For Willi Kostiuk, the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are having a direct effect on his family.

As the 10th anniversary of the tragic day approaches, the retired police officer discussed how his son, Tyler, is currently serving as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Iraq.

“It scared the hell out of me,” Kostiuk said when he heard about the attacks, knowing his 14-year-old son was interested in enlisting in the military after high school.

On the Tuesday morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Kostiuk had been sleeping after working a night shift. His wife, Kami, called him with the news.

“I turned on the TV and there it was,” he remembered. “As a police officer, it changed a lot of ways we worked, especially being so close to the border. As a parent, it changed more.”

In the days, weeks, and months following the attacks, Kostiuk said he hoped Tyler would reconsider becoming involved with the military.

When he enrolled in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program, Kostiuk thought, “Oh God, here we go.”

Since Tyler’s deployment to Iraq in July, Kostiuk said he has already encountered some dangerous situations.

“Just yesterday he was dealing with possible suicide bombers.”

Kostiuk added, “It’s terrible to have him over there. Literally, day-to-day, we wait for him to Skype or call. It’s awful.”

Kostiuk said he is worried about the soldiers — especially now. But, he is hopeful that troops will be returned home by the end of the year, as Pres. Barack Obama has discussed.

“As far as I’m concerned, 9/11 has changed our country forever,” Kostiuk said. “It was very dramatic. It changed the way we think about everything from getting on an airplane to simply crossing the border.”

Acknowledging that he couldn’t change his son’s mind about his decision to serve his country, Kostiuk still wishes he was home, but is proud of the young man who has always had a sense of patriotism.

“He and all the troops are over there because of that day,” Kostiuk concluded. “He is proud of what he is doing and we’re very proud of him, too.”

Briggs

The 9/11 attacks went on to control Brian Briggs’ life for almost three years.

The now-retired command chief master sergeant of the Air National Guard was celebrating his daughter’s birthday at Sandy’s Place when he heard of the attacks.

“I looked at my wife (Kallie) and said, ‘well, it looks like I might be going somewhere,’” he said. “Sure enough, I did.”

About a week later, while working at Boise Inc., Briggs got a call to report to duty in Duluth. He remembered telling his boss it looked like he was getting called up and he didn’t know for how long.

“It ended up being two and a half years,” he said.

Briggs said the attacks altered the air guards from being more of a strategic force to an operational force.

“We were more involved,” he said. “National Guard folks are being deployed more and more.”

Briggs said looking back, he was surprised that the attacks didn’t hurt military recruiting efforts.

“In fact,” he said. “The initial surge after 9/11 had a lot of people signing up to enlist. I think it is part of the patriotism among the American people.”