[Kira Phoenix]

I was in elementary school, that day I came home. I was in the 5th grade. I got home later that day not knowing what had happened, only that there was something different in our teacher's eyes, the energy had left them that day. As I was waking my stepfather up, I looked at the TV just as the plane hit the tower. I thought, "what movie is this?". As I continued, I realized it wasn't a movie, it was real. I couldn't believe it. Later that day, I got a call from one of my friends who moved to New York. His mother worked in the twin towers. I don't know what she did, but it was my best friend's mother. She didn't come home that day, or the next, or the day after. She never did come home. 9/12, I came in to school, with my homework incomplete. I broke that day, felt so heart broken.

I serve my country's navy, so that no child ever has to feel what I did that day. So that no child will have to go without his mother like my best friend did. With every breath I take, I protect my loved ones, and the ones that I serve. No one shall get past me, not on my watch.