North Carolina Guardsman Honors 9/11 Victims Through Military, Police Service

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a North Carolina National Guardsman says the events he witnessed as a teenager continue to shape his service in both the military and law enforcement.

Army 1st Sgt. Robert Henderson, assigned to the North Carolina National Guard’s 211th Military Police Company, was 16 years old when hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I already knew I wanted to serve, but 9/11 made that passion stronger, and it continues to this day,” Henderson said in a North Carolina National Guard feature released ahead of the 25th anniversary.

Henderson said he was walking into chorus class on his birthday when he first saw news of the attacks. “I didn’t know how to feel at the time,” he said. “I was just 16.”

After graduating from high school, Henderson pursued a goal he had held since childhood: becoming either a police officer or a soldier. He eventually learned he could do both.

In 2004, Henderson spoke with a National Guard recruiter and later completed basic and advanced individual training as a military police soldier.

He deployed to Iraq in 2009, serving on convoy security missions and working in a tactical operations center. After returning home, Henderson completed basic law enforcement training before later deploying to Afghanistan with the 211th Military Police Company.

“The ones we lost that day were real people who went to work that morning, with real families who never got to see them again,” Henderson said. “An entire generation of people’s lives changed because of what happened that day and the subsequent war on terror, which is often forgotten.”

Henderson continued his civilian public service career and was sworn in with the Apex Police Department in 2017. In 2025, he became first sergeant of the 211th Military Police Company.

For Henderson, honoring the victims of Sept. 11 does not necessarily require wearing a uniform.

“We need to continue remembering that day by honoring the ones we lost,” he said. “This doesn’t mean you have to put on a uniform, but if an opportunity comes to be part of something bigger than yourself, don’t be afraid to answer the call.”

As the nation marks a quarter-century since the attacks, Henderson said preserving the history of Sept. 11 is increasingly important as younger generations grow up without personal memories of that day.

“Eventually, everyone who personally remembers 9/11 will be gone,” Henderson said. “The responsibility falls on this generation to make sure the memory doesn’t fade, and to understand what was sacrificed to preserve the freedoms they inherited.”