I’ll never forget that day. I was at the gym early, getting in my workout before heading to the lab. My graduate school schedule was quite demanding so I often had to exercise in the early morning or late at night. As I was finishing up the last few sets of biceps curls, carefully watching my form in the mirror, the song on the radio ended. Then a news flash announced that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. “What?!? That’s weird,” I thought. No other information was given. I finished the rest of my workout and hurried over to the lab. As usual, I had a busy day of work ahead of me.

Per my usual routine, I made some oatmeal and a protein powder drink to fuel up after my workout in the communal kitchen at work. As I hurriedly chomped down my breakfast one of my buddies came into the kitchen and informed me that there might be a terrorist attack in New York. That plane crash wasn’t just an accident after all. So we walked over to the lecture room to join a small group who had been watching the news on the big projection screen. Soon after I sat down I watched in disbelief as a second commercial airliner flew like a missile into the other tower of the World Trade Center. That was the morning of September 11, 2001. My life changed forever from that moment.

Fast forward almost three years to the date. I finally graduated and was preparing to ship off to officer school. Following the attack on the World Trade Center I had decided that I would do my part, as an American, to help in any way that I could. And I remember everyone in the country feeling the same way. There was a collective sense of patriotism and duty that I had never seen in my life.

As fate would have it, I later met some Navy recruiters at a job fair who informed me of the huge demand for biochemists in combating the War on Terror. That was it. My mind was made up on the spot. So I joined the Navy immediately after earning my doctoral degree in biochemistry in 2004.

I completed one tour in the Navy and then left to eventually pursue my own business as a guide, illustrator and photographer. Every year on Veteran’s Day I think back to my days in the Navy and I’m reminded of just how thankful I am to have had that experience. There are so many positive benefits to gain from a career in the military. But the one that shines most brightly in my mind is the sense of Unity.

Finding a true sense of unity, community and family like that which exists in the military is difficult at best. Ask any veteran or service member and they will tell you. In fact, I found that the biggest struggle that I had after leaving the military was finding a similar sense of collective unity. Then I went to Alaska to start guiding a few years later and I found that true community again. I’ve been guiding there for twelve years and I can honestly say that it’s the only place that really feels like home to me. Sure I love the beauty of the mountains, glaciers and wildlife but it’s the people that keep me coming back. The community of the little remote bush town of McCarthy is like a family to me. That’s what I look forward to the most every year. Seeing my family again.

So here I am again on Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2021, fondly thinking back on my Navy days. And more than any other year I am also remembering the collective sense of family and unity that we all felt as fellow Americans on September 11, 2001. All politics aside, I have never felt such a sense of divisiveness in our great nation as I do now. A big wedge seems to have split the country down the middle and I’m deeply saddened by all of the fighting and finger-pointing. I long for the same feeling of caring and pride that we Americans displayed following September 11, 2001 in putting our differences aside to come together as a nation, as a family during difficult times. We are now faced with the difficult-est of times as we continue to battle the COVID pandemic and growing mistrust of government, the media, science and most troubling, each other.

So on this Veteran’s Day I have simple ask. Yes, please remember show your appreciation for Veterans by thanking them for their service. They all deserve our gratitude. But also take the time to appreciate and thank your neighbors. Regardless of politics, religion, skin color, gender, sexual preference, immigration status, level of education, how much money a person has, iPhone or Android, etc., etc., etc., we’re all Americans, we’re a family. It’s time to put our differences aside and Unite as a nation of United States again. We need each other.