Jordan Towers was unpacking a truck during a family move to Sacramento from Truckee, California when he heard the news that a plane had flown into New York's World Trade Center.
"It sounded like a radio DJ hoax," Towers said. "Then I turned on my TV, and the second plane was hitting."
For Towers, then a 17-year-old high school student, the September 11, 2001 attacks changed his life.
Already considering joining the U.S. Navy as a way of financing college, he said after the attacks he chose to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps in hopes that he could fight the enemy directly.
"It was 9/11 that really convinced me that I had to do something," he said. "There was anger in me. I didn't know who the Taliban was, but I knew they were the enemy and I had the sense I wanted to kill these people for attacking us."
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers harbored the al Qaeda leaders responsible for 9/11, and the United States invaded Afghanistan just weeks after the attacks. In 2003, the United States also invaded Iraq.
Towers was deployed to Iraq in 2007. His unit was supposed to detect movement of people trying to plant roadside bombs, a weapon of choice for insurgents fighting U.S. troops.
"We were just sitting ducks," Towers said. "I didn't know who the enemy was. I never thought I was doing the right thing over there. I never thought that I was helping people."
In spite of being shot at, he came home in one piece and did not lose any close comrades. Since returning home, he has sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs doctors, as have thousands of other returning U.S. troops.
He said he is still recovering from his military service. He attends college and works for a group that aids veterans with needs such as jobs and housing, Swords to Plowshares.
"The war is always on my mind," Towers said. "I'm surprised when I walk into San Francisco coffee shops and everyone is drinking coffee and they're acting like we're not fighting two wars.
"There are young people over there who are really sacrificing so much, putting their hearts into this belief that they should be there. I feel like Americans just don't care," he said.