9 - 11 - 2001

[C. Fontaine]

A commemorative post for the victims of 9-11, may we never forget that day.

Post your thoughts and prayers.

[C. Fontaine]

I remember, I remember where I was.  I was in Science class and the principal came into my class and casually told my science teacher.  We weren't really doing anything so she turned on the tv, and at this point it was just after Flight 11 hit, so everyone assumed it was some horrific accident with a Cessna or something, you know.  And next thing you know, live on tv, the other plane hit, and I mean it was just shock.  I don't know what anyone was or could have been thinking, what the hell was going on?  And then reports from the Pentagon and Shanksville, PA.  And through out the day, every single television in my high school was on a turned to CNN or Fox News.

When I returned home, the first thing I did was throw a blank tape in my VCR and tape what I was seeing.  I knew it was something I would never forget, or allow to be forgotten.

In my email inbox the next day I had an email from my cousin's husband, who works for Verizon.  One of his close colleagues in New York was one of those who ran for their lives when the towers collapsed, and he had a digital camera with him.  Attached to the email was the 26 raw JPEGS from his camera, and one photo from this camera I will never delete electronically or neurologically.  This photo was included in just about every major newspaper and photo gallery that was released in the days after.  This photo showed the second airplane, its nose estimated to be feet away from the wall of the building.  It still gives me chills.  This photo I have attached below, as it is shown on FoxNews.com.

Yesterday I watched a video online that was just released.  It was raw 10 minute wideo from a civilians video camera that was rolling while they scrambled on the ground below the trade center starting minutes after the first strike.  In this video you see what most news channels even on 9/11 cut from TV.  People waving from windows in the WTC, windows ABOVE the strike zones on the buildings.  The images were heartbreaking.

So God Bless this nation (not something I say often), and I pray that justice will be served, and Osama Bin Laden will one day be strung up on the Liberty torch.

[d_fife]

I was in LAmson Library at my college when it happened and I found out it happened 10 minutes after it happened. in my college dinning hall, I saw the footage of it and was HORRIFIED!!!!!!!!

I will never forget that day too, but it has not been mentioned as much. But the families will never forget.

[Caldor1999]

i was on my way to school and the driver had the radio on and i coult make out what was being said the recetion was bad but i heard something about an explistion at the world trade center and i though oh terrost bombed the basment again im like wow they tryed it before and nothing happend untill i found out when i had goten to school that it was a plane that had hit into it and liek an houre later i heard the pendagone was hit.

 we got sent home early after that happend and on my way home i found out that something happend to the wtc about it falling off or something and i had though the top of the buildings had fallling off and the rest was still standing i found out that they had collopsed when i got home and saw it on tv whitch to me was just really horrble and idk ive always loved thoughs towers for as long as i can remember and it was really horrfile watching it burn and wahtching thoughs people jump out of the buidlings


i have to say this is one of thoughs days u will always remeber were u were and what you were doing that day


heres a pic from like 1971 when the wtc was still under contstuion and it was the tallst building in the world for to years when it was suprassed but that ugly thing they call the sears tower in 1974

[Caldor1999]

and this is how the sight is going to look by 2012 the freedom tower is sopsot to be taller then the wtc and haveing a hight of 1776 feet although it will be supriassed by the chicago spire(the uglyst building ever) and will become the second tallst building in america 2 of the taller buildings will be taller then the empire state building as well

[powersbt]

I was at the Supermarket that I still work at now. Think I was doing Dairy at the time. Called my GF at the time, and she told me that the World Trade Center was bombed. My reaction was "Again??"

It wasn't until I went up to the Breakroom that I realized how severe it really was. I remember it took me a good half hour of looking at the TV up there to realize that the Footage being shown was where the Trade Center Towers once stood. Associates, Managers, even Vendors were up there watching. The Front End had enough people on it just to get people checked out. The store itself remained open throughout the day, but nobody felt like doing anything, Management didn't care, and very few people shopped anyways.

Later on that day My GF and I went to Syracuse to Carousel Mallas we had planned to do. Got there, it was closed, so we decided to go to Great Northern Mall. It was open, but most of the stores were closed. The ones that were open had an eerie feeling to them. The Associates would ask how we were, and you gave this mixed, and confused Answer which was exactly how they were feeling.

