4440
I was living in Stafford County Virginia in 1973-1975, a rural area about 50 miles from Washington, D.C. and 50 miles from Richmond, VA.
During that time period I procured a job position with the U.S. Army Civil Service, Army Records Center, Alexandria, VA which was located about 10-12 miles from Washington, D.C. However, a couple months prior to beginning that job, I took a Civil Service exam at the Pentagon, passed it, and was offered a position with the U.S. Air Force Civil Service, Finance Division inside this massive five-sided building; just across the Potomac River from our nation's capital city.
The more I thought about driving 50 miles and over an hour to the Pentagon (and back) five days a week, the more I was inclined against it. After wrestling with the idea for a couple of days, I contacted my potential employer, and declined the position.
I was living in central Florida on that fateful day, and saw it all (literally) go down.
However, it occurred to me at that time that, had I accepted the position at the Pentagon, and liked the job, I might have easily continued to work there for two and a half decades.
Had I done so, I could have conceivably been one of the 184, (185 including me), victims of Flight 77 which slammed into the outer ring of the Pentagon at 9:37am on September 11th, 2001. An astonishing 2,977, (2,978 including me), men, women and children who died at four locations during the course of 1 hour and 17 minutes on that terrible day; that, like Pearl Harbor, "will go down in infamy."
Just a reflection on a potential, personal "almost."
by Bill McDonald, PhD
No comments:
Post a Comment