In remembrance of 9/11/2001

[BoogyMan]

In memory of those who died 9/11/2001, let us never forget.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/images/9-11_1.jpg
http://www.infowars.net/pictures/Oct06/231006spet11.jpg

[ECW]

We will never forget.

[suedanim]

It is so overwhelming to remember, so frustrating, so shocking still to this day, I hardly know what to say. For me that was the saddest day of my life, except when my Father died. All I could say was Oh my God over and over and cry. I imagine mine and my families reaction, glued to the TV all day and in the days after was happening in millions of living rooms around the nation .. and the world. It is still unbelievable what happened that day. I am still angry.

[mammalicious]

I am sure to upset a lot of folks with this post.

While 9/11 was horrific, and the loss is still felt to this day, it is hollow. What has happened as a result of that day? Those that planned the attack are still free. The borders are still open. The 'homeland' is not secure. Our military is bogged down in Iraq. Terror groups have seen an upswing in recruitments. Terrorism has not abated. The country is deeply divided. Our nations' image has been tarnished throughout the world. And a host of other things it is too early for me to think of...

While folks will hold memorials for those lost, and rightly so...the grandstanding and the anniversary rhetoric that will be employed by those with a stage, will make me ill. I understand the need to say ''never forget,'' and employ the tough-guy talk, isn't that part of the problem in the world? Groups of folks who ''never forget''? Those who hold grudges, and looking for payback for years, decades, centuries afterwards?? To those with quick reactions...I am NOT saying that we are like the Islamic extremists. But I have heard many folks on other boards remark of how others should 'get over it' in regards to wrongs they claim are done to them. Why does it seem that only the wrongs done to us deserve to be clung to? Maybe I am going through one of the ''stages of loss'' or something. Or maybe I can't just get my thoughts down as clear as I would like.

[Marley]

IT was a beautiful day.

September in the northeast is awesome and that particular day was as good as it gets.

It sucks that suck ugliness was able to impose itself on such a beautiful day.

I'll never forget the smell weeks later.

[Truth_and_Power]

It was my first day at a new job and all I did was watch TV and talk to people. It was surreal.

[exigent]

It was about midnight in japan and I was asleep on the ship getting ready to go underway the next day. I noticed an immediate change in everyone. Everyone wanted blood, me included for a while.

And just like Mamma said


Those that planned the attack are still free. The borders are still open. The 'homeland' is not secure. Our military is bogged down in Iraq. Terror groups have seen an upswing in recruitments. Terrorism has not abated. The country is deeply divided. Our nations' image has been tarnished throughout the world.


We had the sympathy of the entire world. Our 'president' had the support of an entire nation or even the world. If they REALLY wanted to attack us again, they could. Bush is a failure. A trillion dollars. Thats more than the whole world spent on World War II. Thousands more americans' lives lost. THAT depresses me more than thinking about the events of 9/11. This day is insignificant when compared to the events that occured in the past 6 years.

And why did Bush let Osama escape at Tora Bora?

[BoogyMan]

Guys, I started this thread as a 9/11 remembrance thread and would like to keep it free of Bush bashing if you would please work with me on that one.

[BIrdzeye]

Guys, I started this thread as a 9/11 remembrance thread and would like to keep it free of Bush bashing if you would please work with me on that one.


To that I'd add, I'd like to see people stay away from bashing each other for disagreements.

I was driving on the interstate, with the radio on, listening to the events as they unfolded. After the tower collapsed, I looked down at the speedometer and realized that I was driving far enough over the speed limit to have gotten cited for reckless driving, as if I were trying to flee from something horrible (I don't normally drive that fast). I was that freaked out.

[BoogyMan]

I was in an early staff meeting and my secretary interrupted us to tell me that we should probably turn the TV on. We did and that is the last thing I can really remember from 9/11, the rest of that whole week is kind of a haze.

[Truth_and_Power]

I watch the second plane hit.. up until then everyone was hoping this was some kind of accident. That was the moment the entire nation said 'holy shit'.

[BoogyMan]

I watch the second plane hit.. up until then everyone was hoping this was some kind of accident. That was the moment the entire nation said 'holy shit'.


Exactly, we were watching the news showing the first tower and then saw the plane fly into the second tower and my heart sank. I cannot describe the sick feeling in my stomach after seeing that.

