoke mid day and went to the loo, on returning to my room the 'dragon' uttered those fateful words that still hang in my memory when everything else has all but gone.

 "You should see this film."

 I watched a second aircraft disappear into a building in a mass of flame and black smoke, my heart stopping as the realisation struck me that this was real, this was actually happening and right now. My head swam with questions as I watched helplessly people dying, on screen, right before my eyes; and not for the first time nor indeed the last, did bile rise from my stomach as the stench reached my nostrils. 

Nothing but death comes from explosions, so that blows the "big bang" theory to shreds too, in my opinion. I quickly showered and headed to work early, as did many others with a 'few' years under their belts because, we knew, that once the initial shock subsided, it would be busy. Very f*cking busy.

 Anyone with half a brain cell and an ounce of common sense knew that, whilst the attack had gone down on U.S. soil, it was going to have a snowball effect, consuming all in the roll down hill. 

The next day, maybe the day after, I'm unsure due to the head injury, passage of time or time zones, I found myself stranded in Halifax,  Nova Scotia. Unable to proceed to Washington, along with thousands of passengers either travelling from Europe to the U.S. or just trying to transit U.S. airspace. 

The unsung hero's that are our Canadian cousins, who never fail to produce when disaster rears it's ugly head, came out thick and fast as the doors to the shopping mall, hotels, community centres and even private homes,  were willingly opened to all. The rows of aircraft that swamped Halifax airfield was in stark contrast to Washington; it was all but deserted except for the airfield staff whose pain, fear and shock were etched deep in their faces. 

 9/11 was certainly my 'Nixon' or 'Lunar landing' moment. 

Alec.

We the Media

By Contributor Alec:

A long time ago or so it would seem, I was ‘introduced’ to an internet hero; a man of such calibre his words parted water and legions of men, women and Service Personnel walked in wonder at the very power of his images. 

Here was a man who spoke the truth, shared the same training and sand as the grunts, remfs, and every other girl and guy who wore a uniform in the service of their country, I am of course talking of Michael Yon.

 Now I’ve not met the guy, don’t really feel compelled to,  and I’m sure as anything, he wouldn’t want to meet me as I’m probably not his type, so I won’t continue the debate he started way back when the Tarnak Bridge episode was headline news (Where?) All I will say is this:  it confirmed to me the view to which I’ve always subscribed, no journalist, even though Yon would be quick to deny he is, should be anywhere near a war zone. 

 Why? 

 The words of journalists should never be enough to influence a group of inexperienced people, by that I mean people with no understanding of how the media can manipulate a situation to their advantage. 

The problem now is, with social media, we have ALL become a source, if not the media itself. This is something doing the rounds in the UK at the moment which, some of you may know about due to the sad loss of a number of US Marines in the firefight. 

 Take a look: Pictures appear to show RAF man posing with dead Taliban fighter

 The soldier pictured is allegedly, Sgt******** of the RAF Regiment, who had been awarded the Military Cross after he helped to fight off a group of insurgents who attacked Camp Bastion in September 2012. 

Sgt******** from ******** who was praised for breathing "fire into the spirit of his men", continued in the battle despite receiving a knee injury when a rocket-propelled grenade hit one of his vehicles. 

The RAF Regiment gunners’ aim was to reclaim control of the airfield, supported by a number of different direct fire weapons and co-ordinating the assault with members of ****** Battalion US Marine Corps, they moved methodically across the airfield engaging in various fire fights to deal with pockets of resistance over a period of four hours. 

 When a UK service person is deployed they are briefed before they leave the UK and in-theatre that it’s forbidden to take trophy photos. 

 One commentator on the subject had this to say “The people who should be on trial here is the tw*t who sold the photos to the news media, and the media themselves for publishing. This is NOT in the public's interest”. 

Most in general were of the same mind, but the point was missed completely, or maybe ignored? 

 At the end of the day, soldiers shouldn’t give anyone an excuse to question how they do their job, the media do not care about how many injuries they receive it doesn’t make money and the Politicians won't care because, with that one picture, they've lost the moral high ground to justify to the public why they sent soldiers in the first place. 

And that's after the enemy has wandered around remote villages showing the picture of a British soldier who murdered an innocent farmer killed, trying to protect his wife from the troops. 

Whoever took the photograph had unwittingly signed a conviction in a Courts Martial, not because they’d gone and ignored SRO’s, R of E or even the Geneva Convention, but because they had become a combat correspondent. 

The images first appeared on the website Live Leak thus proving that nobody can be trusted to keep such images to themselves, not even guys within the unit concerned. Why would anyone want to keep such images anyway? That’s an open floor question with no right or wrong answer.

 I’ll leave you with my take on it:  some nightmares aren’t confined to night, last a life time and some don’t need photographs to relive certain experiences. SRO’s, R of E and the Geneva Convention are the only fall-back position some may have for protection from an enemy lurking at home. 

So let’s all be careful what we say,  and produce an image of,  because whether we like it or not we’re all journalists now, even Michael Yon.