STORIES

Tayden Haile

Veteran

MY connection to 9/11

I was serving in the military on 9/11
I decided to train to become a first responder (fire, police, EMT) after 9/11

Where were you when you first heard about or saw the 9/11 terrorist attacks?

I was in the navy on the USS Blue Ridge LCC-19 a part of the Seventeenth Fleet. I was sitting in the lounge watching TV when the first plane struck the tower. I witnessed it first hand. It was my second year in the Navy.

How did the events of that day shape your life and inspire your service to this country?

Seeing the planes hit and come down was one of the most horrific things have ever seen. And being in the Navy at the time, we were instantly ready to do our jobs. I was ready to stop the terrorists that took these people away from their loved ones and created fear and terror on American soil.

What are you excited to contribute to your community, however you define it, for the next 20 years?

I am ready to serve, unite, rebuild, and mend the brokenness of the people affected by 9/11. Whether that be the immediate people of New York or firefighters and first responders in my city. They work hard to keep us safe and something catastrophic could happen to them at anytime. Yet they go to work everyday putting their lives on the line to save ours.