The 9/11Generation

“I bet if that rope had an X or an O button you’d get up that motherfucker. Fuckin playstation generation.”

Those were the exact words of my drill instructor as I was trying to climb a rope aboard Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina during the summer of 2004.  While I agree to a certain extent with the sentiments of my drill instructor I believe that there is a select group of individuals within my generation that felt a higher calling after the events of September 11^th, and those individuals have shaped this great nation for the better.

Generations are usually defined by a group of people born in the United States at the same period of time. The periods of time in which generations are defined vary, but usually span 15-25 years. The five living generations in the United States are as follows: The Greatest Generation encompasses those individuals born between 1901-1924, The Silent Generation are those individuals born between 1925-1942, The Baby Boomer’s are those individuals born between 1943-1960, Generation X are those individuals born between 1961-1981, and the Millennial Generation are those individuals born between 1982-2004.  It is easy to see where generations can easily have sub-generations within themselves. For instance, a person born in 1982 will be much different than a person born in 2004. It is my belief that generations span too large of a time span. It is my opinion that everyone is influenced by something major that happens while they are of age to realize what is going on. For example, the Vietnam War began in 1954, but U.S. involvement didn’t start until 1961, so if you were born in 1951 you would be roughly 10 years old when the United States started to become involved. However, the Vietnam War didn’t officially end until 1975. This means that if you were 10 years old in 1961 (the start of Vietnam) you would be 18 in 1969, right when The Vietnam War was at its peak. So in my generational assessment I would call anyone born between 1941 and 1957 The Nam Generation. This means that The Vietnam War directly affected and influenced anyone born between these periods. Since the Vietnam War lasted so long this would be one of the biggest generations in my assessment. However, the 9/11 Generation is a much smaller one.

The 9/11 Generation is anyone born between 1974 and 1988. I understand that September 11^th affected nearly every American citizen to a certain degree. However, the 9/11 Generation is a group of people that were young enough to have their life decisions directly influenced by the events of this tragic day. For example, anyone aged 30 or older at the time of the attacks were more likely to have their life plans already set and a change of plans is slim (not impossible).This would mean that if you were born in 1976 you were roughly 27 when the September 11^th attacks happened, and if you were born in 1988 you were 13. I use theses ages because if you were 27 years old at the time of the attacks you may have been in a transitioning period in your life where the attacks directly affected the rest of your life. I use 13 as my bottom age because it is my opinion that anyone younger than this at the time of the attacks will undoubtedly remember the day, but will have had plenty enough time to re-adjust their life compass.

The 9/11 Generation has produced American heroes equivalent to any other time period in United States history. It is this great generation that has produced the likes of Pat Tillman, a successful NFL player that left his lavish lifestyle for the harsh mountains of Afghanistan where he gave his great life for this extraordinary country. This is the same generation that produced Chris Kyle, the most decorated sniper in the history of the world, whose 160 confirmed kills helped rid the world of insurgents that given the chance would have rode shotgun in the same planes that knocked down the World Trade Centers. It is this generation that produced Corporal Jason Dunham, who given the choice of life or death, chose death, and shielded his Marines from a hand grenade by placing himself on top of it; Or Lieutenant Michael Murphy who gave his life in order to give his SEAL team members a better chance at survival. This is the same generation that marched to Baghdad and took down the Sadamm Hussein regime in less than 15 days, and the same generation that took Fallujah in less than 6 days. These aren’t the stories of the Greatest Generation battling the Nazi’s in Europe, these are stories of the 9/11 Generation battling Islamic extremists across the globe so that the blanket of freedom can continued to be enjoyed by those at home. This same generation now returns home from two wars with more Amputee Veterans since the Civil War. This same generation has the highest suicide rate out of any Veteran group in United States history, and 1 out of 5 of those veterans are coping with PTSD as we speak.

It has been 13 years since Mohammed Atta and 18 other Islamic extremists’ hi-jacked four United States airliners and changed our way of life forever. September 11^th changed people in ways that most people can’t even imagine. People all across the country felt the call for something higher, something that only an event like September 11^th can bring about. The 9/11 Generation answered that call with a resounding voice. Young Americans stood up and grabbed their weapons just like so many generations before them did. The 9/11 Generation proved to the world that no matter how many years pass on the shores of this great nation you can never beat the resolve of the American Patriot! America will always be the best Nation on the face of this planet because of our young generations. My drill instructor was right. We all grew up playing Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo, and Sega, but at the end of the day we played Marine, Soldier, Airman, and Sailor!

On this fateful morning I ask everyone to remember anyone and everyone that was directly affected by the September 11^th attacks, but most importantly I ask everyone to set your alarms for 10:28am EST (the moment the second WTC tower collapsed), and remember all of those men and women of the 9/11 Generation that have sacrificed so much in the past 13 years and continue to sacrifice at home and abroad. Semper Fidelis and Stay Frosty!