We did receive reports on the submarine that the US had been attacked, of course, but our mission was in a completely different part of the world and we were deep 98% of the time. I saw no video of the attacks until a week or so after I returned in early October. I know most people would consider me lucky to have been spared the severe trauma of that day. But, I’ve always felt like it’s something that happened to everyone else in the world, except me (and the other crewmen). Fire away…
Due to a submarine deployment, I (55M) “missed” 9/11 completely. I left the US in mid-August and returned three weeks after the towers fell to a country that had changed fundamentally. To this day, it’s weird that the world went through something so traumatic that essentially passed me by. AMA
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How interesting! Are you able to disclose what submarine and/or where you were deployed?
What was something that stood out to you and the crew members when you got back on land? What were your initial observations?
What’s your favorite cereal?
Did this event have an immediate effect on the level of readiness asked of submarine crews ? Or the fact that it was a terrorist event (in opposition to a state actor) meant that it didn’t really change anything for you ?
Flags everywhere. On overpasses. On buildings. Flying on houses. And I thought it was interesting that the country seemed pretty well united – none of the Bush v Gore stuff seemed to matter at all.
How soon were you and your fellow sailors made aware of the events?
When did you learn about the attack were you totally in the dark until you returned to the surface.
Idk how good satellite coms were in 01 but if you were in the artic circle I can’t imagine it was good
Thank you for your service.
Typically what kind of information is communicated with the submarine crew from the outside world?
That’s a wild experience. It must have been surreal coming back to a world so drastically altered while you were essentially in a time capsule. I can see how you’d feel disconnected from that shared experience, even though you were serving your country at the time. Lowkey reminds me of those sci-fi movies where astronauts return to a changed Earth. What was the biggest shock returning? Did it take a while to process everything?
As someone who didn’t live through the events in the moment, do you feel you have a more objective outlook on actions and reactions that were taken by both the government and civilians in the wake of the devastation? Did you go through a shock and grieving process when you did find out, or did the time delay ease your reactions?
Were the images and video you saw once you got back what you had seen in your mind? Or did you picture anything that was different than what actually happened?
What would have been protocol if anyone in your crew had had a loved one killed in the attacks? I assume the sub would not have changed her mission for that, but would they have let the crewperson contact home?
Are you able to communicate in any way with your family while at sea? Can’t imagine how isolating and hard that could possibly be.
After 9/11 did they change any procedures regarding communication, surfacing, staying in contact for major global changing events?
What was the reaction of you and the rest of the crew when you were informed of what happened?
When was the first time you got to see the video footage of what happened?
There were Afghans our in the far reaches of the country who didn’t know the war with the Soviets was over.