8 Years since September 11, 2001

[Spadille]

I was 7 that faithful day and I remember watching it on the extra-news and thinking, what if I was in that building, or I had to suffer the sorrow of losing someone close to me to this sort of terrorist actions. In the aftermaths of that day I cannot understand that a 7 year old boy like I was at that time could think those thoughts... Just goes to show you how those actions affect each and every one of us.

 

THE LOST

by Sasha Taylor

 

We mourn the lost,

We sit and cry.

 

We were the fortunate ones,

We didn't die.

 

They suffered,

They went through pain.

 

We watched it on TV,

While they went insane.

 

Now we must fight; we must die,

While they watch; while they stand by.

 

Today in class I made a drawing on the back of one of my books with a drawing of what happened 8 years ago, you can see it here:

 

 

RIP to those innocent people who passed away by suck terror actions, and condolences for someone who lost someone close to these actions.

[Hawkstrong16]

You were in Pennsylvania at the time? Did you see United Airlines Flight 93?

 

I didn't myself.. But I know people who did see it. My best friend told me it was the one of the scariest things he had ever seen

[ForeverNight]

I was 9, I heard about it on the radio on my way to school and watched it happen on the news after the fact.... first time I swore actually..... funniest thing about it is that my teacher agreed with me!

[Litofsky]

I come here to put my neck on the line with this and say that i have no idea what i was doing back when it happened and it didnt even feel like a big deal. And nowadays it bores me to death to have only 9/11 documentaries on tv for the whole week.

 

Come on, do your worst!

 

We could, but we'd likely get perma-banned for trying. I don't think words can describe my loathing for you at this exact moment. If you intended it as a joke, that was the worst I've ever heard. If it wasn't...

 

I was particularly young at the time of the attack, but I remember hearing the teachers' mumbles and looks on their collective faces. Another striking memory was the fact that everyone was being pulled out of school (concerned moms rushing to pick up their babies).

 

In the car on the way home, my mom told me what had happened ('bad people flying planes into New York' was, more or less, the way she put it). Ever since I've been old enough to realize what happened, I wish that I had been born earlier to be able to comprehend what was happening, if that makes any sense.

 

One of my current teachers described his reaction as a terrible mixture between rage and a week-long period of stupor (he remarked that no one could participate in class- that he could even teach it was impossible- for the week).

 

Knowing now what 9/11 means, I can't help but feel angry. What's worse, though, what makes me so incredibly furious with myself, is that I feel like I'm grasping a shadow when I think I can understand what might drive someone towards this.

 

Just saying that makes me furious with myself, though. They killed, they murdered, they slaughtered three thousand people without remorse. There's a part of me that wants to be fair, and try to understand the why, but there's another part that knows what they did was unequivocally wrong, and that there's no justification for murder.

 

But this is only the rantings of a teenage kid. I needed to express myself, and I don't know if what I wrote is even coherent.

 

Nonetheless, my heart goes out to the victims of the attacks, and the victims who have fallen prey to subsequent actions of the attacks.

[DarthJacen]

Thank you very much for that!

[JediAthos]

I think one of the things that had me at the time was that I was in a place (Naval Station, Norfolk, Virginia) and on a ship that might very well be the next target. There was a great deal of speculation that Norfolk was on the hit list and frankly I was scared.

 

For about four hours after the events began to unfold I was wearing a bullet proof vest and carrying a gun patrolling the interior of my ship. That evening I boarded another ship to assist their technicians with the original orders to be to deploy immediately to New York City to render any assistance we were able. Those orders changed and I was back in Norfolk the next day, but it was scary nonetheless.

 

After I did my job came the anger and of course the sadness. I have never been prouder to be an American and to serve in this country's military than I was in the aftermath of September 11th and when President Bush stood at the site and said "We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail."

 

I apologize if I went off on a tangent a bit, but those were the thoughts running through my mind and they just kind of flowed to the keyboard.

 

September 11th like December 7th is a day in American history that should NEVER be forgotten. To those who lost, and those who continue to give that we might remain free...an old Naval salute...fair winds...and following seas.

[DarthJacen]

Fair winds to you, too.

