Remembrance…

On 9/11, I was working for Schiebel Technology, which is an Austrian company, at the old Vint Hill Farms Army base and had my computer set to receive breaking news alerts. About the same time the breaking news alert popped up on my computer, one of the trainers (ex-Army) came rushing out of his office to say 2 planes had hit the Twin Towers in NYC. We had no TV reception, although we had at least 5 TVs that were used for presentations on the CamCopter at trade shows, but no antenna. I lived only a mile from the base and had a set of rabbit ears so I rushed home to get them.

We set up the TV just outside the back door, which was the only place we could get any reception. Updates were being given every half-hour so everyone rushed downstairs to watch the updates. Then we heard about the alleged plane that hit the Pentagon (I still believe it was a missile). Whoa!!! That was WAY too close to home and we were on an old Army Base – could we be next???? Heather called me to say, “Mom, thank God you don’t work at the Pentagon any more!!!!” The plane hit on the 1st floor, Corridor 4 and extending into Corridor 5, all the way thru to the B ring near the center of the Pentagon; I worked on the 3rd floor, D ring, 7th corridor. For your info:

It takes a lot to make me really cry – serious crying is not something I do often. On Friday of that week, I took the company Tahoe to Warrenton to get our mail. On the way back, Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the USA” came on the radio – I was overcome with tears, sobbing, and had to pull over on the side of the road because I couldn’t even see.

Ten days later, 8 Egyptian Naval officers arrived for training on the CamCopter system. 9/11 will always be inextricably linked to the Egyptians for me. They were all incredibly respectful and thoughtful – every time they came to my house, they brought me some gift: flowers, small statues, a papyrus, etc., etc.

We considered cancelling the training, especially since 2 of the guys who worked for us (the two Mikes) chose to quit and re-up in the Army to work on their AUV program – but the owner, Hans Schiebel, made the decision not to cancel. They had to bring Peter over from Austria for the training. We also weren’t sure about the reception the Egyptians would get in rural VA. However, all went well and each, to a man, stood with the US against this horrific action – of course, I didn’t know the truth then, nor did they, I expect. I’ve written about my experiences with the Egyptians before but one particular circumstance really sticks in my mind.

Wajdi (who really wanted to be a chef – he was in charge when they prepared the Ramadan meal at my house, which began on November 11, 2001 and lasted for a month) wanted to do some sightseeing over a week-end and was going to rent a car to go to FL. I told him he shouldn’t go to FL – the only thing to see there was beaches and a lot of retired people. I suggested he should go to New York City and he took my advice.

While he was there walking around, people kept asking him if he was Spanish, giving his complexion. He repeatedly informed them that, no, he was Egyptian, but he was getting tired of it. So the next time someone asked him, he just agreed. Unbeknownst to him, there was an undercover FBI agent nearby and he promptly stopped him to ask why he had lied.

He was in a quandary as to what to do if the agent didn’t believe him. He told me he thought, “Should I call an attorney? No, I’ll call Judy – she’ll take care of this for me!” Thankfully, since he had the laminated card we had made for all of them identifying them as students here for training at Schiebel, the agent was finally convinced and left him alone.

We bought a 15 passenger van so we could ferry all of them around at one time, if need be. I took those who were interested on a tour of Skyline Drive. We had them over for an old-fashioned American BBQ and spent Christmas Eve with them.

Aymon and my grandson on Christmas Eve – Aymon gained the nickname of “Troublemaker Aymon” after he showed Gage what fun it was to throw a Nerf ball into the ceiling fan! He was also the one who had never had brown sugar before and he asked me to make him an entire batch of my Sweet Potatoes after I served it on Thanksgiving. Of course I did, and he didn’t share even ONE bite with any of the other guys!

The picture below was taken the day they all graduated from the training. The man standing on the far right was the rep from the Egyptian company with whom Schiebel had collaborated in the sale of 4 CamCopter systems to the Egyptian Navy, Mr. Shehata. Peter, from Austria, is standing to my right.

Graduation – they flew out on Christmas Day

At one point, Mr. Shehata approached me about a problem one of the younger guys was having at the hotel where they were staying. Apparently, he made some calls to a 900 line at some point and found himself broke from having to pay for the phone charges. I agreed to work with the hotel to see what could be done so I went to the hotel manager and requested a detailed listing of the calls. As I perused the bill, I noticed that some calls were being placed during the day when I knew for a fact that he was at Vint Hill training.

Back to see the manager, who refused to do anything until I demanded to speak to their Regional Manager. She backed off right quick and ended up refunding the entire amount. After that, I was golden, pure and simple! Many of them called me their American Mom! We had sooooo much fun!

Aziz (left) and Magdi (right) – Magdi, whose Father was an Admiral, was engaged, arranged when they were children, and was supposed to buy his fiance a wedding gown while he was in the US. Yeah, no, that didn’t happen! He didn’t even want to return to Egypt but I convinced him that, if he was going to do that, he had to go back and do it the right way. He did end up and marry her. Aziz and I stayed in touch up until I got banned at FB.

Later in 2001, Life Magazine came out with a memorial book and another book of only pictures was produced by Magnum Photographers. I ordered both of them immediately and have scanned some pics to include here.