[Marley]

I cannot describe the sick feeling in my stomach after seeing that.

It was supposed to be "terror."

[suedanim]

I watch the second plane hit.. up until then everyone was hoping this was some kind of accident. That was the moment the entire nation said 'holy shit'.


Exactly, we were watching the news showing the first tower and then saw the plane fly into the second tower and my heart sank. I cannot describe the sick feeling in my stomach after seeing that.


I think I stopped breathing at that moment. The most horrifying scenes for me though were of the people hanging out those windows at the WTC and then deliberately dropped to their deaths.

As for Bush bashing... there are plenty of other opportunities for that. I like the idea of simply honoring the people who died that day and remembering how vulnerable we still are to an attack.

[Elrathin]

I was in Korea at the time, and I got a call from my commander to quickly come into the office. I don't remember any exact times that day, all I remember is it was night and I had been woken up out of a nice sleep. So I quickly got on my uniform and went into the SCIF (about 200 feet underground) where I saw my commander just sitting there in front of the T.V. with the news on.

The post in Yongsan was put on Lockdown for anyone that did not live off post. I lived off post at the time in the an apartment complex about a half a mile from the post. I also remember that there was a protest that was scheduled that day (Koreans have to schedule their protests), but the protesters decided to cancel their protest in light of what had happened to the U.S.

I ended up going home after it was dark as well never seeing the light that day. It was definately a surreal experience and I had a kinda "Did this really happen" feeling in my gut for a few days, definately disbelief that something like this could have happened.

[BIrdzeye]

I heard the news about the towers collapsing on the radio. At that time, I envisioned a part of the buildings falling down, NOT THE ENTIRE DAMNED BUILDING!

When I saw it on video, that just blew my mind.

[bobbylien]

I watched the second plane hit and everything from that point forward.

[ViolaLee]

http://www.projectrebirth.org/albums/album004_third-anniversary/DSC_0004.jpg

[mammalicious]

Sept. 11, 2001 was the first day of preschool for my youngest child. I dropped her off, and ran to the convenience store on the way home. They were talking of the first plane hitting the towers on the radio, so I turned on the tv when I got home. I was watching for a few moments, then the 2nd plane hit. I debated on whether or not to rush to my childrens' schools and pull them out to be 'safe at home.' I decided to have them remain at school for two reasons. The first was because the schools went into lockdown and I knew they were safe. The second was because I thought that it might be the last day of 'normal' childhood, and they should have it as long as they could. There would be plenty of time for them to find out the facts of that days' events, and to absorb what it meant in the ways they could understand.

When I saw people leaping from the towers to their deaths in a desperate choice between flame and horrific pain, and a brief flight to a quick end, I cried. I couldn't imagine one's life coming to that point.

While now I still feel for their anguish and for the loss of all the others that perished, the DAY itself now doesn't hold much for me...

[ViolaLee]

The day itself makes me angry that we got distracted in Iraq instead of going after Al Qaeda around the world.

As my sig shows, we got the wrong guy.

[AnnEsthesia]

I woke up late after being up with my infant all night. I turned on the TV as I nursed her and learned that a plane had crashed into the first tower. I sat there, nursing and rocking her as the rest unfolded and felt so sick. I felt like the whole world had turned upside down. Of course, I was sleep deprived and hormonal too, which did not help... I wound up going to my mom's house because I was just so upset and did not want to be alone.

[micfranklin]

I remember I was in my first class in 8th grade at the time. The principal announced over the intercom that a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center and when we cut the news on, everyone was gasping like "Oh my God!" Then when I got to my 2nd period class we found out one of the towers fell apart.

That day we got out of school 3 hours early.

[April15]

I watched the craven coward of Crawford crap his pants in a class room.

[micfranklin]

It didn't help that my birthday was the next day either.

[PatrickHenry]

I awoke here in Hawaii to the news that both WTC towers had collapsed and that a plane had flown into the Pentagon.

As soon as I was awake I began to think of survivors and hope and pray that the rescuers could save some people.

I called many friends on the phone and asked them to meet me at the church. We got on our knees and earnestly prayed for the survivors, the families of the ones killed and for God's mercy on the world.

