Trent Caves, US Air Force, San Antonio, Texas

Trenton Caves joined Grace Lutheran Church as a child with his family. His parents are John and Cathy Caves.

A message from Trenton:
11 September 2001 - A Second Lieutenant Looks Back

On 11 September 2001, I was starting my senior year at North Carolina State University. I was also a Cadet Captain in Air Force ROTC.

On that morning, my alarm went off at 9 o'clock - I wanted to get up early to meet one of my friends before class started. The radio talked of a plane crash in New York, but I reset my alarm and went back to bed. A few minutes later, I was reawakened by the sound of a car crash outside my window. Without even knowing what was going on, I thought to myself "Wow, the world sure is going to hell." My alarm went off again a few minutes later with talk of another plane crashing into the World Trade Center. The radio also told of a possible explosion at the Pentagon - a listener in the Washington DC area called the national talk-show to tell people about it.

When I got out of the shower, one of my fraternity brothers knocked on my door to ask if I had heard what was going on. He said that the U.S. was under attack, and that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. I ran downstairs and turned on the TV to see the two burning Trade Center towers. By this time it was around 10 o'clock, and I had to get ready for class.

Since it was a Tuesday, my first class was my Air Force ROTC class, and I had to wear my BDU's (Battle Dress Uniform - camouflage fatigues) to class. I went upstairs to get dressed, but all I could do was look at my uniform, hanging in my closet. I had signed up for ROTC in January and knew that I'd be signing up for four years service to my country, but, probably like most Americans, I never thought that we'd be attacked. As I looked at my uniform, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. I was afraid that, in my uniform, people would look to me as an authority on what was happening. I didn't know anything more than what was on TV, and was unsure if I could live up to the role that the uniform required - I wasn't even sure that I really wanted that responsibility. Finally, after twenty minutes I decided that for the next few years I was going to be an officer in the United States Air Force and, like it or not, I had to accept all responsibilities that came with it. I finally put my uniform on, got in my car, and drove to class. I heard on the ride over to campus that the first tower had fallen.

As I was walking to my class, I spotted one of my friends and asked if he had heard what was going on. As we stood in a stairwell talking, someone else walked by and asked me what the latest news was. It's funny how that uniform makes others believe that I know what's going on even if I don't. When I got to class, our instructor, an Air Force Major, postponed our lesson and instead talked about what we could expect in the coming days. We were all told to go home as soon as possible and change out of our uniforms - a requirement for Force Protection Delta. If only I had known before class that I didn't have to wear my uniform, I wouldn't have had to go through all that turmoil.

One year later, I'm a commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. I'm stationed at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where I'm undergoing Navigator training. With my commitment to be a navigator comes a minimum six year service commitment - the earliest I could get out of the Air Force is 2008. However, that is no longer a date that I look to as anxiously as before. The more I learn about the Air Force and what I'm doing, the more I look at the long term possibilities of an Air Force career.

I'm glad I had the chance to think about what my service means, because now I live that life every day. When I go off-base in uniform, people look up to me as an authority: as someone to be respected. The uniform is a symbol of the generations of military personnel who have fought - and died - for this great country. By wearing that uniform, I become a part of that history, and I must do my best every day to uphold and honor that tradition.

Trent