BOISE, Idaho — Bryan Madden was studying at West Point on the day terrorists hijacked four airplanes and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center.
"I just remember that instantly it went from a peacetime army to being a wartime army that day it was pretty interesting being there that day when it happened," said Madden who served as an officer in the Air Force and the Army. "Everyone volunteered to be in the military so you want to be the one called to respond to that."
9/11 changed the world and our country is still dealing with the response to those attacks 20-years later as we just witnessed with the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan.
But there is a whole generation of young Americans who weren't alive when this horrific tragedy happened including Bryan's daughter Reagan.
"I think it is important for everyone to know what happened and how that was a really bad thing," said eleven-year-old Reagan Madden.
Bryan Madden works as the executive director of Mission 43, an organization dedicated to helping post 9/11 veterans through education, employment and engagement.
Mission 43 has put together a series of podcasts to help people learn more about this historic day, it even includes a podcast by Reagan aimed at helping young children understand 9/11.
Mission 43 will also host Miles of Remembrance this Saturday at the Eagle Bike Park starting at 3:00 p.m.
"I think it is important to remember we live in Boise, Idaho," said Bryan Madden. "It’s a safe place we are very disconnected from a lot of the bad things in the world we just have to take a step back every once in a while and appreciate that so coming out to participate in the 9/11 run is a way to do that."
Bryan Madden served as a helicopter pilot and he did nine tours with his first happening in Afghanistan, in 2011 Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden and a year after Reagan was born, but the repercussions of 9/11 still affected this military family.
"He’s been deployed once for six months and three weeks while I was alive," said Reagan. "So I'm going to run the 5k for 9/11 and usually I run it with the American flag."
Mission 43 is part of the J.A. & Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation which announced earlier this summer that they are building a new headquarters for Mission 43 and the Challenged Athletes Foundation of Idaho.
