The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast has launched its first of 20 memorable, inspiring and captivating stories related to the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
One episode of the special podcast series will be published each weekday by 9 a.m. Eastern, starting on Aug. 16 and concluding on Sept. 10.
Here’s a snapshot of the first episodes that will be released this week:
• Monday: “It really felt like I was surviving Dec. 7, 1941.”
Past American Legion National Commander Ric Santos was on Capitol Hill that morning, ready to present the organization’s priorities to Congress at 10 a.m. “We heard a loud boom that sounded like a sonic jet,” he says, describing the plane that hit the Pentagon, just miles away.
• Tuesday: “I just felt this concussion wave go right through me.” Jimmy Brown, a New York City firefighter who escaped before one of the towers collapsed. Brown, a Marine Corps veteran, heard the first plane and the explosion, then saw “debris raining down” as he emerged from the firehouse and headed to the scene.
• Wednesday: “All of a sudden my life changed.”
Army Sgt. Major Clifford Lovejoy recounts the “loud boom” and his subsequent, harrowing escape from the Pentagon on 9/11. It was the day before what “was supposed to be the biggest day of my life” when he was scheduled to meet the president and visit Capitol Hill.
• Thursday: “We froze right there in our tracks.”
Retired Marine Lt. Col. Darling reveals what it was like to spend the day with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney as they prepared the U.S. response. Darling, who retired from the Marine Corps in 2007, flew attack helicopters in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After his service, he was chosen to work for the White House Military Office, Airlift Operations Department, which is what led him to the unique experience on 9/11.
Visit legion.org/tangoalphalima to download each episode in this special series in audio format or watch on The American Legion YouTube channel, youtube.com/c/americanlegionHQ.
Article originally published on Legion.org.
Author: caLegion Contributor
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