On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, current Sun City resident and veteran and Elks Lodge No. 2559 member Jose Cordero-Torres was more than 2,500 miles away from New York City, working as a port director in Lukeville, on the Mexican-American border. Then orders came in to close the border, inspect every vehicle one-by-one and make sure nobody could enter the country to do more harm.
Cordero-Torres, who spent 28 years in the Marines, thought another infiltrator could find their way into the country. Cars were backed up for miles and it took two days to clear the line.
“It was a very bad experience and there was nothing we could do,” he said. “We were so far away but we did the best we could. We tried to ensure that nobody came in the United States to attack. That was our reaction.”