[jawathehutt]

I was 10, my dad drove my sister and I to school but I realized I had forgotten some homework so my dad had to run home with me. They announced on the radio a plane had flown into the towers which my dad and I assumed was just some idiot in a small plane. Then we got more and more information in school. By the time I got home, pretty much every channel on cable except maybe cartoon network had something at some point during the day about it. My family watched the TV for 4 or so hours until we got out my sisters birthday cake and finally celebrated her birthday. And then for the next month or so I think the news was on nonstop.

[DarthJacen]

Wow, good account, thank you!

[Ping]

Like Hawkstrong16, I live in Pennsylvania (about an hour away from Philadelphia), and I, too was 8. I remember coming home from school and flipping the TV on, and the TV just happens to turn on to a news channel (forget which one). The first thing I saw was the footage of one of the planes crashing into one of the towers. I don't think I fully comprehended what was going on at the time, but I won't ever forget it.

[Jae Onasi]

I woke up that morning to hear Spike O'Dell on WGN announcing a plane had just crashed into the WTC. I thought it must have been some bizarre kind of accident, perhaps a plane had a major structural failure or tried to avoid another plane and lost control. I turned on the TV news to see what was going on, just in time to see the second plane crash. I remember hearing Katie Couric saying "Oh my God, there's _another_ one" or something along those lines. My stomach lurched and I thought, "That was no accident". I had to get ready for work, but the images pouring in about the destruction and absolute panic were so compelling it was impossible not to watch, and the responses of citizens, police, and fire departments were amazing. It was gut-wrenching and heartening at the same time. Stories started to come in about people being rescued and some jumping to their deaths rather than burn alive. I tried to call my aunt and uncle in NYC, but the phone lines were jammed and I couldn't get through. For 3 days I wondered if they were alive or if they, too, had fallen victim to these homicide bombers. Not long after, a third plane crashed into the Pentagon. All planes were ordered to land at the nearest airport soon after. United Flight 93 was reported as missing, as was a Delta flight. Then the Delta flight landed. Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.

 

I called my husband's unit to ask what was going to happen to their unit, because they were on active duty for two weeks in Germany and all flights had been shut down. Point Man had been on a United flight to Germany with the rest of his unit only 3 days prior. The unit administrator freaked out--he hadn't heard what had happened yet and had a lot of family in NYC.

 

Then the news came that one of the towers collapsed. I was driving to work by then. I nearly had to pull over, the shock was overwhelming. I knew hundreds had just died in one horrific moment. When I arrived at work, we listened to the radio until one of the staffers brought in her portable TV. We watched the second tower plummet to the ground, taking hundreds more to their deaths. All we could do was watch in stunned silence as the remaining firefighters frantically dug through the WTC rubble to rescue any survivors and fought the fires raging at the Pentagon. Tears streamed down our faces as we watched the agony of a city under attack--OUR city, the city that represents America to so many around the world. We were powerless to do anything but pray--pray for the people who died, pray for the firemen, pray for the paramedics, pray for the police officers, pray for the injured, pray for the families who mourned their lost loved ones or rejoiced when learning their loved ones had made it out of the WTC and Pentagon alive. We could not tear ourselves way from the TV as the networks replayed the crashes and the collapses over and over again, trying to make sense of the senseless violence, trying to give us news, sometimes conflicting about what was happening and why. It was heart-breaking, confusing, chaotic, and frightening.

 

I was filled with dread and hope at the same time--dread because I knew that the actions of these homicide bombers meant war. It was inevitable. I was filled with hope as the entire country rallied around the people of NYC and the Pentagon to help them in any way they could. I cheered along with everyone whenever someone was rescued from the rubble alive, and cried with everyone whenever we heard the too-many sad stories of those who did not come out alive--their final calls to their wives or husbands or parents to tell them that they loved them, the 911 tapes of panicked victims. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when my sister called me to let me know my aunt, uncle, and cousins were OK. When my husband came home 10 days later, I hugged him tight. So many lost loved ones that day, and I wept for their loss. I was blessed because I had not lost anyone I knew.

