I was still in the army back then, studying at the Defense Language Institute, and was at an early morning health and welfare mandatory class. I remember watching a Powerpoint presentation about safe sex with some clip art of a blue and a pink safe having sex up on the screen while the cadre in the back of the room were freaking out on their cell phones in loud whispering and overhearing phrases like "crashed the World Trade Center" and "Pentagon on fire".
They locked down the base right after that (it was an open base prior), and we went to the highest security where you have to show ID before entering any buildings. I still had to go to Chinese class, and we could only get a little news on a clock radio in between classes until lunch time, when I went to the barracks and saw the news on TV and it was awful.
During the next few months, we had to do double CQ shifts, and I remember having to inspect every vehicle that came on base for bombs all the time. The military and the whole country got really weird after 9/11.
They locked down the base right after that (it was an open base prior), and we went to the highest security where you have to show ID before entering any buildings. I still had to go to Chinese class, and we could only get a little news on a clock radio in between classes until lunch time, when I went to the barracks and saw the news on TV and it was awful.
During the next few months, we had to do double CQ shifts, and I remember having to inspect every vehicle that came on base for bombs all the time. The military and the whole country got really weird after 9/11.