9/11 reality sunk in, high schooler stepped up Published Sept. 11, 2012 By Staff Sgt. Timothy Boyer 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Sitting in a dentist office on Sept. 11, 2001, Senior Airman James Crosby, then a high school student, remembers hearing his mom complain that her credit card was not going through. After that, the footage of the World Trade Center attacks played on the waiting room television. "I remember thinking, 'what movie is this,' " said the 60th Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron X-ray technician. "As reality sunk in, I remember the feelings of anger and sorrow, but what stood out even more was the feeling of helplessness." In a period of 24 hours, Crosby said he went from being someone who would never join the military to someone who wanted to enlist immediately. "I joined the Delayed Entry Program because I was still in high school," he said. "I was not able to do anything on 9/11, but future attacks, those I could help stop." With an Air Force veteran father, Crosby understood the commitment it would take to be in the military. "My father always said being military is a sacrifice not everyone can shoulder," he said. "Since 9/11 was an air attack and my father was in the Air Force, I decided to enter that branch." The helplessness he felt as a high school student, sitting in the dentist office with his mother, drives Crosby to this day. "That helplessness turned into a protectiveness of not only our country, but our families, friends and any human life," he said. "I joined the Air Force because I want to help, to do something - anything - to stop the loss of lives." As an X-ray technologist, Crosby keeps the mission in perspective. "My part in the war is to be at the ready to save the individual life of every wounded Airman returning from war," he said.