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CONTENTS Vol. 8 | Issue 04
Sept. 11, 2017
3 Resolve, A Tradition
Story By MC2(SW/AW/IW) Holly L. Herline
NIMITZ NEWS Capt. Kevin Lenox Commanding Officer Cmdr. J.W. David Kurtz Executive Officer CMDCM Jimmy Hailey Command Master Chief
MEDIA DEPARTMENT
Lt. Cmdr. Theresa Donnelly PAO Ens. Meagan Morrison DIVO MCCS Ahron Arendes Media DLCPO MCC Grant Probst Media LCPO MCC (SEL) Porter Anderson Media CPO (SEL) MC1 Jose Hernandez Media LPO MC2 Holly Herline Creative Lead MC3 Weston Mohr Phojo WCS
September 11, 2001 became our generation’s Pearl Harbor. The men and women of Nimitz are holding the same of resolve as their namesake Adm. Chester Nimitz did after Pearl Harbor as they support operations 16 years after 9/11.
6 Hands for September 11
Story by MC3(SW/AW) Ian Kinkead
Sailors and Marines aboard Nimitz recall what they were doing with their hands on September 11, 2001 and what they do with them now.
10 Remembering September 11
MC1 Marcus Stanley MC2 Austin Haist MC2 Erickson Magno MC2 Elesia Patten MC2 Ian Zagrocki MC3 Chad Anderson MC3 Kenneth Blair MC3 Colby Comery MC3 Marc Cuenca MC3 Deanna Gonzales MC3 Ian Kinkead MC3 Liana Nichols MC3 Cole Schroeder MC3 Leon Wong MC3 Bethany Woolsey MCSN David Claypool MCSN Cody Deccio MCSN Emily Johnston MCSN Kennishah Maddux MCSN Jose Madrigal
*Cover photo by U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Randall Clinton *Back cover photo by MC2 Hunter S. Harwell
Photo by REUTERS/ Sara K. Schwitttek
Story By MC3(SW) Leon Wong
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YN2 Romero recalls his time in New York City during the attacks of September 11, 2001.
“September 11, 2001 became our generation’s Pearl Harbor.
“Liberty!”
We, the men and women of Nimitz, her strike force and air wing know where we are going, because we know from where we have come.” -Nimitz Cruise Book 2002-2003
By MC2(SW/AW/IW) Holly L. Herline
And like our fathers and grandfathers, mothers and grandmothers, we answered our country’s call to arms with the same spirit. Even when our technology changed, our courage remained theirs. The tactics of our enemies shifted, but our justice again struck swift and sure. And though our faces were new, our hearts still beat to the drums of freedom. We stood upon their shoulders, gazed out on a world not of our making, and cried
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On September 11, 2001 the United States experienced a second day that would live in infamy. The attacks on the World Trade Centers were the first event to rattle America to it’s core and bring the nation together in a way that only a tragedy like that can since the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 31, 1941, following the first attacks made on U.S. soil, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz assumed command of the Pacific Fleet. He was tasked with bringing justice to those who had deliberately attacked the American people. This was a feat he accomplished when Japan surrendered to America on September 2, 1945. Sixty years later, when America was once again attacked within its borders, Nimitz would not be the one to lead the nation’s Navy in response. The Sailors upholding his tradition of commitment and valor aboard his namesake, the aircraft carrier USS Nimtiz (CVN 68), would be there to carry the fight to the enemy. In the wake of the unthinkable, Nimitz deployed to the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom for the first time on March 3, 2003. The ship would continue to bring the the fight again, in 2005, 2007 and three more times after that. Nimitz has deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Inherent Resolve and the Global War on Terrorism, each time bringing their nation one step closer to settling a loss that will forever be remembered. In the 16 years since 9/11 the men and women of Nimitz have followed in the footsteps of their namesake bringing justice for the American people. 4
5 Photo by Jerry Brice
Story and photos by MC3(SW/AW) Ian Kinkead
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Story by MC3(SW) Leon Wong
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Photo by Journalist 1st Class Preston Keres
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one of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.”