It's a Day that you will always remember where you were, and what you were doing.

[Crawford]

I had just gotten into work, aggravated that Dunkin Donuts was all out of coffee milk. One of my coworkers came running upstairs to say a plane had crashed into one of the WTC towers. Now, everyone was thinking it was a horrible accident, maybe it was foggy, or raining. Being the only one with a radio in my cube I put it on and my coworkers started listening. We heard about the second plane, we heard about the Pentagon, I remember Peter Jennings breaking down on the air when the towers fell. I wept bitterly, several coworkers tried to console me, one of them would later say she thought Armageddon had come. Anyone who wanted to go home could so I left, I had to stop at the mall to pay some bills, I don't think I passed more than a dozen people in there. Every store that had a TV had the employees huddled around them. For days I felt like I was dreaming, that none of it was real. Like the assassinations of the Kennedy's, like Pearl Harbor, like the Challenger disaster, these moments are burned into our minds, never to be forgotten.

[XISMZERO]

Anyone who lived through 9-11 might agree it was the most vivid and horrifying days of our lives. I was in New York City a few weeks back, at the hollow of Ground Zero and let me tell you - it's almost jarring to imagine how many people died in that one spot. Absolutely chilling. A testament to horror itself.

And it makes me very uneasy, 6 years later there's a rising number of Americans, more than I could ever imagine if I were looking forward into time back in 2001, who've collapsed in backing their own country. In lieu of the now unpopular war in Iraq and a hatred of the President that seems to ultimately do the country harm, it sadly seems we've become luke warm to the real danger; the radical Islamists that woke us all up on that morning.

And now, we have those like Mark Cuban attempting to mainstream and market outlandish conspiracy theories despite numerous debunkings by Perdue University and Popular Mechanics. We have the ACLU wanting to give rights to terrorists and a litany of people who deny any war on those who devastated the country. We have college professors like Ward Churchill playing "holocaust denial" over in Colorado. Anti-Americanism is at an all-time high, and it's truly frightening and threatening to humankind how not only some in our own country are reacting but also those around the world. The New York Times, recently had a columnist say "how much tribute is enough?" - blocks away from the terror of six years prior.

Those who've forgotten how horrible it was also don't remember just how much we were a united country - and how much we aren't today.

If anything, I'm glad we've got those who love this country enough to fight for it voluntarily.

We will never forget.

[Caldor1999]

im still like confused why the wtc was even targted yes i can under stand its a super tall buidling in nyc but it wasent like a govermential building i can understand why the petagon was hit and why the captial was targted but idk why the wtc was as well if anything im suprized they dident targte any buldings in LA and chicago but i just hope something like this never happens again

[Marc82]

I was at ShopRite on Farmington Ave in Bristol, CT waiting in line at the customer service desk to buy stamps and a newspaper. I overheard an elderly lady nearby talking about a plane hitting The World Trade Center. The lady behind the customer service desk commented that the plane crashing into the Trade Center would be on the front page of the newspaper the following day. I caught  a glimpse of the TV that was on display at the customer service desk and saw the WTC on fire on the screen from the NBC Today Show. And then I left the store. My mom and I still had errands to do and we got home around 9:20. I spent a good portion of the next hour or so flipping between the coverage on all the TV and Radio Stations. When the second tower collapsed at 10:29AM, I cried, which is something I don't do very often. It was a sickening feeling knowing how many people were killed when that second tower fell. When I had heard The Pentagon was hit, I was suddenly aware of how serious the situation was. My first thoughts were "Saddam is attacking us." I had no idea who Osama Bin Laden was. I had never heard of him until 9-11-01. I thought Saddam was the USA's only enemy at the time.

I was very angry at the fact that 1000s of people were killed needlessly. I was also angry that I had never got to see the WTC. That was one of the things I always had wanted to do. 22 months before the attacks I was on a school field trip to NYC for a Culinary Arts Trade Show at the Javat Center. We were told if we left the Javat Center we'd be expelled. I almost wish I had risked explusion and went and seen the WTC.

