PLAIN CITY, Ohio — A Plain City Army veteran is sharing his story serving at the Pentagon for seven weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Plain City’s Lieutenant Colonel Carl Ey worked as a signal officer helping the Pentagon with tactical communications for FBI and service members.
"It was a tragic day, a godforsaken day, sad day. A big learning experience for this particular soldier,” Ey said. "It wasn't until I did this that I recognized what we were doing as soldiers, just generally.”
Ey recalls as he was running toward the disaster, citizens were running for their lives.
“We had people jumping into the back of pickup trucks, just running like crazy, getting out, hitting the metro. Trying to get out of Washington D.C., thinking this is it, 'This is George Orwell’s end of the world scenario',” Ey said.
Ey looks back on the days following the attack, when the country came together.
“The amount of patriotism and the state of the nation's mentality, if you will, on Sept. 12 is the way we should be from then on out. There's no democrat and republican. There were just Americans that cared about what just happened in our country,” Ey said.
Ey said the horrific day brought our nation together, but it shouldn’t take another tragedy to keep us united.
"One of the most interesting things about serving in the military, outside of serving my country, which is a wonderful experience, is I was a part of history everywhere I went. So when my kid comes home and asks me about the war in Iraq, I tell her. When they ask me about 9/11, I tell them from a first person perspective. So when you're looking for meaning in your life, particularly if you're not sure what you want to do, the military is never a bad position to start in.”
Ey said he hopes more men and women are encouraged to join the armed services and that every American hangs their flags proudly.
“We need to figure out how to get back to the 12th of September, and that kind of mentality across the board and I hope our elected officials today and in the future can help us do that,” Ey said.