Remembering 9/11- The Hartvigsen Family

On September 11, 2001 I was conducting flight missions in Kuwait in support of operation desert Spring. Our mission was a show of force mission where we would use our helicopters on flight training missions and aerial gunnery up along the Iraqi border so as to show the Iraqis that that we had a presence there. Also, if anything occurred where Iraq decided to invade Kuwait again we would be there as part of the defense that country.

Earlier in the day on September 11, 2001 we had been conducting an exercises, flying up along the Iraqi border. Because we were 8 hours ahead of eastern time, we were debriefing our mission when my operations sergeant came in to tell us we needed to come in and see the news on TV. I told him we were in the middle of a briefing and he told me that we really needed to come see what was going on in New York. We got there in time to watch the second aircraft hit the trade center and we knew immediately this was no accident and that we were under attack.

I remember leaving our offices that evening and going back to our barracks and parking my vehicle up against the wall. As I turned my back to the wall to walk to my barracks, for the first times in my life I was actually a little nervous about what was on the outside of the wall and feeling unsafe or uncomfortable. At that time we had no idea what was going on, if this was part of a larger attack or part of a coordinated effort on the part of the enemies of the united states. So it was a little unnerving being that far into the Middle East on 9/11 and watching those things happen back home.
- Lt. Col. Greg Hartvigsen




On the morning of September 11, 2001 we had just celebrated my youngest child’s 4th birthday and she had gotten a bicycle for her birthday. Right after my other children left for school, my Sister-in-law Julie Webb came rushing down to my house to tell me to turn on the news because an airplane had just crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City. At first nobody knew why anyone would crash an airplane into the World Trade Center. We soon found out after another plane crashed into the other tower, that it was all part of a terrorist attack against America and our freedoms. My Husband was deployed to Kuwait with the army and I wondered how this would affect our family. Would his deployment be extended, would the soldiers be safe, would my children and I be safe? I wondered why would these people do something so terrible against people they didn’t even know? I stayed glued to the TV all day, hungry for any news relating to the attack. I wondered who these people were who would do such a thing. When my children got home from school, they were all shaken up. Everyone was talking about it at school and they were upset, confused and scared. I sat down with them and we talked about their concerns. I assured them that we were all safe and that their Daddy would be protected. Later on that day we had a family birthday party for Abbey and she opened the rest of her presents including the one from her Daddy. In the Background of the party on the TV was continued coverage of news about the terrorist attack. I went to bed that night thinking about all of those families who had lost loved ones that day and realizing just how fragile and precious this life is.
-Jill Hartvigsen

On Tuesday September 11, 2001 I turned four. I remember sitting in my family room with my family and opening presents. Two of my presents was a pink bike and a black china tea set from my dad. My dad wasn’t there because he was deployed with the National Guard in Kuwait. We have a tape of my party and if you look at the tv in tape you can see news feeds from the 9 11 attacks. Tuesday September 11, 2001 is a happy and sad day for me. It is happy day because it is my birthday, but it is a sad day because of the people who lost their lives and the tragedy that is 9 11.
-Abbey Hartvigsen