I've been to Ground Zero twice. I went in November 2002, which was 14 month after the attacks. I felt I had to pay my respects to the 1000s who were needlessly killed that day. If I'm not mistaken in 2002 I left my Bristol, Connecticut hat attached to the fence that surrounded the site as a symbol of where a visitor lived. Somewhere I think I have photos of me at Ground Zero.

I went again in 2004 and still couldn't believe what had happened. What really angered me during my 2004 trip to Ground Zero was that people were coming up to me showing me pictures of the events of 9-11-01 and they were trying to get me to buy some photos. One even claimed that he had "Never Before Seen Pictures of the events of that day." I thought to myself "If you've seen one picture of the plane slamming into the building you've seen them all." That comment isn't meant to be insensitive, but I just was so angry about people trying to get me to buy photos of the attacks.

I plan on visiting Ground Zero again in the near future. Not sure when, but most likely some time in 2008. And unlike Nick I'm am not bothered by the fact that they're building new buildings on the site.

[powersbt]

Originally posted by Marc82
 I had no idea who Osama Bin Laden was. I had never heard of him until 9-11-01.

I hadn't either, but was watching one of my GF's favorite movies of all time Silence of the Lambs a couple of years after 9/11, and if you watch the scene where Michelle Pfeifer is on the computer browsing through the FBI's Most Wanted List, Bin Laden is right there near the top. I couldn't believe it. The movie was made how many years prior to that event??

[C. Fontaine]

Originally posted by powersbt

Originally posted by Marc82
 I had no idea who Osama Bin Laden was. I had never heard of him until 9-11-01.

I hadn't either, but was watching one of my GF's favorite movies of all time Silence of the Lambs a couple of years after 9/11, and if you watch the scene where Michelle Pfeifer is on the computer browsing through the FBI's Most Wanted List, Bin Laden is right there near the top. I couldn't believe it. The movie was made how many years prior to that event??

I agree with your GF, made in 1991, best movie ever produced!

[d_fife]

I remember every channel having coverage of 9/11. every and Tv shows edited out buildings blowing up scenes.

[C. Fontaine]

It is unfortunate how divided we have become.  Websites such as the Daily Kos and MoveOn.org only spew more diversity.  The ACLU feeds on Political Correctness and cherry picks their cases.  The growing number of people, even Americans, who, like Churchill preaching the un-holocaust, believe that Sept. 11 never happened and the entire story was fabricated is frightening.  The latest conspiracy theory I've heard, was that the people who thought they were talking with their loved ones during their final moments on Flight 93, were actually talking with a government computer replicating their voices.  You have got to be kidding me.  And that awful MoveOn personal attack, "General Betray-Us," ad posted in the NY Times yesterday was just another example of how divided and biased our own news organizations are becoming.  I know the Times is left wing, but have some respect.  Maybe the guy is "cooking the books" of the Bush administration, but he is an American hero.

I think part of the reason dissent for 9/11 grows is the fact that, understandably, Iraq and 9/11 are linked in many Americans minds, therefore the mismanagement and failure in Iraq, leads to the same feelings about 9/11.

[AmesNewington]

I remember being at school (in 7th grade), and I was in Tech Ed/Woodworking class, and our teacher (an older man who loved to talk about ANYTHING such as wood for a half an hour) was sitting with our class in the "drawing/sketching room" and recieved a memo from someone from the office. He told us a plane hit the World Trade Center. I didn't even know what the WTC was as I was only 12 at the time. I thought it was like an airport and that a plane crashed in to the lobby by accident. (seriously I was thinking this). I never realized what was really going on until almost all of my teachers for the rest of the day were talking about it.

When I got home, I turned on the TV and saw all of the coverage. I flipped through almost every channel Cox Cable had to offer, and they had either coverage of their own, from the networks, a message on the bottom of the screen during a program displaying their sadness of the attacks, or a full screen message from channels like QVC and HSN that stated they were off the air until further notice. Only a small handful of channels had regular programming on.

That evening, I watched the coverage non-stop, and as I kept seeing the events re-play over and over, I felt sadder every moment.

It's weird how yesterday's anniversary stands out because the attacks fell on Tuesday in 2001.

