Answering the Call: How 9/11 Inspired Two DJDS Teachers to Serve

In the United States, it is common for people to ask one another where they were when they first heard about the September 11, 2001, attacks. And every one of them had a unique reaction to the violent attack on America. After the shock, horror, and fear had subsided, “the Nation drew strength and unity from its citizens,” according to the George W. Bush Presidential Library. 

Generally, Americans felt more patriotic and knew the United States needed to respond. These feelings led to a surge in enlistment and interest towards serving in the Military in the aftermath of 9/11. Brian Welling and Andrew Englund, Denver Jewish Day School teachers, were both part of that group that enlisted following 9/11. 

On the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks on the United States of America, Brian Welling, upper division history teacher and Social Studies Department Chair at Denver Jewish Day School, and Andrew Englund, an English teacher at DJDS, reflect on their past and what motivated them to join the military in the wake of 9/11.

Welling and Englund have very different stories. Welling was a sophomore in college, while Englund had just started 6th grade. This resulted in them having very different understandings of 9/11. 

Englund’s dad had woken him up early before school that morning and told him to come watch what was happening on the TV. Englund vividly recalls how strange this was because his family seldom watched television during the week, and his family never watched TV in the morning. 

At this age, Englund noted he wasn’t old enough to really understand what was happening. “I was watching the TV when the second plane hit the building, and I remember I said to my dad, ‘What’s going on with these pilots today?’” Englund said. 

His dad explained that America was under attack, but he was still so confused about why someone would attack America like this. “I was in 7th grade. I didn’t understand a lot of the geopolitical conversations that were happening around it [the terrorist attack],” Englund said. 

On the other hand, Welling was a sophomore in college who was fully aware of the complex geopolitical situation. He initially assumed that it was an accident and that a small Cessna-like plane had hit the tower, but upon learning it was a deliberate terrorist attack, he was angered. 

Long before 9/11, Welling had always had an interest in joining the military. He had great uncles and one grandfather who had served in World War II. But before 9/11, Welling said maybe he’d join, but he was nervous and most of his friends were going to college, so it seemed like he should follow suit. 

9/11 was a very pivotal event for Welling. “My first reaction was ‘Oh, this is it, this is when I should go’,” he said. About a day later, he started requesting information from different branches and contacted a recruitment officer about potentially enlisting. 

Welling wanted to drop out of college and join the military, but his parents convinced him to wait it out and graduate from college. Welling thought that his parents were just hoping that by the time he graduated, the war would be over or he would have lost his interest in enlisting altogether. 

That was not the case. Two weeks after he graduated from college, Welling went back to the recruiter, and in August of 2005, he had officially enlisted in the Army. 

Welling explained how initially, revenge was a factor as to why he wanted to join, but he also had “always felt lucky to be born in the United States.” This was just one way he felt like he could repay the country that he believed in. Additionally, he was excited for the adventure and action of being a foot soldier in the army. 

Welling went on to serve 3 years in the army, finishing as Sergeant E-5. Welling was never deployed and describes that as “bittersweet.” 

“I felt like everything I learned, I never got to apply it. But applying it would have required me to maybe do some horrific things. And I don’t know how I would be today if I had been deployed,” Welling said. 

Similar to Welling, Englund had military in his blood; Englund’s grandfather served in World War II. “He was a highly decorated World War Two Veteran… a complete-total badass,” he said. 

As a result of figures such as his grandfather, Englund grew up with a lot of respect for the military and the people in it, but he never thought he was going to join. To Englund, it was like how a kid has dreams of being an NBA player; it is a cool idea, but ultimately not a reality. Englund had to go to college. 

In college, Englund was studying music in New York during the height of the Great Recession. During his first semester, it quickly dawned on him. “What am I going to do? I’m going to come out with a ton of debt… end up struggling to find a job as a middle school band director or something?” he said.   

So he took a step back to reassess his options, and he was planning on at least getting his old job back at the mall— Zumiez skateboard shop. And while in the mall’s food court, Englund ran into all of the military’s recruitment offices. “I was like, I may as well go and talk to them, and see what’s going on,” Englund said. 

The army offered Englund a 25k signing bonus, and a highly skilled job as an electronic ground warfare specialist and cryptologist, where he’d learn Arabic and Farsi and then “spend six years driving around Afghanistan in a minivan and listen in on people’s cell phone calls.” However, day after day, when Englund would go and talk to the recruitment officer, he’d notice one thing. Every recruitment officer working there was “a fat dude with a mustache.” Except for the Marine recruitment officer, he was in his 60s but was in incredible shape, according to Englund. 

And eventually Englund had to go inside and talk to the Marine recruiter. Englund walks in very confidently. The Marine asks, “What can I do for you?” and Englund responds, “Well, the army is going to give me a 25 thousand dollar signing bonus and is setting me up with this cool job, what can you do for me?” The recruiter started to laugh and told Englund, “Listen, kid, the only thing that I can offer you is the greatest challenge of your life.”

That was Englund’s calling. “It struck this cord in me,” he said. He had not done anything “big” before, but now he had this “eureka moment” where he felt he could do this. After doing more research on the history of the Marine Corps, Englund became even more enamored with it. A few months later, he enlisted in the Marines in the fall of 2008. 

“I was so excited. I was like ‘bring it on,’” Englund said, describing his emotions on the first day of basic training. Englund went on to serve two tours in the Marines, both in Helmand Province in Afghanistan. 

Today, both Welling and Englund are very proud and look back fondly on their service in the military. Both of them still have lifelong friends from their time in the military, and they both support young people today to consider enlisting if they feel passionately about the military. As Englund put it: “I truly believe that being a marine is the greatest thing that a human can be.”