The seventh anniversary of 9/11

[packerfan386 3]

Today, we remember those who where taken from us much to soon at the hands of evil and the countless hero's that saved many souls on that fateful day.

We must NEVER forget!

[xV.I.N.C.E.N.T.x 0]

Fiercely we grasp the day with a white knucked fist, and gather forth an emotion and plead.

Not to turn away the future we see fit, but to cast its shadow, and cover the wounds that bleed.

I heard that once and wanted to share.

[packerfan386 3]

God Bless America

Words and music by Irving Berlin

God Bless America,

Land that I love.

Stand beside her, and guide her

Thru the night with a light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies,

To the oceans, white with foam

God bless America, my home sweet home.

God bless America, My home sweet home. quote>

[xV.I.N.C.E.N.T.x 0]

Someone should post a video from youtube ... I'm too tired myself to do so. That would be humbling.

[packerfan386 3]

here you go

[packerfan386 3]

[xV.I.N.C.E.N.T.x 0]

LOL

Right on. Don't ya love the internet? LOL

[packerfan386 3]

[packerfan386 3]

[z26fireman 1]

RIP FDNY 343, PAPD 37, NYPD 21, but especially; Terry Farrell, FDNY Rescue 4 and George Howard, PAPD ESU. You were two great men and mentors. I will always look up to you and I hope you will always look down and protect your fellow brothers.

When I am called to duty, God, wherever flames may rage;

Give me the strength to save some life, whatever be it's age.

Help me embrace a little child before it is to late;

Or save an older person from the horrors of that fate.

Enable me to be alert, and hear the weakest shout,

and quickly and efficiently put the fire out.

I want to fill my calling and to give the best in me;

To guard my every neighbor and protect his property.

And if according to Your will I am to give my life,

Please bless with Your protecting hand,

My children and my wife.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

The seventh anniversary of 9/11 

God Bless America!quote>

I always had an aversion to the phrase 'God Bless America!', probably because I'm an atheist . But, it still is an expression of love for America, which I guess is appropiate on such a day.

9/11 was a significant day for the world, no doubt. Just as Pearl Harbor was. Pearl Harbor was the event that catapulted the rise of America to an interventionalist superpower, and arguably an empire. From 1989 to 2001 the US held a virtual world hegemony (not quite domination), and a booming economy.

Then, 9/11 happened. Regardless of whether Al Qaeda, Bush, Cheney, the CIA, or a rogue group were responsible for it, it changed the world. It paved the way for every American's phone to be wired and listened into, their mail to be read by the government, and a secret camp for 'detainees' with no due process of the law.

Osama has failed to be captured, and there is a reason -- Afghanistan is a violent region, and he would be impossible to find in the mountains. But, even if the Amercians did capture him, there could be no trial because there is no evidence and no one has charged him with anything.

If the USA was to be turned into a fascist or totalitarian state by the Bush administration, they did a miserable job of it.

That all said, this is truly a day to remember, regardless of ideology or beliefs.

Instead of "God Bless America", let's say "God Bless American Principles", such as freedom, equal rights for all, representation, free elections, protests, and diplomacy.

- Patricius Maximus

[kj3400 178]

9/11 was a tragic day. I can still remember what Iwas doing that day. In commemoration, I have changed my avatar temporarily.

God bless America!

[Patricius Maximus 236]

I can still remember what Iwas doing that dayquote>

So can I. Does anyone not know? I'd like to find out.

In commemoration, I have changed my avatar temporarily.quote>

Interesting. That is a good flag picture you obtained. Goes well with the site theme.

[your_adress_here 11]

For one day, my thoughts go out to Americans and especially all those who were directly affected by this incident. Good luck to you all, and as the saying goes, God bless you.

[hym 358]

Originally posted by: Patricius Maximus

Instead of "God Bless America", let's say "God Bless American Principles", such as freedom, equal rights for all, representation, free elections, protests, and diplomacy.quote>

Just so you know, by saying "God Bless America," you're in effect saying "God Bless American Principles" too.  Since you're expressing love and support for the country, you're kind of also expressing love and support for what the country is supposed to stand for.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

It was a normal morning for me. The second week of my freshman year at college, and I walked to my morning class. My professor came it with a kind of frantic haste and breathlessly tried turning on the classroom's tvs to try to get a signal saying, "Did you hear about this? Did you see?" I turned to the girl next to me and asked her what this crazy prof was talking about. She said she had heard on the radio that a plane had run into the World Trade Center. Her description made it sound like a small prop plane hit a radio tower. "Hey, no big deal," I thought and when the tvs returned nothing but snow, our professor decided just to go along with the lesson as she had planned it.