I feel bad for those who have a birthday on 9/11. It is terrible to say that your special day is on such a tragic day.

[Marc82]

Originally posted by AmesNewington
I feel bad for those who have a birthday on 9/11. It is terrible to say that your special day is on such a tragic day.

While as far as I know I don't know anyone who's birthday is September 11, my friend Charlie has a daughter who's birthday is September 10. He told me now every year she's sad on her birthday.

[XISMZERO]

Originally posted by C. Fontaine
It is unfortunate how divided we have become.  Websites such as the Daily Kos and MoveOn.org only spew more diversity.  The ACLU feeds on Political Correctness and cherry picks their cases.  The growing number of people, even Americans, who, like Churchill preaching the un-holocaust, believe that Sept. 11 never happened and the entire story was fabricated is frightening.  The latest conspiracy theory I've heard, was that the people who thought they were talking with their loved ones during their final moments on Flight 93, were actually talking with a government computer replicating their voices.  You have got to be kidding me.  And that awful MoveOn personal attack, "General Betray-Us," ad posted in the NY Times yesterday was just another example of how divided and biased our own news organizations are becoming.  I know the Times is left wing, but have some respect.  Maybe the guy is "cooking the books" of the Bush administration, but he is an American hero.

I think part of the reason dissent for 9/11 grows is the fact that, understandably, Iraq and 9/11 are linked in many Americans minds, therefore the mismanagement and failure in Iraq, leads to the same feelings about 9/11.

Caldor1999 asked why the World Trade Center? Centralized targets of government. Think of it as attacking the legs of a spider and you've got some imagery to work with. See the similarity in all the targets; The Pentagon, a thwarted attempt on The White House, and mostly the WTC; which represents America. The economy and the disasters that come from attempting to cripple it ensue. Being "successful" with eliminating The WTC, on the behalf of al-Queda meant killing thousands and causing literal chaos in the economic structure. You can see the role of the terrorist is to cause a nation to implode and in some ways, it's increasingly endangered of happening.

Responding to what you, Chris, said, the role of the Democrats is to challenge and press Petraeus - Iraq is their ticket in 2008. But have you been watching some of the hearings? They are not only, at times, brutal but very much political and in some regards disrespectful. The tone of distrust in the General, whose been in the military for decades now, in the eyes of some opportunistic Democrats is expected but there have also been some Republicans (Lindsey Graham is one) who've asked some heavy, relevant questions regarding the General's own son, who will likely be going to Iraq soon enough.

I'd wouldn't say the man is carrying water for the President for those reasons stated as well as . I believe he's a straight shooter; a long-decorated military leader whose seeing it as it is instead of playing the blind right-wing propagandistic approach.

I was listening to the matter on Bill O'Reilly's radio program this afternoon and a soundbite came up painting Petraeus' own uncertainty on the war at this point. He's hardly cheerleading for Bush - and what good might he do from that? Bush and the Democrat congress' favorability ratings can't really get any lower.

Iraq isn't an easy solution, but at this point, we need to let the military leaders settle this in stead of the politicians. Of course, I think many people need to wise up and see some real dangers instead of pointing fingers.

[Caldor1999]

Originally posted by XISMZERO

Originally posted by C. Fontaine
It is unfortunate how divided we have become.  Websites such as the Daily Kos and MoveOn.org only spew more diversity.  The ACLU feeds on Political Correctness and cherry picks their cases.  The growing number of people, even Americans, who, like Churchill preaching the un-holocaust, believe that Sept. 11 never happened and the entire story was fabricated is frightening.  The latest conspiracy theory I've heard, was that the people who thought they were talking with their loved ones during their final moments on Flight 93, were actually talking with a government computer replicating their voices.  You have got to be kidding me.  And that awful MoveOn personal attack, "General Betray-Us," ad posted in the NY Times yesterday was just another example of how divided and biased our own news organizations are becoming.  I know the Times is left wing, but have some respect.  Maybe the guy is "cooking the books" of the Bush administration, but he is an American hero.

I think part of the reason dissent for 9/11 grows is the fact that, understandably, Iraq and 9/11 are linked in many Americans minds, therefore the mismanagement and failure in Iraq, leads to the same feelings about 9/11.

