REMEMBERING 9/11: Called to duty

Jack Ashby grew up wanting to be an astronaut. He always knew joining the U.S. Marines was part of his path to one day launching into space, but that path took another direction on Sept. 11, 2001.

“Being the young middle-schooler that I was, I reached out to a Marine Corps recruiter,” Ashby said. “And they’re like, ‘How old are you?’ And I told them, and they said, ‘Call us when you’re 17.’”

The 9/11 attacks occurred far from Ashby’s hometown of West Linn, Oregon, but the call to serve was in his blood. A distant relative fought in the Civil War, and other family members had been drafted into service during World War II, Korea and Vietnam. 

“It seems like every year, (9/11) becomes less and less important to this country. But things happen, generations get older, new generations pop up. And what we were part of first-hand is, realistically, in the history books now. Even tying in with the war ending in the last few days, it’s a lot of just trying to — I wouldn’t say cope — but for me, I hope in the end it was all worth it. I hope that I did something productive.”

 

“On that day, I just wanted to go over there and do something,” he said.

He waited the five years necessary to enlist in a Delayed Entry Program in 2006 and shipped off to boot camp after graduating high school the following year. Several of his cousins joined the military for the same reason. They would carry on the family tradition of service — but with a new mindset.

“Everybody else (in my family) had been drafted so, technically, we were the first generation that made the decision that we’re volunteering for this,” Ashby said.

His recollections of boot camp at the San Diego Marine Corp Recruit Depot include highly decorated drill instructors overseeing a diverse group of recruits. 

“There was a Cornell professor who was in his 30s,” he said. “There were guys from the Netherlands whose families had migrated here four years prior.”

Their backgrounds may have differed, but they were brought together for the same reason. 

“None of (us was) doing it for the free college, none of us did it for the signing bonuses,” he said. “All our recruiters said was ‘We’ll give you the opportunity to call yourself a Marine,’ and we’re like, ‘Cool, let’s do it.’”

Ashby was stationed in Afghanistan during the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The memories are difficult to revisit and impossible to put into words. But the reality is brought into focus by some words of advice from his executive officer.

“He used to tell me all the time, ‘Be careful what you wish for, (because) you might get it,” Ashby said. “One day, I came back from a mission, and I’m sitting there, and he looked at me and asked, ‘Are you all right?’ And I said, ‘Nope.’ And he said, ‘Did you get what you wished for?’ I go, ‘Yep.’ And he said, ‘How was it?’ I said, ‘It’s terrible.’ And it’s in those moments that it’s a job until you’re actually doing it.”

Ashby’s service ended in 2013. He relocated to Central Florida, currently lives in Winter Garden and owns Allavance Insurance. But having life-changing events become memories is especially difficult for those who lived through them.

“It seems like every year, it becomes less and less important to this country,” he said of 9/11. “But things happen, generations get older, new generations pop up. And what we were part of first-hand is, realistically, in the history books now. Even tying in with the war ending in the last few days, it’s a lot of just trying to — I wouldn’t say cope — but for me, I hope in the end it was all worth it. I hope that I did something productive.”

Ashby’s record of service now includes the position of chaplain at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4305 in Winter Garden. He has helped fellow vets deal with life after service, find jobs and legal counsel and even has prevented suicides. Looking back on the past two decades, his reason for wanting to enlist remains as honest as it was on the day the towers fell.

If not me, then who?