Editor's note: This account was written by SSG Eric Lindsey, U.S. Army (Ret.), and reaches the Department through Officer Glick's collection of September 11 stories. His words run below exactly as he wrote them. The watch is the Citizen Promaster Aqualand, Ref: 3740-E70014, he bought at the Honda Watch and Clock Shop in Shiogama, Japan, about five years before the attacks. It is thirty years old, still running, and it belongs to his son now.
Joining the Army was the furthest thing from my mind on 9/10/2001. When I woke up the next morning the world had changed. I was a merchant mariner; a civilian sailor and I worked for Exxon Mobil on their oil tankers. I worked in their international fleet and did a lot of runs into the Persian Gulf so, I wasn’t totally ignorant of the region of the Middle East. About 5 years before I had bought a Citizen Promaster Aqualand dive watch, Ref: 3740-E70014, from the Honda Watch and Clock Shop in Shiogama, Japan. It was my daily driver, my work watch.
I was 33 when I joined the Army National Guard. Having done a brief stint in the Navy, and 12 years and a civilian sailor I knew I wanted to be on the ground for this. I knew that I would be deployed as soon as my training was done. My watch was with me throughout my training. It kept me on time, it kept me connected through a few very important chapters in my life into my new chapters in the Army and deploying to a war zone.
I was wearing this watch in 2005, through a six-month train up through Hattiesburg, MS that we went through for our deployment to Iraq, and it was with me on the World Airlines flight to Kuwait and on to Iraq. For 16 months in Iraq this watch kept me on time and in rhythm. It was on my when I got wounded from an IED that destroyed my gun truck, none of the occupants except me was hurt, thank God!
I was wearing this watch when I deployed to Afghanistan in 2010, up to and including another IED that destroyed another truck with me in it fracturing my back, sending me to Landstuhl, Germany and 3 month of recovery; it was on my when I got back from the hospital in time for the welcome home ceremony with my unit and my family.
This watch is now 30 years old and still working. A testament to the manufacturer, who made a quality time piece that served its purpose. It now belongs to my son because he has his own chapters to write.