I was heartsick and needed the comfort of my friendship with God.

It wasn't until months later that my investigations led me to a realization of the actual perpetrators. Now I am out to get them...

[bobbylien]

I think it takes a moment like 9/11 to make everyone realize how foolish our small differences in political views are sometimes. I'll never understand how Bush could go from having the entire country backing him to an approval rating in the upper twenties in just a few short years. Its easy for many to sit back in their chairs and say the other side is working against America but the more you look at it, the more you realize that its just a bunch of bullshit.

[ViolaLee]

Here is Barack Obama's message for today.

Six years ago, on a bright and beautiful Tuesday morning, a new kind of enemy came to America's shores.

We will never forget the images of that terrible day -- the planes vanishing into buildings, the thick black clouds of smoke, and the haunting pictures of the missing.

On this anniversary, we pause to remember each and every victim of those attacks.

We celebrate the lives that were tragically cut short. We grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones. We honor the service and sacrifice of the emergency responders who set an example to the whole world that in America we are our brother's keeper and our sister's keeper.

And we pause to honor the brave men and women of the United States military -- and their families -- who have borne such a heavy burden for the last six years.

We also remember how Americans were stirred to a common purpose. On the lines to donate blood or the candlelight vigils that stretched across our country, there was no red America and there was no blue America. We were united in our grief for our fellow citizens. We were united in our resolve to stand with one another and to stand up to terror. We were united as Americans.

Six years later, the threat to America has only grown. Al Qaeda has reconstituted a new safe-haven where it trains recruits and plots attacks. Al Qaeda's top two leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, continue to disseminate their hate-filled propaganda and inspire legions of followers. Like-minded extremists have struck in scores of countries. The war in Iraq continues to fuel terror and extremism. A Taliban insurgency rages on in Afghanistan. In too many disconnected corners of the world, hate is casting a shadow over hope.

Our calling today remains the same as it was on 9/11. We must write a new chapter in American history. We must bring justice to the terrorists who killed on our shores. We must devise new strategies, develop new capabilities, and build new alliances to defeat the threats of the 21st century. We must extend hope to the hopeless corners of the world and reaffirm our core values to counter the hateful message of the extremists. And we must secure a more resilient homeland.

To write that new American story, we must recapture that sense of common purpose that we had on September 11, 2001.

America is bigger than the challenge that came to our shores. Let us honor the legacy of those we lost by coming together anew. Let us always mark this day by affirming that hope will triumph over fear, and that a new generation of Americans will seek a safer, freer, and more perfect union.

Barack Obama

[3.14]

I was going to school, and living in a small studio apartment with my girl friend (at the time) in the US in 2001. . .

That morning was like any other - I woke up (groggy as always after the previous night's beer :-D) for my 8AM, and made my way on to class. Arrived at 7:55AM, and grabbed a smoke from a classmate (this was back when I did smoke - I've quit since). He was saying something about "something in NY got blown up" - he apparently heard part of a news report which must have gotten in around that time, but he was too groggy to really make much of it, and he was in a hurry anyway.

We sat through this class, and I left for home at 8:50AM. I still wasn't aware something was up. . .

Upon arriving at the apartment, I was greeted by a loud scream "Baby!". My first reaction was, "Boy, what did I do this time!?" and I accordingly started to prepare excuses. My lady then screams at me, "What the hell is going on!", and she points at the TV - at which point they were showing the second tower going down. It didn't sink in at that point either, but it DID sink in when I heard the commentary along with it.

The rest of the day passed in a sort of frenzy. My 9:15 class got cancelled, and we rushed to the gas station to get gas (one in a line of MANY cars). . .Got involved in the usual discussions of when the world would end, Nostradamus's predictions (which were taken out of context by many) and related issues. Ended up with a barrage of beers, but that wasn't unusual for me in college anyway! :-D

Well, that is where I was and that is what I was doing on that ill fated day.

3.14

[BIrdzeye]

My cousin was in the NYC subway when the system lost power. He and the other passengers had to walk down the tunnel to the nearest exit, and then he had to make a long trek down the streets of Manhattan, IIRC, to catch a commuter train back home. Since phone lines were jammed, it was hours before he finally got through to his fiancee to let her know he was OK. She in turn emailed all the relatives with the good news.