Remembering 9/11: Adriana Herrera

"Not in America," was what Master Sgt. Adriana Herrera and her fellow officers thought as they stared at their Moffett Field office TV screen in sheer disbelief. 

"This can't be happening, in this day and age. This stuff doesn't happen," she said. "I never expected anything like this to happen in my lifetime."

Like many other Americans, Herrera and her co-workers spent most of the day glued to the television. When they found out it was a terrorist attack, the base went into lockdown. 

"Once [employees] left, they couldn't come back," she said. The base—perhaps best known for the air hangars visible from the highway—was eerily quiet the next day, as all flights had been grounded and U.S. air space had been shut down.

A Milpitas native and pay entitlements supervisor in the
California Air National Guard at Moffett Field, Herrera said the whole tone of the military changed after 9/11. Service women and men must follow stricter uniform and security protocols, something Herrera said she hardly thought about before.

"It's just one of those things where we're told, 'Be careful when you're out there in your uniform, because there are people out there who want to hurt you, because you do have a military affiliation,'" she said.

In addition, military personnel must have their cars inspected before entering the base, and they have had to sharpen certain skills, like shooting.

As for so many others, 9/11 brought uncertainty in Herrera's life, and she found it difficult to find the exact words to express just how much her perspective on the military has changed.

"All of a sudden, we’re having to watch our backs," she said. "There’s a lot of anti-military people, so you just don’t know."

Patch, through its parent company, AOL, is involved in a project called ActionAmerica. The project is a collaboration of several corporations, individuals and nonprofits organizations designed to honor those affected by the events of 9/11 and unify the country through positive action.