'I knew I had to get on the ground:' Retired Fort Bragg general recalls where he was on 9/11

Just about everyone remembers where they were when the attack on America began September 11, 2001. Retired General Dan McNeill was the Commander of Fort Bragg's 18th Airborne Corps.

He was getting ready to make a parachute jump over Sicily Drop Zone when he received word that an airplane had flown into the one of the towers at the World Trade Center in New York.

"At first I though, pilot error, somebody got out of line," said McNeill, former NATO Afghanistan commander.

"Then," he says, "We were set up to get the jump. Fog had lifted. A plane had flew into the Pentagon, and I knew I had to get on the ground and get busy."

Former Fayetteville City Councilwoman Val Applewhite was also at the Pentagon that day. She had retired from the Air Force and was working at her civilian job inside the building.

"I remember the impact. I remember the ceiling tiles being being sucked up. It felt as if the building had compressed, just a little bit. Just enough to move ceiling tiles that would set off alarms," said Applewhite.

The attack led to the hunt for Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. He was considered the mastermind behind the attack.

General McNeill was chosen to lead NATO forces.

"The commander of central command who was responsible for this fight desired an overall controlling headquarters short of the zone to go into Afghanistan," said McNeill. "And I get the call."

It turned out to be America's longest war.

More than 2,400 members of the US Military died and slightly more than 20,000 were wounded.

As the commander of NATO Forces, McNeill knew it was his job to send troops into harm's way. But even today, he struggles with the question: Was it all worth it?

"I'm less certain that as a collective we can answer the question: Was it all worth it?" he said. "I think it's a very individual, centered concept."

McNeill says that's the price of liberty -- and that it should remind everyone that freedom isn't free.