U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Ryan Raftery watched the events of 9/11 unfold on television during math class at Bishop Ireton High School, in Alexandria — just a few miles from the Pentagon.
“It changed my life,” said Raftery, now 25, and stationed in Helmand province in Afghanistan, during a phone interview this week. “We’re a volunteer force and many of us joined because of the attacks.”
Raftery finished high school two years later, and attended Norwich University, a private
military college. His goal never wavered from the day of the 9/11 attacks — “to take the fight to the enemy in their own backyard.”
He deployed in August on his first combat tour of duty, to Camp Leatherneck, in southwest Afghanistan. He said the men and women who serve with him were “galvanized” by memories of the nearly 3,000 lives lost in 2001.
“We’re here sacrificing ourselves, our time and energy. We’re giving up our freedoms so that people can enjoy those very freedoms that we are here to protect,” said Raftery, who serves in Marine Air Control Group 28.
Last month was the deadliest for troops since the start of the war in Afghanistan 10 years ago. The death toll spiked after a CH-47 Chinook helicopter carrying 38 U.S. and Afghan troops was shot down.
Raftery said that Marines in Helmand have been training the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police to “get on their own two feet and take the mission from us.”
Raftery is only one of many family members who serve in the armed forces. His father is retired Marine Corps Lt.Col. Richard Raftery. His father-in-law is a reservist in the Marines. And his wife, Marine Corps 1st Lt. Grace T. Raftery, returned home in August after an eight-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
The couple will be separated for nearly 16 months before he returns home.
“Everybody has to make sacrifices,” Raftery said. “If I have to give up time to protect my family and our way of life, then so be it. Patriotism runs deep in my family.”
Sara A. Carter is The Washington Examiner’s national security correspondent. She can be reached at [email protected].
This piece is a part of the Washington Examiner’s special series The Legacy of 9/11.
|
The Legacy of 9/11 America changed in a day 9/11 triggered revolutionary changes in America’s military Still mourning at Ground Zero A sense of loss at the Pentagon A small town with a big heart |
