Megan Hallinan

The effects of the attacks on the World Trade Center were felt far beyond New York City. Thousands of men and women serving in the U.S. military were overseas at the time of the attacks. As they watched the video of the planes crashing into the towers and the towers' subsequent collapse, many soldiers and sailors were frustrated waiting for their mission. Megan Hallinan, an ensign aboard the USS Winston S Churchill, sent an e-mail to her father in which she tells him about a poignant and moving incident that raised the spirits of all those aboard her ship.

Well, we are still out at sea, with little direction as to what our next priority is. The remainder of our port visits, which were to be centered around max liberty and goodwill to the United Kingdom, have all...