Sept. 11 anniversary has special meaning for Oklahoma's military families

BY JERRY WOFFORD World Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
9/11/12 at 3:15 PM

Correction
This story incorrectly attributed a comment from Chrissty Cordray. It should have been attributed to Tonya Lasiter. This story has been corrected.

View an online memorial to Oklahomans who died during the attack on Sept. 11 and in the wars since.

Eleven years after the United States was attacked, Oklahomans are still waking up halfway around the world, fighting and defending the country.

The leader of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., is now dead, but the soldiers - and their families back home - fight on.

"My son thinks my husband is Captain America, so he's going over there to get the bad guys," said Jenny Pace, whose husband, Capt. Joe Pace, recently arrived in Afghanistan with the Oklahoma National Guard's 120th Engineer Battalion for a nine-month deployment.

On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 men hijacked four planes and killed nearly 3,000 people by crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pa. Seven of those killed that day had ties to Oklahoma.

That date is one the soldiers in Afghanistan are reminded of constantly, despite their stressful and all-encompassing mission.

"You get a little bit of a reminder of it every day," Lt. Col. Jack Ritter, commander of the 120th Engineer Battalion based in Broken Arrow, told the Tulsa World recently in a phone interview from Afghanistan.

The 120th Engineer Battalion left Oklahoma for a month-long training exercise at Fort Bliss, Texas, before deploying to Kandahar province last month. The nearly 200 soldiers will conduct route-clearance operations with soldiers from other state National Guard units during the deployment.

Ritter said the unit will hold a service Tuesday to remember those lost that day 11 years ago and remember the 4,481 soldiers who have been killed in Iraq and the 2,086 soldiers killed in Afghanistan in the past decade, as of Monday, according to the Department of Defense. Of those who have died in the wars, 119 were from Oklahoma.

"You get busy doing your job, taking care of soldiers. Then you forget sometimes what started it all," Ritter said. "We're going to take some time out and remember."

Jenny Pace said the Sept. 11 anniversary is poignant for her military family. But this year it hits them closer to home.

"It means something different this year than last year because he's there now," she said. "It makes me proud of what my husband is doing."

Tonya Lasiter married 1st Sgt. Kevin Scott Lasiter 19 years ago, when he was already in the military. When the attack occurred 11 years ago, she knew her life and marriage would change. It would likely mean she would go from being a peacetime military wife to wartime.

"I sat there and I watched it and thought, 'Is this real? Is this happening?' " said Lasiter, a Eufaula resident. "I called him at work, and they had already been alerted about what had happened. My mind started racing, 'What's the next move for Scott?' "

Kevin Scott Lasiter is in Afghanistan with the 120th Engineer Battalion, Company A. It is his first deployment to Afghanistan since that Sept. 11, but he was deployed to Iraq for the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s, Tonya Lasiter said.

While his first deployment supporting Operation Enduring Freedom is ongoing, he could have been deployed at any time. So his family had to be ready.

"We just dealt with it one day at a time," Tonya Lasiter said. "We prepared and started getting stuff in order, but that's part of the military life. You have to be on your toes at all times and be aware of everything around you."

Part of a military family's preparations is explaining to their children what happens to mom or dad while the parent is gone, and the reason he or she left in the first place.

"When he went to Iraq, they didn't understand well because they were younger," said Chrissty Cordray of Collinsville, whose husband, Staff Sgt. Thomas Cordray, is deployed to Afghanistan with the 120th Engineer Battalion, Headquarters Company. "They said Daddy was going to war and asked if he was coming back. All you can say is yes and hope for the best."

Chrissty Cordray said their children are now 17, 15 and 12. They better understand what their father is doing there and fighting for, but with their age and the better comprehension come more anxiety and worry, she said.

"It's not easier on them, but they do understand more," Chrissty Cordray said. "They are scared this time because it's worse over there than it was in Iraq."

Thousands of Oklahoma soldiers have fought in the wars since Sept. 11. About 3,000 soldiers with the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team returned this spring from Afghanistan, one of the largest deployments in the 45th's history.

And more are on tap to deploy. The 138th Fighter Wing in Tulsa will soon begin preparations for a deployment sometime next year.

With some soldiers in Afghanistan and more planning to go, some families say they find it hard to believe President Barack Obama's plan that calls for an end of combat operations there in 2014. With a war that's gone on for so long, an ending is hard to see, they say.

But Tonya Lasiter said her daughters will always know what their father fought for, especially on the anniversary of the attacks that started the fighting.

"For my daughters, they hold their head higher than they've ever held it," she said. "They walk with so much pride it'll bring tears to your eyes."

Deaths from the terror attacks and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

2,996: Number of people killed on Sept. 11, including seven people with Oklahoma ties and the 19 hijackers

6,567: Number of U.S. military members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan as of Monday, according to the Department of Defense.

136: Number of people with Oklahoma ties who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since the start of the wars, including military personnel, contractors and a human rights activist, according to Tulsa World archives.

49,609: Number of military members injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Dec. 18, 2011: Date the last U.S. combat troops left Iraq, nearly nine years after the start of the war.

Sept. 11 event

7 p.m. Tuesday at First Presbyterian Church, 709 S. Boston Ave. A community worship service to recognize the dedication of Tulsa's emergency personnel is scheduled to take place in the church's sanctuary. Child care is available for infants to 4-year-olds.
Original Print Headline: Close to home

Jerry Wofford 918-581-8310
jerry.wofford@tulsaworld.com

Associated Images:

Jenny Pace sits with her sons Jack, 18 months, and Joey, 4, at their home in Owasso. Husband and father Capt. Joe Pace is currently serving a tour in Afghanistan. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World

Capt. Joe Pace Courtesy

After nap time, Jenny Pace plays with her sons Joey, 4, and Jack, 18 months, on their backyard swing set at their home in Owasso. Husband and father Capt. Joe Pace is currently serving a tour in Afghanistan. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World