Class was uneventful (I can't even remember the day's topic) and I returned to my dorm room to check the Monday Night Football score (I think the Broncos played someone, the Raiders, maybe? I can't remember), and instead of seeing the front page at CBS Sportsline, it was a picture of the smoking Towers, stark against a beautiful blue sky. The weather was truly at odds with the events of the day. I immediately shot up and woke my roommate while simultaneously turning on the tv to check the news (all the stations were playing it, the newscasters in universal disbelief). He was annoyed at first (what the hell? Dude, let me sleep!) but upon rolling over and scoping the news, he was up and gone to be with his friends in minutes. I was shocked, and it's still a terrible thing to think about.

The rest of the day is a blur of no classes and shocked students actually watching news channels. Classes were canceled. Apparently Marquette was the home for a number of grounded flights over the Midwest, owing to its airport being a decommissioned USAF base (which needed to be big enough to land B-52s). Life then continued forward (tomorrow waits for no man) and now that my 9-11 if in its closing minutes, another year without a major terrorist attack on US soil is behind us, and hopefully we will see a similar lack of headline-makers for the foreseeable future.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Patricius Maximus

I can still remember what Iwas doing that dayquote>

So can I. Does anyone not know? I'd like to find out.

quote>

In a few years, we will be encountering more and more people who were too young to remember.

Today's 13-year-olds were 6 years old at the time.   Most of them were in school.  I know one kid who was in a class where the teacher did not tell them what was going on.  The kids knew that something was going on, though, because there was a sporadic stream of parents coming to pick up their children from class earlier than usual.  The kids decided it was "parent pick-up" day, although they didn't find out why until they got home. 

I know one kid who was 6 years old and non-verbal at the time (long medical story).  When the airplanes started flying again, she saw one in the air at a relatively low altitude.   She stopped dead in her tracks and said "uh oh".   Obviously, she had seen something but her parents didn't know what her understanding of it was.

Today's 11-year-old were 4 years old at the time.  I do not know how much they remember.

As for me, I was living and working in Arlington, Virginia at the time so I knew the Pentagon had been hit before it made the news.  When they evacuated my office building, I wound up going towards that large column of smoke since my apartment building was less than a 1/2 mile from the crash site.   Sitting in my apartment, I could smell the Pentagon burning for a week.

From the roof of the building where I was living:

[kj3400 178]

I was in 6th grade. I had just come back from lunch for Social Studies. My teacher had the radio on. At first I didnt know what was going on. Then I heard that the World Trade Center in New York had been hit and collapsed. I didn't know what to make of it. Then they closed school. When I got home, my mother had the news on and I saw just what had happened. I didn't know anyone who died personally, but my heart goes out to those who have.I will never forget....

[Duke87 1,070]

2007 thread

2006 thread

2005 thread

There's one of these every year, without fail.

Though, the older ones ('03 and '04) aren't viewable anymore, due to having been archived.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

In a few years, we will be encountering more and more people who were too young to remember.quote>

Yes, we will. Those people, someday, may make a movie about it, like Pearl Harbor.

[Barbarossa 51]

.

  Edited September 7, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[Boggy1 45]

Barbarossa: You've hit the nail on the head. Please don't take offence to what I say, but in the scheme of things, September 11th was a very minor loss of life. The Iraq War since 2003 has claimed over a million lives, the Rwandan Genocide had between 800,000 and a million deaths. Right now, there are hundreds upon hundreds of people being killed by terrorists all over the world. There is a number of major and minor wars happening right this very second. Yet no one seems to remember them. When you take a moment to remember the lives lost on September 11th, also remember the lives lost in London, July 7th, Madrid, March 11th, the two World Wars, those killed in ongoing conflicts, and those killed in past conflicts.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Boggy1

Barbarossa: You've hit the nail on the head. Please don't take offence to what I say, but in the scheme of things, September 11th was a very minor loss of life.quote>

Most Americans are never going to believe that because 9/11 was different.   There just aren't that many days when thousands of civilians lost their lives unexpectedly at the hands of other human beings.

You do have a point that many other people have lost their lives, before and since, in a variety of wars and terrorist attacks.  Those people should not be forgotten either.