Caldor1999 asked why the World Trade Center? Centralized targets of government. Think of it as attacking the legs of a spider and you've got some imagery to work with. See the similarity in all the targets; The Pentagon, a thwarted attempt on The White House, and mostly the WTC; which represents America. The economy and the disasters that come from attempting to cripple it ensue. Being "successful" with eliminating The WTC, on the behalf of al-Queda meant killing thousands and causing literal chaos in the economic structure. You can see the role of the terrorist is to cause a nation to implode and in some ways, it's increasingly endangered of happening.

Responding to what you, Chris, said, the role of the Democrats is to challenge and press Petraeus - Iraq is their ticket in 2008. But have you been watching some of the hearings? They are not only, at times, brutal but very much political and in some regards disrespectful. The tone of distrust in the General, whose been in the military for decades now, in the eyes of some opportunistic Democrats is expected but there have also been some Republicans (Lindsey Graham is one) who've asked some heavy, relevant questions regarding the General's own son, who will likely be going to Iraq soon enough.

I'd wouldn't say the man is carrying water for the President for those reasons stated as well as . I believe he's a straight shooter; a long-decorated military leader whose seeing it as it is instead of playing the blind right-wing propagandistic approach.

I was listening to the matter on Bill O'Reilly's radio program this afternoon and a soundbite came up painting Petraeus' own uncertainty on the war at this point. He's hardly cheerleading for Bush - and what good might he do from that? Bush and the Democrat congress' favorability ratings can't really get any lower.

Iraq isn't an easy solution, but at this point, we need to let the military leaders settle this in stead of the politicians. Of course, I think many people need to wise up and see some real dangers instead of pointing fingers.

well not i can see it was attcked i also leanred/saw on tv  that they had planed to fly planes into the us bank tower in LA whitch is the tallst buidling there and the bank of america building in seattle and idk if the sears tower was planed to be attcked as well and some nuclear plants as well as outher buildings but they limted to just 4 so now i can see why the wtc was targted i have to say that im glad flight 93 dident crash into any buldings and the comspirley thery they have for it is just bs and idk pretty much all of them are it just gos to show u that alot of people have to much time on there hands

[C. Fontaine]

Yeah, there were so many reasons, both obvious and technical, that led them to their targets.  Not only was there so many Americans in a horizontally small space, as well as the most infrastructure, but they had it factored down to the amount of fuel in the airliners as well as when and where they could make the quickest deviations from flight routes.  You would have to ask Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for the details.

I agree, I frequent Brian and the Judge, O 'Reilly factor, and Fox Across America every day as I am at a desk.  Bill and Geraldo are two of the few brilliant minds in the media.

Now, I'm neither left nor right.  If you vote based on political alignment, you're an idiot.  I'd like to think of myself as center-left if anything.  But these personal attacks are coming from both sides, and they're beginning to step over a line.  And many Dems already agree that the newspaper ad does not help, and could even hurt their cause.  In their defense, I don't even know if you can consider MoveOn.org a part of the Democratic party, as their ideologies lean more and more towards socialism.

The problem is minds were made up before the general even steped foot in the room.  With election hype skyrocketing, everyone has a political agenda.  Its awful to call a five-star general with his history a traitor, especially, in this case if you have never been to Iraq.  The only way to sway minds would have been to go in there and tell everyone exactly what they wanted to hear, which is impossible in a bi-partisan congress.  I mean, its on the brink of defamation, but unfortunately your vulnerable in the public office.  My own mother is involved in small town politics every day bring the tax collector.

Could you believe those Code Pink protestors?  Now I have nothing against protesting, it's perfectly legal, but this sounded like the Exorcism of Emily Rose.  I don't think I've ever seen a police officer more gently handle a protester and the woman was screaming bloody murder.  I watched a recording of this later in the day, obviously not live, although they spliced in clips on talk radio here and there.  And like Nick said, he was grilled, and even attempted to correct his answer to Grahams question later on.  But really, it's not his place to determine if the country is safer.  He received orders from his boss, The President, which makes that choice.  Petraeus is doing his job, heading the mission that he was selected for.  What bothered me the most though, I think was Sen. Biden though.  Grilled him for over 5 minutes, then would not even give him the chance to answer, asked for him to reply via writing.  C'mon.  They were setting him up to knock him and his credibility down, the only partisan thing this congress can accomplish.

