The First Pilot At Ground Zero Recalls His First Jobs
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 25 May 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, Peter Braxton’s first day as a military pilot began in the skies above September 11 attacks on 9/11. But that was just one of several first jobs that helped shape his life. From high-stakes military missions to everyday roles in civilian life, Braxton reflects on the early experiences that defined who he became and the lessons he carried with him along the way.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.0 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, |
| 0:18.2 | the show where America is the star and the American people. |
| 0:22.4 | To search for the Al American Stories podcast, go to the IHeart Radio app to Apple Podcasts, |
| 0:29.0 | or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:31.5 | On the morning of September 11, 2001, Peter Braxton was the first military pilot in the air |
| 0:36.9 | over the burning twin towers in New York City. |
| 0:40.4 | It was his first day on the job. |
| 0:42.5 | Here's Peter sharing some stories from a few of his first jobs, including those before and after, serving in the Air Force. |
| 0:50.9 | There's a, like a pitch and putt golf little thing with a little ice cream and miniature golf and driving range. |
| 0:59.7 | And I don't know, I think my high school, whatever, girlfriend or something like that got me the job and we're both working there. |
| 1:06.9 | I mean, this is before, I don't know, they had tractors picking up golf balls. |
| 1:10.5 | So I used to go out there and scoop them up with a little scooper in the driving range and then run over to the ice cream shop and, you know, try to make a twirly ice cream cone. You know, and I'd eat the mistakes. I was a kid. I was 14 or something like that. So I lasted a little while there, but that's a seasonal |
| 1:27.9 | job, right? So you can't do that in the winter. So then I worked at, I applied to where I got the job |
| 1:33.2 | at Burger King. And I lasted three weeks at Burger King. And the reason I lasted three weeks is I was |
| 1:40.8 | like bored. My brain was atrophying. I was making these burgers in the back and fries. |
| 1:45.4 | And they were like, oh, you all let's promote you to the window, you know, the drive-thru. I was like, no, I don't do that. Like, no, do you want, how about the cashier? Do you want to be a manager. I was 16 years old. I was like, no, no, no. |
| 2:01.4 | It's hard work, actually. |
| 2:03.6 | I mean, I don't know if people understand this. |
| 2:06.8 | This is labor. |
| 2:08.0 | I mean, lunchtime. |
... |
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