While Oneidas and others around the country were attending to their daily lives on Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy hit.

The terrorist attacks reverberated across the United States. Tom Jones (Turtle Clan), Nichola Aregano-Diaz (Turtle Clan), Carl Fogelberg’s (Turtle Clan) children, Kirsten and Stephen, and Glen Wheelock’s (Turtle Clan) son, Glen Jr. were each deployed to the Middle East in the crisis that continues to rage today.

The terrorist attacks occurred 12 years to the day of Tom’s enlistment in the Army. A chief warrant officer 2, working in air defense, he found himself deployed on the border between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia three weeks after the heinous events, where his unit manned the sophisticated, computerized Patriot missiles. His first tour lasted six months. He returned to the Middle East in April 2003, crossing over into Iraq. “It was scorching heat in the middle of a sand storm,” Tom recalled. “It was horrendous; the sand can peel your skin off.”

In May 2010, Tom will be embarking upon a different career tour. After 20 years of service, Tom is separating from the Army. Currently stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Tom is considering between two job offers, said his mother Roseanne.

“They are both government jobs: one in Massachusetts and one in Spain,” said Roseanne. “But he doesn’t really want to take his 5-year-old son Jonathan out of the country.”

Leaning toward the stateside job for his child’s sake, Tom also wants to be closer to his extended family, especially his mom. Roseanne cared for Jonathan when Tom was stationed in Korea for 18 months, returning to Texas last summer.

“He’s looking for the best job offer and proximity to home,” said Roseanne.

Nichola has separated from the military, having enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 2001 for a four-year stint. As a 19-year-old lance corporal, she was stationed in Kuwait as a satellite operator, serving four and one-half months on her first tour during the onset of the war in 2003.

Eager to do more, Nichola wrote home that she wanted to be on the battlefront, but her request was denied by her commanding officer due to her lack of experience.

Four years later, as a corporal whose stint in the military was nearly up, the 21-year-old newlywed extended her enlistment seven months, volunteering to return for a third tour in Iraq.

“It’s scary over there, but they need the bodies; there’s not enough soldiers,” said Nichola.

2010 finds her a recent grad and a new mom. Nichola earned her bachelor’s degree last December in physical education from Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where she settled with her husband after her military discharge in 2006. Last year, the couple welcomed daughter Daylah, who celebrated her first birthday in January.

The family just settled into a new home in Virginia Beach, and Nichola has begun looking for work, but school budget cuts are making it difficult. Nichola has additional goals, however. She is strongly considering attending graduate school to earn a master’s and then onto a doctorate program for physical therapy. The process will require six years of study, but she remains undeterred by the staunch commitment.

“I may look for a job in the fall or just go back to school and earn a master’s in exercise science, then go on for a doctorate in physical therapy,” said Nichola, who admits the plan is in flux. “But when I do put my mind to something, I go for it.”

Stephen remains firmly entrenched with the Army. He joined the war effort in 2004 as a 27-year-old Spec. 4th Class; he was a member of 1st Cavalry Division of the U.S. Army, which was responsible for the security of Baghdad. He enlisted in 2001 and has completed two additional tours in Iraq.

Now a sergeant E5, he returned from his most recent tour in Iraq last December after a year’s deployment. Stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, Stephen may be deployed again to the war zone in 2011.

With three more years of his military obligation to fulfill, he is considering his options either to continue his military career or separate from the Army.

On the personal front, Stephen recently married Mindy, who has three children: Nikki, 18; Abbie, 12; and Dylan, 11.

Stephen’s sister, Kirsten, also is a sergeant E5. Her family has expanded in the last year as well, welcoming a baby girl, Ember, one year ago. This year Kirsten is scheduled to go to Afghanistan, necessitating her once again to separate from her family.

When she was initially deployed with the Army’s 10th Mountain Division to Iraq in 2006-2007, she had to leave her older daughter, Karlaina, now 5, with family. Stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado, her commitment to the service is up in a couple of years and she’s not planning to re-up.

“She’s a fueler, which means she’ll be managing fuel coming into Afghanistan,” said her dad Carl. “She’ll be working at brigade level, meaning in a protective area and that’s a good thing.”