ALI BASE, Iraq -- Never in a million years did Kara Gaines dream she would enlist in the military and follow in the footsteps of her retired Air Force father.
That was until the senior airman with the 407th Expeditionary Communications Squadron here watched in horror as terrorists rammed three planes into some of the nation’s most-beloved symbols of democracy and freedom Sept. 11, 2001.
“I started thinking right then I wanted to do something for my country,” said Airman Gaines, who is deployed here from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
That day her sister was supposed to visit the Pentagon, less than 12 miles from where Airman Gaines worked as a concert organizer. After the confusion settled down and phone lines reopened, she was relieved to discover her sibling was fine.
It was not until a few weeks later she got an e-mail that almost knocked her out of her chair. Unknown to her at the time, the plane that crashed into the Pentagon carried several school students.
Flight 77 that tore into the nation’s military headquarters contained precious cargo: Two bubbly 11-year-old girls who for the last three years had attended summer camp at Springhill Recreation Center in McLean, Va., where Airman Gaines was the director.
The two were flying across country to take part in a science expedition, but were trapped into history as one of more than 3,000 people who lost their lives in the 9/11 tragedy.
These were the same girls who used to challenge Airman Gaines and other counselors to a soccer match -- and win. One of them wanted to be a teacher; both were active in the center’s activities.
Images of them laughing and playing sports under the hot, summer sun continually flashed through her mind like a viewfinder gone haywire.
It took her more than two years to make the leap into military service. After being dragged around to seven Air Force bases throughout her childhood, her first inclination was not to serve her nation in that capacity.
What catapulted her past her desire to maintain her personal freedom in the civilian sector?
“I felt like if you mess with our country, (the military) will get you,” Airman Gaines said. “But if you mess with (my) children, I will come get you.”
Although she knows she will never be on the frontlines battling insurgents, the services she provides as a communications specialist allows the people who are going into battle to access intelligence information and maintain vital communications links with the world and their families.
“I don’t think I’ll ever feel justice is done,” she said. “However, my service to the military has helped in some way.
“There was no other way to help protect my country from outside forces, except to the join the military,” Airman Gaines said.
That same sense of purpose was also the deciding factor for another Airman to return to military service.
“I began to cry (when I saw the planes crash into the buildings on the news), because I knew there was no way to call and find out information,” said Staff Sgt. Richard Blackstone of the 407th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, who also enlisted because of 9/11.
Sergeant Blackstone had friends and family who where located only two buildings away from the World Trade Center.
“I was working in a pro golf shop, and it was the first day the phones were dead,” said Sergeant Blackstone, who is deployed from Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C. “I felt totally helpless watching something so tremendous and not being able to do anything.”
He already gave 10 years to the Air Force in security forces, but he felt the strain of a work schedule that kept him away from home three to four nights a week. Compounded by constant deployments, three years before the tragedy he separated from the Air Force to spend more time raising his two children.
However, after the disaster and with his wife’s support, he enlisted again and requested the same fast-paced, highly tasked career field.
He said he would do it all over again.
“I absolutely feel strongly about serving,” said Sergeant Blackstone, who is deployed here for six months versus the normal four most Airmen spend in theater.
“ If I can help in any way, keep people safe and give them a sense of security, then I have done my job.”
Now more than ever, he recognizes that service to the military is also a burden shared by deployed Airmen’s families.
