It was one of those almost unbearably beautiful Central Texas mornings. The September sky was a deep robin’s-egg blue without a cloud in sight, and it was unseasonably cool.

Time could have stopped; all seemed so right with the world.

And then, in just an instant, all seemed so wrong.

“Something horrible just happened in New York,” one caller said. “A plane flew into the World Trade center. It’s horrible. You should turn on the TV.”

Smoke billowed from one of the Twin Towers in New York City.

What happened? Why?

Then a plane crashed into the other tower.

The Pentagon was hit.

A plane went down in a Pennsylvania field.

What next?

The chaotic events of Sept. 11, 2001, were recorded in an EXTRA edition of The Temple Daily Telegram, the first EXTRA published since World War II. The four-page paper, which featured wire reports about the New York and Washington, D.C.., attacks along with local reaction, was distributed free of charge and without advertising to local retailers, hospitals, schools and large employers around town. The regular daily edition of the next morning’s paper was expanded by four pages to include news of the attacks.

The lead story in the paper that day laid out the grim events: “In one of the most audacious attacks ever against the United States, terrorists hijacked two airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center in a coordinated series of blows today that brought down the twin 110-story towers. A plane also slammed into the Pentagon, bringing the seat of government itself under attack.”

As information trickled into the newsroom, it became clear that hijackers also intended to hit the White House or Capitol, but were foiled and forced to crash in Pennsylvania.

“Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward, and freedom will be defended,” President Bush told the nation in a televised address. “Make no mistake: The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible.”

U.S. Rep Chet Edwards, D-Waco, released a statement in a similar vein. “Yesterday our nation was shocked by a despicable act of cowardice,” he said. “Today, as we grieve and pray for those killed, injured and missing, America will show the world that our national spirit can not be broken by the actions of terrorists.”

The Telegram reported that local officials were taking precautions. Security was also increased at and around the W.R. Poage Building in downtown Temple. The Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport was closed and its planes, like all across the nation, were grounded. Members of the Mid-Tex American Red Cross went on alert. Temple College closed, but most other schools remained open.

Military commanders ordered forces to go on highest alert the day of the attacks. Access to Fort Hood was limited to key personnel, which included only people who lived or worked on the base.

Darnall Army Community Hospital on the fort remained open for patients with scheduled appointments and for emergency services. Security was heightened in Killeen. But the city and the fort experienced an additional undercurrent of anxiety. The combat-ready soldiers at Fort Hood and their families were keenly aware of the possible implications of the attacks on their future.

War on terror begins

Ten days after the 9-11 attacks, Army Secretary Thomas White announced that a deployment order signed by then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld included Army as well as Air Force troops but did not specify which Army units would be involved in initial deployments. The War on Terror was under way.

While Fort Hood officials would not comment, it was hard not to notice tanks rolling across the countryside during live-fire training exercises. At the time, it was believed that Special Forces would do most of the fighting.

But in November, 2,000 troops from Fort Hood’s 1st Cavalry Division went to Kuwait for a four- to six-month tour. Their mission was described as “deterrence” - to help protect Kuwait from a possible invasion by Iraq.

By 2003, Fort Hood was deeply involved in the war in Iraq. It was an eventful year for the troops at the largest military base in the free world. President Bush appeared Jan. 3 at the Abrams Field House, noting that Fort Hood units had historically carved a special place in the country’s military history.

“Now you are called again into action to defend America in the cause of freedom in the first war of the 21st century,” he said. “We cannot wait for another terrorist attack.”

A week later, the first troops to move out were units of the 13th Corps Support Command. The 13th COSCOM continued to deploy units in 2003 until more than 5,000 Fort Hood soldiers were in the Persian Gulf region. Heart-wrenching scenes of deployment and reunion played out at Fort Hood several times over the course of the year, as they do even now.

Late in January of 2003 about 12,500 members of the 4th Infantry Division along with 3,500 from Fort Carson, Colo., were part of Joint Task Force Iron Horse, the largest deployment from the fort since Operation Desert Storm in 1990.

Though the 4th Infantry Division missed such historic moments as the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s statue and the taking of Baghdad - the 1st Armored Division had the pleasure of toppling the statue - the 4th ID got its moment in the spotlight when it captured Hussein, who soldiers found hiding in a hole in the ground.

In November, deployment orders were issued for III Corps, the first time in 60 years that III Corps soldiers were sent overseas. The troops moved out in January of 2004, taking eight of 10 divisions to Iraq.

Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, commanding general of III Corps and Fort Hood, said that III Corps faced “a tough, tough battle in front of us. We know that. We also know that we are going to win. Very simple. We will win it. But it will not be easy.”

Last year, nearly all of Fort Hood’s units served in combat zones in Afghanistan or Iraq. Most soldiers were on their second one-year assignments, and many were on their third or fourth tours.

As of late October, more than 23,000 of Fort Hood’s 50,000 soldiers were serving in Iraq, Afghanistan or in other trouble spots around the world, this time on 15-month tours of duty.

ccoppedge@temple-telegram.com