25 Years Later. I Miss Us. | Small Batch
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How did Amy first learn about the 9/11 attacks while on duty at Miramar?
Hello everyone, I'm Amy McGrath and this is a special small bash edition of Truth in the Barrel. Today marks twenty-five years since September eleventh, two thousand and one. Twenty-five years. That is a long time. There are now adults who weren't even alive. During nine eleven. My own kids know September eleventh as history. But for those of us that live through it, I don't know. There's certain things about that day. That just haven't faded at all. Like many people, I can still remember exactly where I was. And how it all unfolded. I was a young Marine Corps F-18 weapon systems officer at the time, stationed at Miramar in San Diego, California. I was brand new to my operational squadron, probably the most junior.
In my entire squadron. Before sunrise that morning, remember I was out on the West Coast. I got a phone call from my sister, my sister Jane. And I remember Wow, that's that's pretty interesting. She's calling so early in the morning. Um But after I answered it and heard her voice saying, Amy, turn on your TV. A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. My first thought was, well, must be a small plane. So I went into the other room, I turned on the TV. And then I saw the second plane hit the second tower. And I think like most Americans watching at that moment, I knew this was not an accident. Not long after that happened, my phone rang again. And this time it was the operations duty officer at the base at uh Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the one from my squadron.
telling me there's a mandatory recall, all air crew, get in here as soon as you can. Now I lived really close to the base. I hopped uh get got on my f in my flight suit, hopped in my car, and I think I made it to the front gate of the base in about eight minutes. Went into my squadron and I was super surprised to see my name on the whiteboard.
What was the immediate military response order Amy received after the attacks?
uh showing me that I had to go immediately to man up a jet. That was out there in the combined arms uh or the combat aircraft loading area on the other side of the base. And I was really surprised to see my name up there because there were more senior air crew. Than me. But you see, the more senior aircrew lived further away. And so they weren't In the ready room. They picked the people that were there. I'm sure my commanding officer did not want to pick the most junior. In his squadron. But they needed people to go immediately. So I got my flight gear on, my G suit, my harness. drove out in a jeep to the other side of the base. With three other aircrew. And we looked at two F-18s that were out there being literally being loaded as we got out there.
Від сих ер та ер мисленс. Амі, а я неверно ви. Live missiles before. We hopped in the jets, we turned them on, we taxed short of runway two four left at Miramar, and we waited. We waited for an order to launch, loaded and With heat seeking and radar guided missiles. Do you know what that means? No bombs. Missiles are designed To shoot down other aircraft. I always trained to shoot down other aircraft, but I never thought it would be potentially an airliner. N none of us knew what was gonna happen
that
day. that morning. We didn't know if there were more airplanes out there. Our job Was to defend the west coast of the United States, Los Angeles, San Diego. If there were more airplanes, potentially. going to attack those cities.
How did Amy’s squadron prepare their F‑18s for a possible combat launch?
We we didn't know. at the time what was going on. We didn't know if there was going to be more attacks. We did not know if we were gonna launch. We sat there for about three to four hours. Not really knowing anything. We just knew our country had been attacked and we were ready to go. That was my September eleventh morning. Now luckily We did not have to launch, thank God. We did not have to to um execute any of those. potentially incredibly um Terrible. Possible orders. But that was my morning. There's nothing good to say about September eleventh itself. Nothing. Твіта найсеві сев іноцентпи мердер. That day. Families were shattered. Firefighters and police officers ran toward the buildings that everyone else was trying desperately to get out of.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Amy first learn about the 9/11 attacks while on duty at Miramar?
0:00–2:36
2
What was the immediate military response order Amy received after the attacks?
2:36–4:46
3
How did Amy’s squadron prepare their F‑18s for a possible combat launch?
4:46–6:38
4
What emotions did Amy experience watching the Kentucky Derby from a Kyrgyzstan tent?
6:38–8:40
5
Why does Amy miss the era when the American flag united rather than divided?
8:40–10:36
6
How does Amy view the role of leadership and NATO after 9/11?
10:36–12:45
7
What lessons does Amy draw about national unity versus political division today?
12:45–14:19
8
How does Amy suggest we remember the sacrifices of first responders and veterans?
14:19–16:45