On September 11, 2001, I
was in a military lecture hall with over 100 service members
of all branches and all ranks. After coming back from one of
the breaks, we witnessed one of the World Trade Center
towers on fire on the big screen and soon saw the second
aircraft hit the other tower. The moment the second plane
hit the second tower, I said out loud, “This is going to be
the longest and hardest thing that this country has ever had
to do.” Ten years later, the war on terror has become the
longest war in this country’s history.
There were as many as
124,000 troops in Iraq and 68,000 in Afghanistan by the end
of 2009. As the involvement in Iraq scales down, the
Pentagon is expecting as many as 98,000 troops in
Afghanistan by the end of this year.
As of March 2011, over 4,400
American service men and women have lost their lives in Iraq
with well over 46,000 seriously wounded. The war in
Afghanistan has caused nearly 1,000 deaths with 2,500
seriously wounded.
We currently have between 20
and 25 AirTran pilots on long-term military leave at any one
time. Many more of our fellow pilots are engaged in regular
shorter deployments with their reserve units. All are
contributing greatly to our safety and security. Please take
the time to thank our military personnel for their service
and sacrifice.
First Officer Bill Hughes, Chairman, AirTran MEC Military Affairs Committee |