[Tommycat]

@Drunkside:

You forget something very important. Maybe you just don't have respect for others, but either way. Think of the people you call friends. Every one of them would be affected by your death. Now multiply that by 3000. And add on top the economic impact. Nearly everyone was directly impacted on some level.

 

@Thread:

I was in bed at the time it happened. My friend from New York called me and said that he and his family were safe... I had no idea what he was talking about. I turned on the news, and there were the towers burning. Then the cut to the Pentagon. Having several friends and even a family member who worked in the pentagon, I was real worried. Davis Monthan AFB was right by my house. Jets were scrambling into the air. It seemed like the world was ending. I went to work at my regular job... Everything seemed so pointless that day. Stuff that had meant everything seemed so darn trivial. When I found out that I had lost one friend in the Pentagon attack, I was angry. I wanted revenge. I wanted their death to be avenged. I really didn't care how. Nuke the whole EFFIN Country I thought. Turn the whole region into a new parking lot for all I care. Sure it was wrong to think that. Well not wrong to think it, but definitely not the right response... I yelled, I screamed, I beat my fists, and eventually just dropped to my knees and cried...

 

I still remember the brightest moment of the day though. When the changing of the guard ceremony in London was done to the Star Spangled Banner. It made me feel better knowing that we weren't as alone as I had thought.

[DarthJacen]

Amen

[Drunkside]

@Drunkside:

You forget something very important. Maybe you just don't have respect for others, but either way. Think of the people you call friends. Every one of them would be affected by your death. Now multiply that by 3000. And add on top the economic impact. Nearly everyone was directly impacted on some level.

 

@Thread:

I was in bed at the time it happened. My friend from New York called me and said that he and his family were safe... I had no idea what he was talking about. I turned on the news, and there were the towers burning. Then the cut to the Pentagon. Having several friends and even a family member who worked in the pentagon, I was real worried. Davis Monthan AFB was right by my house. Jets were scrambling into the air. It seemed like the world was ending. I went to work at my regular job... Everything seemed so pointless that day. Stuff that had meant everything seemed so darn trivial. When I found out that I had lost one friend in the Pentagon attack, I was angry. I wanted revenge. I wanted their death to be avenged. I really didn't care how. Nuke the whole EFFIN Country I thought. Turn the whole region into a new parking lot for all I care. Sure it was wrong to think that. Well not wrong to think it, but definitely not the right response... I yelled, I screamed, I beat my fists, and eventually just dropped to my knees and cried...

 

I still remember the brightest moment of the day though. When the changing of the guard ceremony in London was done to the Star Spangled Banner. It made me feel better knowing that we weren't as alone as I had thought.

 

<Snipped>

[purifier]

September 11th shall be a day that is forever etched in our human psyche for as long as America and her Allies shall remember. And though it may be a deep wound that shall never completey heal for our Lady Liberty and her children, Lady Liberty shall never die.

 

And from the horrible aftermath the American Eagle shall rise from the wreckage and the ashes, to come to the defense of our Lady Liberty and her children. Yet the transgressors may run, but they cannot hide from the ever watchful eye of the American Eagle. For he will come and smite the transgressors for there atrocity's against us. And the transgressors shall feel the might and wrath of our beloved American Eagle, and that will be a day that they shall forever remember!

 

 

Remember: Divided we may fall, but united we shall stand forever.

 

I salute you America.

[Laura Muffin]

I'm not typing in pink 'cause this topic is serious and should be respected.

 

I was 11 and was home sick that day from school. I came downstairs around 9-ish in the morning (eastern US time) which I guess was right after it all started happening. I was gonna get some cereal but I heard my mom crying so I walked into the family room and saw what was on TV.

 

My uncle worked at the Pentagon at this time so we were very scared when we heard that it was attacked. Later, by the grace of God, we found out he had missed his train to work that morning.

 

Even though I was only 11, I knew how serious the situation was. I'd also never seen my mom cry like that before. When I saw the second tower fall, my heart broke for all the people I knew were inside and everyone they'd leave behind.

 

It's not a day we forget, but we've come a long way in being able to accept the past and to keep moving forward.

