STORIES

Kathy Keating

Veteran

Kathy Keating
Military Affiliations

  • Veteran Spouse

  • Military Family Member

MY connection to 9/11

  • I was serving in the military on 9/11

Where were you when you first heard about or saw the 9/11 terrorist attacks?

I was a retired USAF Reserve nurse in charge of training at that time. I am a certified clinical observer both in the air and at MASH and CASF units on the ground. It was my duty to have a unit mass casualty yearly and I preselected and trained my observers and I wrote up the exercise and ran the exercise. My scenario was so close to 9/11 it was unreal, but it reinforced triage for our docs, nurses, EMTs, and all other AFSCs in our unit. On 9/11 - the day after I, through the exercise, found out when we went to our bank as they have TVs all over. Then went home and continued watching non-stop as I knew we'd be going to war.

How did the events of that day shape your life and inspire your service to this country?

Prayed for those that died and angry at the terrorist that caused this. Performed my AF duty under wartime conditions. Permitted and continued to run medical readiness and ensured our troops were prepared to go to war. Also was on the working group that developed the critical care in the air ICU bed staffed by a doctor, nurse, and respiratory therapist. We got the most severely injured home.

What are you excited to contribute to your community, however you define it, for the next 20 years?

Service to the military any way I can, and doing missions with Team Rubicon.

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