Let's see if we can do this thread this year without a lot of political sniping 

[Joesocwork 4]

I think its good to keep those days and many others in commemorence also; I have always been okay with threads that discuss the anniversaries of those events as well, especially the ones with meaning for our members here.  But 09/11/01 is definitely one of the dates whose events has had direct impact upon members here in this cybercommunity.  

I remember the terror of that day.  My office was only a couple of miles away from the Pentagon.  I remember the unity of spirit that followed the days thereafter. And I remember the changes in how security is perceived and the changes that were made to reflect those new perceptions. The events of that day, for good or for bad, remembered or not, have had as much of a direct impact on American culture, politics, and economy as any in recent memory.  My 8 year old daughter might not have an idea of the sense of relief and gratitude I felt when I finally got home after a 6 hour chaotic commute (from what is ordinarily a mundane 40 minutes drive), nor might she realize that long lines, security checks, and yellow alerts weren't always the norm. But hopefully she will be instilled the understanding that evil does exist, that vigilance will always be needed, and that its okay to love God, country, and other people regardless of the existence of evil.

[hym 358]

New Pentagon memorial unveiled

I'll give them credit that they thought of something different, but at the same time, "memorial benches" is a bit unique.

[packerfan386 3]

Originally posted by: Patricius Maximus

In a few years, we will be encountering more and more people who were too young to remember.quote>

Yes, we will. Those people, someday, may make a movie about it, like Pearl Harbor.quote>

They already did... the Oliver Stone movie: World Trade Center (2006)

As far as remembering the 3 W's and H of that fateful day :  I can recall ariving to school late and walking in and hearing the radio they fed thought the P/A system. Then asking a staff member whats happening , when I first saw what was going on the small TV he had in his office. At 1st thought this has to be a movie or something but when I saw the news banner at the bottom of the screen it hit me this was real.

After 10min or so he told me to go back to class (phy ed.) we where playing football and when I tryed to talk about whats just happend people just shrugged the news off.  It was only when we returned to our homeroom then it finally hit everyone soomething really BIG had happend. Also I remember meny people choosing to sit in and watch what was going on during lunch recess. The geography teacher had got a projector from the High School when he herd what was gong on in the eastern USA..

I remember watching the towers fall and CNN's Aron Brown trying to put into words what he just saw. And I can remember at about 2 ish or somthing My homeroom teacher started talking about what would happen if the terrorists had gotten ther hands on a nuke in the Twins Cities, MN. This beacuse so little was known at the time, who did this and what would happen next.

So yea I can recall with vividly the events of that day.

I was a just 11 yro in the 6th grade at the time 

[hamsterTK 93]

I was in 8th grade and the school teachers/principals didn't say anything. No announcement, no nothing. I actually kind of resent that.

I guess 911 was significant to me because before that point I was too young and didn't care about the news. That day was probably the first time I sat down and watched CNN by myself.

[RJ11 0]

To you idiots bringing politics in it: stay the hell out, if you think this is a bad thread, I'll wait for 3,000 of your people in your country to be killed at almost the same time.

R.I.P. All those who died on 9/11

Lest We Forget, 9/11

[PhilsCafe 8]

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

Originally posted by: Boggy1

Barbarossa: You've hit the nail on the head. Please don't take offence to what I say, but in the scheme of things, September 11th was a very minor loss of life.quote>

Most Americans are never going to believe that because 9/11 was different.   There just aren't that many days when thousands of civilians lost their lives unexpectedly at the hands of other human beings.

...

quote>

I think not only Americans... everyone who's seen it live on TV. Watching people actually die is a traumatic experience. Not to devalue the loss of lives in other terror attacks or because of hunger, diseases, etc., but 9/11 went deeper because it affected a lot of people directly. I will never forget the people who jumped into death... that's when I realized that this was real!

[Vandy 110]

Hello, All.

I was on a non-stop flight from Raleigh-Durham, NC to Minneapolis, MN to perform network and test equipment training for the FAA.  We were about five minutes past Chicago when the pilot came on the intercom and said (I've never forgotten his words):

Ladies and Gentleman, we have been informed that there has been an incident at the World Trade Center and have been directed to put down at the nearest airport which, for us, will be Millwaukee, Wisconsin.  As soon as we have more information, we'll let you know.quote>

That is the last thing we heard until we were well inside the terminal building.

It certainly was a scary time for all Americans as well as for the rest of the world.  Many people of many nationalities lost their lives that day.  My heart-felt prayers go out to those families who have lost a loved one and to all others who have lost a friend and acquaintance.

God speed and God bless.

Regards,

Gary (Vandy)