[Jedi_Man]

I was in 2nd grade when it happened. I know I was in school, but the specifics of it are fuzzy. I remember my principle coming over the intercom and telling us something just happened, and to turn on the T.V. But, I can't tell if that happened later in teh year or not, I was 8 remember. But I know the Teacher was like, "Pfft, yeah right! What could be so important...". Hmmm, Guess that's a pretty big answer.

I don't know When I learned about it either. It's just, one day my dad says " Buddies, honey, I might get called up for airport security." My response? "Pfft, airport security, you'll be a security guard with an assault rifle, you'll still be home for dinner." But, it was a big deal to everyone else. Fast Foward a few years, at least four. " Guys, honey, I might, might, get called up to Kuwait." My families response? "Boo hoo, sob cry whine." My response? " Hmm, this is new. You'll be back though, you wouldn't dare die on us."

This is the reason why I'm joining the Marines in two years. No matter what, I'll be there.

PS. I found something weird, The movies weren't affecting me as usual. I usually go into a blind fury at them. Now, I was just gazing, waiting for the plane to hit and thinking, "Hmm, now, that's why they're called terrorists, they sure no how to do it...".

It pisses me off! Where's the fury that makes me break my hand pounding on chairs and walls.

R.I.P. All those in the towers who died, and those who died in the war.

R.I.P. Brian Jopek, USMC, 2006. You will not be forgotten.

[Jae Onasi]

Thank you to your dad for his ultimate sacrifice, and to you and your family as well. RIP.

[DarthJacen]

I was in 2nd grade when it happened. I know I was in school, but the specifics of it are fuzzy. I remember my principle coming over the intercom and telling us something just happened, and to turn on the T.V. But, I can't tell if that happened later in teh year or not, I was 8 remember. But I know the Teacher was like, "Pfft, yeah right! What could be so important...". Hmmm, Guess that's a pretty big answer.

I don't know When I learned about it either. It's just, one day my dad says " Buddies, honey, I might get called up for airport security." My response? "Pfft, airport security, you'll be a security guard with an assault rifle, you'll still be home for dinner." But, it was a big deal to everyone else. Fast Foward a few years, at least four. " Guys, honey, I might, might, get called up to Kuwait." My families response? "Boo hoo, sob cry whine." My response? " Hmm, this is new. You'll be back though, you wouldn't dare die on us."

This is the reason why I'm joining the Marines in two years. No matter what, I'll be there.

PS. I found something weird, The movies weren't affecting me as usual. I usually go into a blind fury at them. Now, I was just gazing, waiting for the plane to hit and thinking, "Hmm, now, that's why they're called terrorists, they sure no how to do it...".

It pisses me off! Where's the fury that makes me break my hand pounding on chairs and walls.

R.I.P. All those in the towers who died, and those who died in the war.

R.I.P. Brian Jopek, USMC, 2006. You will not be forgotten.

 

Remember your dad when you join the Marines and going through the Crucible, never turn back no matter how hard it is. We need you, and so does the world. Stay with it, and God Bless you and your dad.

 

Thank you

[Jedi_Man]

Brian Jopek isn't my father, sorry about that. My father served with his father in Cuba, two years ago. Sorry about not being specific. But thank you all the same, I get teary eyed when I hear about him.

[cire992]

I still can't believe that so many people have died in the "solution" for 9/11 than in the actual crashes. Can't humans do anything that doesn't involve mass slaughter? I don't like it, not one bit.

[Darth Avlectus]

^^^Well, I admire that you hate "solutions" which are just as deadly as the problems (if not moreso).

 

At least pay your respects while you're here? Please?

 

(you may debate freely elsewhere in kavar's about other "solutions", though )

[Totenkopf]

I still can't believe that so many people have died in the "solution" for 9/11 than in the actual crashes. Can't humans do anything that doesn't involve mass slaughter? I don't like it, not one bit.

 

Welcome to Oz. Frankly, it would be nice if we could live in a world where it didn't boil down to dog eat dog. Unfortunately they only exist in fiction.

[cire992]

^ Sucks for the dogs.

 

GTA's right though, I totally overshot the whole pay your respects thing... my mistake.

[Sabretooth]

Sucks for the dogs.

 

The ones who are eating or the ones who are being eaten?