Aaron Yeargan – Speaker & Security Consultant

I normally take the day off of work on September 11th to spend quite time alone reflecting on the events of both September 11, 2001, as well as September 11th, 2012; however, I failed to put in a vacation request quickly enough this year. So, as a walked my post today, as a 41 year-old school safety officer, I couldn’t help but think about September 11th, 2001, when I was a 19 year-old Marine stationed at Camp Hansen in Okinawa, Japan. I remember us being put on alert, emergency recalls and countless “hurry up and wait” formations. What I will never forget, though, is this –

My roommate was a fellow Marine named Asa. He was from NYC, and his father worked close to Ground Zero. He feverishly tried to call him but couldn’t get through. Luckily, he later learned that his father, along with the rest of his immediate family, was alive and well. When I tried to call home, I will always remember the operator talking to me with worry in her voice. Calling card operators never talked to us on a personal level when we would call back stateside. It was a very professional, clinical process. We would dial the 1-800 number, enter our pin number, and the operator would ask us what U.S. phone number we were trying to call, but on that day, the operator was worried, and she wanted to talk to us, ask if we were ok and if we were going to war? As a 19 year-old Lance Corporal, I had no idea. That day changed the trajectory of my life. Would I still be a school safety officer and security consultant? Would I still have spent time as a police officer? Before war, I wanted to be a writer and lawyer, and even more so, what about my friends and colleagues that never came home? The ones, as I get older, they still look so young in my mind, what would they have done. The horrors of war never bothered me. I know this isn’t the case for everyone, but what bothered me was coming home and having to do “regular people things.” Death, VBIEDs, IED’s, motors, rockets – No problem. Making a mortgage payment, car payment, running errands – WTF?! In closing, I knew what I was doing. I knew what could happen. I wasn’t too dumb for college, so I ended up in the military. I would do it all again! #NeverForget

-ADY