9/11 - 10 Years On

[Mr Silver]

^ That is a very good point, nobody born from that date will ever know a world without that day of atrocities. 9/11 will be remembered as an event that left a profound effect on the entire world.

As I mentioned earlier, I just hope that history will recognise the heroism of those people who risked their lives to save others. We may have seen some of the worst of humanity from the terrorists on that day, but I argue we saw some of the best of humanity from those who saved lives.

 

[Avon]

i remember seeing pretty much all of it live on tv. i was pretending to be ill to get off school. horrific.

and yet i feel all the grief was twisted into a war no one wanted. i knew a couple of people killed by american friendly fire, so this feels like the memorial to the beginning of the end of optimism.

 

[NuFan]

I was six and had no real understanding of it. Looking at it now, I would say the republicans drastically overreacted to a humiliating attack. Maybe a democratic administration would have overreacted too, if it had been them caught with their pants down.


But now my country is broke and still pouring money it does not have down a sinkhole 10 years later. I read that Al Queda has spent 40 million dollars and the U.S. has spent 3.2 trillion. If that's not overreaction I don't know what is.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

No one's reaction has been perfect, that's for sure.

But the kind of bickering and bitterness that is starting to overtake this thread is exactly what caused me to become so cynical and what has caused us all to be so broken by what happened. I feared it would come to this--that we would dissolve into a disjointed bunch of squabblers--and my fear was right. It's a truly unfitting tribute to those who were killed or affected by the events that day. Why don't we try to remember them instead?

 

[tomalak301]

No one's reaction has been perfect, that's for sure.

But the kind of bickering and bitterness that is starting to overtake this thread is exactly what caused me to become so cynical and what has caused us all to be so broken by what happened. I feared it would come to this--that we would dissolve into a disjointed bunch of squabblers--and my fear was right. It's a truly unfitting tribute to those who were killed or affected by the events that day. Why don't we try to remember them instead?

Maybe I'm not understanding the context (I've skimmed this thread for the most part, reading some of the stories and remembrance), but what is your definition of "Perfect". Were we supposed to act a certain way by your standards?

 

[iguana_tonante]

Apparently, commenting the fact that the tragedy was used for political purposes (curbing civil liberties, restricting travels, engaging in two wars, etc.) is bad and anti-American, and worth only of a bunch of bitter and bickering squabblers.

The problem is not that a terrorist attack was used to push a political and economical agenda, but that people are voicing criticism at it, ruining the singleness of purpose displayed in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Go figure.

 

[Kira's Mom]

I woke up about 6:30 that morning, got breakfast ready, watched the Today Show while eating, and was annoyed at how banal some of the stories being covered were. Michael Jordan's return to basketball? What a slow news day. I fed my cats, then went back to bed for a while because I was exhausted from working late the night before (and didn't have to go in until the next day). I thought it was such a beautiful day that I'd take a long walk later. Then, as I was dozing off, my dad woke me up by saying the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane and that thousands of people were probably dead. I jumped out of bed and turned on CNN, just as the second plane hit (or right after the first replay, I was too stunned to know the difference).

I watched the news coverage in horror, skipping back and forth from CNN, NBC, CBS, and ABC. I remember thinking how old Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings (this was before Jennings announced he had cancer) seemed to get during the day.

The Internet Archive has a great section of news from that day on several networks from all over the world. It's pretty hard to watch, but it's great history. http://www.archive.org/details/sept_11_tv_archive

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I was sitting on Route 80 east, in traffic in New Jersy. It runs to the George Washington Bidge. It was an absolutely beautiful clear day and I had a clear view of the World Trade Center and watched the first plane hit the tower. I thought that it was a small plane, could not tell size from the distance I was at. I walked into my office and said, "I think a plane just crashed into the WTC." We immediately turned the office radio on and to the news. I also immediately tried to call my fiancee at the time, she is a stockbroker and at the time worked in The WTC. I couldnt reach her on her work phone or cell phone. I was freaking out, especially after the towers fell. Not sure what to, I went to my mothers house. Hoping that I would be contacted by my fiancee. I sat crying in my mothers kitchen as the hours went by. Finally about 3pm in the afternoon she contacted me. She had gotten out and walked from the WTC up to Penn Station. She took the only available train to Metro Park in Edison NJ, which is an hour south from where we were living at the time. I got there and picked her up, she was covered in debris and dust from the WTC.

We broke up three months later, but we still share this tragedy to this day.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

No one's reaction has been perfect, that's for sure.

But the kind of bickering and bitterness that is starting to overtake this thread is exactly what caused me to become so cynical and what has caused us all to be so broken by what happened. I feared it would come to this--that we would dissolve into a disjointed bunch of squabblers--and my fear was right. It's a truly unfitting tribute to those who were killed or affected by the events that day. Why don't we try to remember them instead?

