9/11 Stories: Call of Duty

A smile stretches across the face of Officer Christopher Vinci as he recalls receiving the package during his recent deployment to Iraq.

“I was notified over the radio to come to headquarters and pick up a package that had arrived for me. Sitting there was this large box that when I opened was filled with letters from school children. That day will live with me forever.”

After graduating from North Rockland High School in 1984, Vinci knew that he wanted to go into law enforcement, but was told that he was too young. So, he enlisted in the Air Force to become a Security Police Officer, the Air Force's equivalent of Military Police.

Stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Vinci spent the next 12 years traveling the world. “I think the only place I haven't been to is the Antarctic.”

Vinci found his way to New Jersey by way of McGuire Air Force Base where he had been reassigned after Lackland. When he left active duty in 1996, he applied for, and was hired by the New Milford Police Department where he continues to work today.

Upon leaving active duty, Vinci was chosen to be a special reservist assigned to an active duty commander in an active duty unit at McGuire. Unlike a regular reservist, Vinci is expected to contribute on a day-to-day basis which means that after he leaves his job at the New Milford Police Department, he goes to work on base.

On the morning of September 11, Vinci was working the desk at the police station where there is a small TV. Because of his military experience, he offers a unique perspective.

“When I saw the damage the first plane did I knew it couldn't be an accident. It was a clear day with nothing to obscure the pilot's view and the damage indicated it was done by a large plane. And large planes don't fly at an altitude that low.”

He goes on to talk about the second plane. “When I saw the second plane hit I knew there was a plan behind this destruction.”

Because he was working the desk that day, Vinci still fielded routine calls about garbage pick-up from residents unaware of what had just happened. “Despite what was happening, we still had to keep the common everyday business of New Milford flowing.”

While driving the turnpike on his way home that day Vinci could see the clouds of smoke and ash rising from the ground where the towers had stood.

“There was so much rising smoke and dust that there could have been two towers still there hidden behind the screen of smoke. It was days after, when the smoke dissipated, that I could see the hole. That's when it hit me that they were really gone.”

Because Vinci knew that America was under attack, and being the only reservist in the department, he began to think about what his role would be when he got called up, as he knew he most certainly would be. “How will the department deal with my going? What about my family?” Since becoming a reservist, he had never been called upon to leave his wife and four children for any significant amount of time. 

The call of duty came on the following morning. However, his recall was brief and he wasn't separated from his family.

It wasn't until December 2010 when Vinci was deployed to Balad, Iraq where he was stationed until August 2011. Almost daily their base was hit with mortars and rockets, but you couldn't find any mention of this anywhere in the mainstream U.S. media.

“Every time I read the news back home there weren't any stories reporting on what we were going through. The headline news was dominated by Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen. It was as if no one back home even knew we were here. That's a dangerous complacency because there are still people in the world who want to do us harm.”

Vinci pauses before he shares a vivid memory about what happened one morning while on patrol in Iraq.

“We were patrolling the perimeter of the base when a pick-up truck loaded with people, and cars following behind, came racing toward our base's entry point. In a split second you have to determine: is this a car bomb? Are these people going to harm you? Why are they rushing? Although we were extremely tense we managed to keep our cool as people jumped from the pick-up truck and cars. A man came running towards me carrying a girl in his arms. It was his 11-year old daughter who had been hit by a drunk driver in their village and he was bringing her to our base because it was the nearest medical facility. I could see right away that she was severely injured, but the look on her father's face pleading for us to help save her...we took her in and they did all that they could, but she died. I'll never forget her face.”

Adding reflectively, “If we hadn't kept our cool, that story would have an entirely different ending.”

Vinci pointed out that what weighs heavily on reservists minds is not the Taliban, not the mortar hits, not getting physically harmed—it's thinking about what will happen to their pay; how the mortgage will get paid every month; how their spouse will deal with everything on their own.

“I was so fortunate because New Milford went above and beyond their call of duty so that I could perform mine. The town, the Mayor, and the police department took care of me and my family. They sent me care packages, they checked in with my wife to make sure she and the kids were okay and didn't need anything. You have no idea how much this helped ease my mind during deployment.”

When a reservist is deployed, they are given a sheet of paper that tells them the minimum amount of months they'll be deployed, meaning their deployment can be extended. Being deployed for eight months was the longest that Vinci had ever been separated from his family.

“I missed so many things over the course of those months. Holidays, of course, but the everyday things that mean so much to me. Homework, school events, parent-teacher conferences, but most especially the day-to-day living as a family. I'm a very hands-on dad, and although email is great, not being able to resolve matters in real-time was the the hardest part of my deployment.”

Vinci is home now. Home to his two families: his wife and four children, and to New Milford who never let him forget that they would never forget him.

“When I received that package of letters from all those schoolchildren in New Milford (Berkley and Gibbs elementary schools) and the elementary school near my home, I was so surprised. I can't tell you how many times I read each one of them. They were so eloquent, so expressive, so unique. I'll never forget that. I'll never forget how powerfully their kindness touched me.”

And now 10 years later Officer Vinci still remembers the tragic events of 9/11. “After all these years I still look over and expect to see the towers  standing as I drive the turnpike. After all these years I still feel an odd sensation when I realize that they're no longer there.”