–President George W. Bush’s address to the American people after the 9/11 attacks
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he targets were the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and allegedly the United States Capitol or the White House, also in Washington D.C. The weapons were hijacked, Boeing 767s and 757s carrying innocent passengers and crew members. The events of this day would be burned in the memories of not only every American old enough to remember, but with the rest of the world as well. For one college student in New York, that day was all too familiar. “On the day of 9/11, I was coming off the E train on Canal Street,” said Yeoman 2nd Class Luis Romero. “I was going to college then, so I’m walking out pretty slow with no mood to go to school or work.” Romero was attending Audrey Coleman College, now the Metropolitan College Photo by David Handschuh of New York, as a sophomore at the time. “As I was coming out, I heard what sounded like two garbage trucks colliding,” said Romero. “Being a New Yorker, I ran out to see the action and get the gossiping going on. But when I looked up, I saw the World Trade Center on fire.” Romero was still on the E train when the North Tower of the World Trade Center 12
was struck by American Airlines Flight 11 at 8:46 a.m. Flight 11 carried 81 passengers and 11 crew members including five hijackers. Coming out, Romero heard United Airlines Flight 175 crashing in to the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 a.m. Flight 175 carried 56/58 passengers and nine crew members. Both Flight 11 and 175 carried enough fuel for a transcontinental flight for their intended journey from Boston to Los Angeles. “I was shocked, but I kept thinking they were filming a movie,” said Romero. “‘How are they filming a movie? How are they making it look so real?’ I thought to myself. I just stood there looking at it. I want to say it took about a good five minutes to take hold of what was actually going on. They were on fire.” Romero said he never thought it was a terrorist attack until after the first tower came down. At 9:59 a.m., the South Tower collapsed, 56 minutes after the impact of Flight 175. Later, at 10:28 a.m., the North Tower collapsed one hour and 42 minutes after the impact of Flight 11, taking the Marriott Hotel at the base with it. “I thought it was just a fire until a car pulled up next to my friend and I that was playing the news over the radio,” said Romero. “The radio station started saying, when the towers came down, that it was a terrorist act.”
Photo by Spencer Platt
September 11, 2001 – a date that would echo through time as the day the United States of America was deliberately attacked by the terrorist group Al-Qaeda.
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Looking around, I was about 20 feet away from it. Considering what just happened, I was basically standing on top of it.” Fortunately, that was not the case. Although by this time, American Airlines Flight 77 had struck the Pentagon in Washington D.C. at 9:37 a.m. and United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in to a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m. “Moments after that scene, maybe five minutes later, the cops came and started moving people away from there,” said Romero. “Throughout the whole thing, if you looked around you saw many people crying. Everybody was trying to use their cell phones to get a hold of their loved ones and let them know they were okay, but they weren’t working. I tried myself.” Due to the overwhelming amount of calls, the cell phone network in New York City was rapidly overloaded causing the network to crash. “When I got back to Queens, I went to my mechanic to pick up my car and that’s where I called my parents as well,” said Romero.
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omero was on Canal Street and Varick Street at the time, which is approximately 1.3 miles away from where the World Trade Center once stood. “It seemed like we were maybe two blocks away, but really we were about a mile away,” said
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Romero. “Although I didn’t get nowhere near the debris, people were running towards us covered in dust from the trade centers coming down. I specifically remember this black lady wearing a purple or navy blue business outfit. She was running towards us yelling, ‘the Holland Tunnel is the target!’
AFTERMATH “A couple days later, we got a bunch of supplies together,” said Romero. “My father owned a grocery store on Corona Queens. We had a box that people bought and put stuff in so we could take it down to the site to help.” Romero also volunteered whenever he could, eagerly trying to make a difference in the relief effort. Though, when he was offered to volunteer as a security guard on the site, he declined. “I wanted to be the one pulling people out of the rubble, making
an impact, not standing around as a security guard” said Romero. “I was 21 years old then. Now, at my age, I know that making an impact IS stopping other people from going in harm’s way.” Romero tried to get his community involved as much as possible. He collaborated with a local barbershop to pick up supplies, such as water, reflective vests, flashlights, and batteries, for the volunteers and the initial relief
group. “You felt a sense of unity with everybody around you because it happened to all of us,” said Romero. “I even put a little American flag on my car. I’ve never had things like that, but I wanted to show my pride.” These events, designed to cause dismay and fear to the American people, ended up bringing out the bravery and resolve of the entire nation.
Nearly 3,000 civilians, service members and first responders were killed in New York City, Washington D.C. and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attacks on September 11, 2001 would be the most devastating foreign attack on American soil since the attack on Pearl Harbor 60 years earlier. It would also be the deadliest terrorist act in world history.
“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundation of our biggest building, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” –President George W. Bush’s address to the American people after the 9/11 attacks.
At 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77, traveling from Dulles, Virginia to Los Angeles, struck the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and started a violent fire. Flight 77 carried 58 passengers and six crew members. 125 Pentagon personnel were also killed.
Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Bob Houlihan
Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Bob Houlihan
Photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Michael W. Pendergrass
At 10:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 93, traveling from Newark, New Jersey to Los Angeles, crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Flight 93 carried 37 passengers and seven crew members, including four hijackers. According to the 9/11 Commission, the passengers aboard Flight 93 fought back against the hijackers. In turn, the hijackers crashed the plane before they reached their intended target of either the U.S. Capitol or the White House.
Photo by Jeffrey J. Kitso
Photo credit by Department of Justice
Photo by Luigi Novi
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