Maybe I'm not understanding the context (I've skimmed this thread for the most part, reading some of the stories and remembrance), but what is your definition of "Perfect". Were we supposed to act a certain way by your standards?

I think you did miss the context. I made my comment after all the political sniping started in this thread. It simply seemed this particular thread should be a place for remembrance, not for politics. There are countless other places to do that, and many of them right here on this board.

As for "not perfect," I mean simply that none of us can say we have had an ideal reaction to this tragedy, and I don't think there's anyone that could possible have gotten it 100% right. We've all had our bad moments. I cannot say I've measured up any better than anyone else.

 

[tomalak301]

Ok, but I saw just a few posts dealing with the political side of it. Most of this thread was about the remembrance so I'm not entirely sure what the problem is.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

It seemed to me like the political stuff could be taken into a political thread, rather than a memorial thread.

 

[sidious618]

As for "not perfect," I mean simply that none of us can say we have had an ideal reaction to this tragedy, and I don't think there's anyone that could possible have gotten it 100% right. We've all had our bad moments. I cannot say I've measured up any better than anyone else.

No one else is judging other people's reactions. Where are you getting this from?

 

[Gary7]

What a day... this 10th anniversary was quite a different experience from the other anniversaries. I watched so much more of the media, because of the new memorial site. The video recap was truly amazing, brought you right back to the events as if they'd happened yesterday.

I was on my way to work after having diverted to pick up a colleague. We heard the first impact report on the radio and it was so surreal. I wasn't sure if it was a terrorist attack, because there was so little information. But when we got in the office, someone had a television on and we saw the damage. At that point, it became clear to us that this was no accident... and then the 2nd plane hit, confirming our suspicion. The day was just a mess... hard to get anything done. I was 1.5 hours away from Manhattan and was so tempted to go down there and help... but wised up and realized it best to leave it to those who have more experience.

I had only one connection with someone who died at the towers. He was a former colleague who had left our company earlier that year. He didn't work in the towers, but was there for a business meeting. He got there early to enjoy breakfast in the "Windows of the World" cafe. It would be his last meal.

It's great to see the new memorial... I think it's very fitting. And the new building looks pretty good. It'll be a great feeling when they complete it.

 

[Roger Wilco]

>>> The 25 Most Un-American Reactions To The 9/11 Anniversary

Some of those messages would be funny if they were meant sarcastically, but I'm afraid those dumbasses are serious.

 

[Skywalker]

It's amazing how much stupidity still exists in the world.

 

[RoJoHen]

I got through about 10 of them before I had to close the page. People blow my mind.

 

[KimMH]

I saw the news coverage about the first plane hitting the Tower as I was leaving for work. When I arrived at the office my boss was watching it and he announced to me from across the office the second tower had been hit. We knew then it the first plane wasn't a terrible accident. I remember little else about the day - the tv seemingly was on non-stop for days after that - as each event occurred it felt like the world was becoming increasingly unbalanced.

Oddly enough I though of Ireland and the Troubles - the idea that senseless violence could touch anyone in even the most modern, urban places in the world I found oddly comforting - like most of us would get through the days and be better stronger people for it. It wasn't the end of the world and someday we would remember the day like our parents remembered where they were when JFK was assassinated.

It has become a watershed event that has re-defined the world for so many people in ways only history and time will tell in years to come. Ten years is all very well but I do wonder if in another ten or twenty young people will consider it the defining moment of a generation past like so many of us regard WWII or WWI.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

As for "not perfect," I mean simply that none of us can say we have had an ideal reaction to this tragedy, and I don't think there's anyone that could possible have gotten it 100% right. We've all had our bad moments. I cannot say I've measured up any better than anyone else.

No one else is judging other people's reactions. Where are you getting this from?

Tomalak seemed to be under the impression that I was, so I was explaining that I am not.

 

[sidious618]

>>> The 25 Most Un-American Reactions To The 9/11 Anniversary

Some of those messages would be funny if they were meant sarcastically, but I'm afraid those dumbasses are serious.

Those are hilarious. It's not surprising that most of them include terrible grammar and spelling.

 

[JarodRussell]

We knew then it the first plane wasn't a terrible accident.

I always wondered what would have been had it been only an accident. The tower would have collapsed anyway and maybe 2000 people may have died? And the other tower would have had to be destroyed, too, because of the damages. All the police men, firefighters, etc... would also suffer from the same 9/11 health issues and psychological traumas. For the world it would have been just an accident, but for New York itself it would have made no difference.