The fact is, whether you are left or right, whether you think the war was a mistake or not, we are there, and to leave abruptly would be even more of a disaster.  Iran will control a terrorist haven, and once a nuclear weapon changes hands, its all over.  It seems it has been largely, and understabdably, forgotten that Iraq is part of an even more broader war on terror, in which other nations are more willing to participate.  Although the war on terror can never really be "won," as there will always be someone willing to strap on a vest and blow up a marketplace, it needs to be fought.  Unfortunately there is a strain of people in this country, generally radical and far left that want us to "lose" the war, at least in Iraq.  Because if the war fails, the Democrats are in for 2008.  Just awful.

Unfortunately it is hard to bring Democracy into a region of people who have never known the freedom, thus leading to the rampant corruption plaguing the Iraqi government, installed by us and elected by their own people.  We really need to clearly divide the politics from the military aspects of this operation, not only here but in Iraqs government, and get on the ball.  Now I don't have an answer for all of this, I'm not there.  But I know that the world is rapidly changing, and we can't keep the bulk of our military in Iraq when Iran is quickly becoming a mirror image of the former Iraq, only with a real nuclear threat, and Putin is dissolving Russia's parliament and testing record setting vacuum bombs.  I'd like to say, that I think we need to give Iraqs political base a deadline, but I feel if we did, they wouldn't care.  We already have again and again, and our military goals are supposedly being met, while Iraq's political structure crumbles and leans toward central power.  That is what everyne is sick of, the now generic "6 more months" response the Bush administration uses, like a kid watching tv.

The UN if anything should be dissolved and reorganized.  They and their sanctions have about as much oversight and influence in this world as Lindsey Lohans parents have over their daughter.

Ugh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to turn this thread into a political rant.  I don't think you could pay me enough to be a politician.  After all, if you break it down to latin, Pol(Many) - i - Tics(Blood sucking vermins).  Nick and I should just take up broadcasting and get our own show, the Retail Factor!:insane:

[Zayre88]

I'm from Canada so I lived it from outside, but it felt quite close. I was working early at the store receiving and the truck was late. I was listening to the radio when they suddenly stopped and said "there's something going on in NYC, a small plane has crashed into the WTC".  Nothing that bad yet...   Then they said, "even with a plane crash, this building is very strong"

Then i went into the electronics and turned on a TV and right at the moment i saw "SPECIAL REPORT" with the first images.  Then the second plane hit, i was even more shocked.    I finally had to go to work at receiving but kept following on the radio, and the story went on, i was scared when it went from the towers, pentagon, another plane, evacuation of buildings...

At noon,  i left work and raced home to keep following the events on TV before going to school where my afternoon class was "Exportation to the USA"...  We did not talk about exportation at all and only talked about the events.

The borders were closed and i was supposed to go to the Nascar race in Loudon NH that week-end.  It finally was postponed to november.  A small consequence, but these events hit home in a way.  To me, the collapse of the towers was the moment when the world changed, who taught that these would dissapear suddenly...  

It's often said but we'll all remember that day and what we were doing back then.  I hope that our world will become safer and more stable in the years to come, without terror like that and fear.

[Caldor1999]

anouther thing i think we sould take in to consideration is how we make are buildings i have to say the wtc did hold out well so that people were able to get out of the towers but i think that if we make super tall buidlings like that we sould also like take into consideration on how they can hold up in a event like that like theres gotta be a way to make a building to iin a way with stand something like that like personley they shoudl be desined to have the part that damged fall off with teh rest of the buidling still standing i think that could save many people still trying to get out of a building im not saying its any better but i just feel in a way it is
 

also i can tell 9 11 isent going to stop america from building super tall buidlings as or now there cuttinley some under constction such as the Chicago spire Bankey of america tower the freedom tower complex just to name a few

[Ameskid]

One of my classmates, Caroline, has her birthday on September 11.  We "celebrated" in Latin period for the next three days by watching a pointless video comparing 9/11 to Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.