Military recruiters said there hasn't been a surge in enlistments in the last year as there was following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

But NewsChannel5's Brad Harvey reported that many young men and women have chosen to take an active role in the war on terror.

For many new recruits, the one-year anniversary of Sept. 11 will find them in boot camp.

"I want to be able to be a part of supporting America and protecting other Americans from never letting anything like this ever happen again," said David Johnson, a Marine recruit. "This is my country, and I grew up here, and I don't ever want to lose it."

Gunnery Sgt. C.K. Pfortmiller, of the U.S. Marines, is responsible for recruiting many of the new troops and knows what's at stake.

"We were filling the ranks of the Marine Corps in a peacetime environment, and then 9/11 hit, and we said, 'Hey, these guys we're talking to -- it's possible they'll find themselves in a wartime situation,'" he said.

For some people, the decision to join the military was hard.

"It did make me want to join a little more, just to get over there and fight back," recruit John Rupp said. "But, at the same time, it makes you even more nervous, knowing bigger events are coming up."

Just the process before shipping out is psychologically tough, they said.

The shippers said that one of the most difficult and grueling parts of the process is waiting. They said they've been waiting for what seems like forever, and they've just now been called to take their oath.

The shadow of Sept. 11 even hangs over the man delivering the oath.

"My son, in our neighborhood had a friend (who) he played basketball with, (who) was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon ( news - web sites)," said Lt. Jimmy Johnson, of the U.S. Army.

The new recruits will spend the next six months to one year training in their individual specialties. After that, they could be sent anywhere in the world, NewsChannel5 reported.