Richard Stephens, Jr.
While pleasantly serving lunch to anyone walking into Sapulpa’s American Legion Post 36 on Lee Ave. during Sapulpa’s Route 66 Blowout, Angela Foresman, its Commander, took time to remember her 9/11 day twenty years ago.
Seaman Foresman was serving on active duty in the Navy on the USS Rushmore. The ship was moored in San Diego, California. With half of the crew on shore leave after sailing in the Pacific for six months, things were quiet. Routine. Until terrorists flew airplanes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.
“I got the privilege of calling everybody back that was on leave to get them back to the ship so we could prepare to depart.” In military terms, that’s called a “recall”, an unpleasant, but necessary duty taken during a crisis. “They upped our DEFCON [Defense Condition], so we all had to report back to the ship in case we were ready to pull out.”
Foresman had phone numbers of Sailors and tried to call about 300 crewmembers. “The ones on the East Coast we couldn’t call back because the phones were down. I spent at least 12 hours calling people back.”
Luckily, the USS Rushmore didn’t have to pull out. But, “we stayed on lock-down [prevented from leaving the ship] for two weeks.”
The atmosphere onboard the ship that day? “Crazy, because nobody knew exactly what to expect that we were getting ready to do.” Every TV on the ship was turned on to figure out what was going on.
She remembers a nation that came together after 9/11. But now, “we’re divided. Mostly politically, because there’s not support for the troops.” However, she added, in Sapulpa, “there’s quite a bit of support.”
She thinks the American Legion serves an important mission. “It’s really important [to have a presence] because that way veterans know there’s someone that’s going to help them with their paperwork to get their benefits…and need help with their utility bill or if they just need somebody to talk to.”
Although Foresman has a job and a family, she continues to serve veterans who served their nation in war and peace. On 9/11, everyone’s world changed again.
Membership at Post 36 remains just short of 200. Why? “We’re losing a lot of the older veterans. It’s harder to get the younger ones to come in” because of family and job responsibilities.”
