Sep. 12—Fireman Milas Jackson, 20, of Oxford, sat on the front of a fire truck at an Oxford fire station off U.S. 78.
The young man has been a firefighter for a little over a year and a half, yet he is part of a generation that was born after Sept. 11, 2001.
Many people in the United States remember where they were when the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell. Standing in shopping centers or in doctors offices, people halted their daily routines and huddled around televisions watching the heartbreaking scenes unfold as thousands died.
But for Jackson, these tales were only what was told in history books and documentaries. It wasn’t until he visited Ground Zero in New York, saw the site itself and the names of the thousands who died, that he understood the gravity of what happened.
“That really puts it more into perspective than anything you can see online — just actually going and seeing the actual building and where it was,” Jackson said.
While Jackson was a senior in high school, he enlisted in the firefighter certification program at Oxford. During that training, the first project was to research and write an article on the events that took place on 9/11.
“That was the first step in the service. I think it was a good thing to start off with,” Jackson said. “I think it really puts your foot in the door into what the job is.”
The level of dedication to saving the lives of others was one thing that stuck out to Jackson, he said.
“It really shows that first responders do, that we will do anything to save someone,” Jackson said. “It really pushes and motivates me.”
Jackson’s fire Chief Gary Sparks, a captain at both the Oxford and Anniston fire departments at the time, said the thing that stuck out to him the most was the first responders’ families.
As he watched the news of the first tower falling, he said he knew “we just lost a bunch of firefighters,” knowing that there had to have been first responders in the building attempting to save people.
“After the second one fell, it was very emotional,” Sparks said. He paused and then said, “because you know what firemen go through and you felt for their families. They left that morning to go to work like we all do, and they didn’t get to come home.”
Jacksonville Fire Chief Keith Kadle has been a fireman for 37 years and had just got off the night shift the morning of the attack.
“I just remember the feeling of all the fire and public safety people that were going up the towers when everybody else was coming down,” Kadle said. “They had families, they had careers, they probably didn’t think what happened was going to happen. That was a dangerous situation. I just remember how that stuck out with me; that they put their service before their own lives.”
Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade was working at the Houston County Courthouse as a state probation officer.
“It’s not only where you were at that day, but after that; the uncertainty of what was going to happen, not only for me personally, but what needed to be done,” Wade said.
After the attacks, the United States was plunged into war, with thousands signing up for the military, some of whom became casualties themselves. Airports changed security precautions. Everyday life in America changed.
“It affected a whole generation in the way we do business.” Wade said. “We had to change our lives due to possible terrorist events that could happen.”
“Our country being attacked like that was something none of us had seen, not to that level,” Wade said.