Thoughts on 9/11?

[indianasmith]

Since I am a frequent critic of our President, in the interest of fairness, let me just add that his remarks at yesterday's memorials were eloquent, dignified, and altogether appropriate.  Well done, Mr. President!

[Flick James]

Since I am a frequent critic of our President, in the interest of fairness, let me just add that his remarks at yesterday's memorials were eloquent, dignified, and altogether appropriate.  Well done, Mr. President!

Well, he's magnetic and speaks very well, those are his strengths. If you gave him a set of instructions for a child's toy he would make it sound powerful. He's the Democratic version of Reagan.

[Trevor]

Tomorrow is my birthday.

I trust that I will be able to enjoy it to the fullest without showing a shred of disrespect to the victims of that tragic day.

The victims in the planes, the towers and at the Pentagon.

Not the bastards that perpetrated this horror on the most special of days to me.

I may not have known any of you personally but all of you are remembered and never forgotten.

I hope that one day I will be able to come to New York to bring flowers, pay homage and by doing so, greet you with warm South African hugs.

I hope I will see those fountains one day and be splashed by the water which would then hide my tears.

May you all rest in peace.  

[Allhallowsday]

Today is a beautiful day here in NJ... just like it was on that day.  Just the same... sunny, dry, cool, a hint of Autumn in the air.  I remember on that day thinking how beautiful the day was.  Tomorrow of course is the eleventh anniversary.  I woke up early today, the windows in my house open all night, letting the cool fresh air in.  I've been out to breakfast and ate a lot for me.  I wasn't thinking about tomorrow at all.  Then I saw this thread revived.  Sometimes that anniversary is suddenly there, and my heart stops.  I feel hurt well up inside me.  My happy mood has evaporated.  I don't know that I will ever be able to really talk about it.

[AndyC]

Today is a beautiful day here in NJ... just like it was on that day.  Just the same... sunny, dry, cool, a hint of Autumn in the air.  I remember on that day thinking how beautiful the day was.  Tomorrow of course is the eleventh anniversary.  I woke up early today, the windows in my house open all night, letting the cool fresh air in.  I've been out to breakfast and ate a lot for me.  I wasn't thinking about tomorrow at all.  Then I saw this thread revived.  Sometimes that anniversary is suddenly there, and my heart stops.  I feel hurt well up inside me.  My happy mood has evaporated.  I don't know that I will ever be able to really talk about it.

I was thinking much the same thing about the weather here when I saw this thread this morning, how today was such a similar day to what I remember. Sunny and cool, a nice day for September.

[tracy]

I was at work that dreadful morning and when the radio started reporting the first plane strike I thought this was a joke in very poor taste. Our manager ran into the office and pulled up the live reports over the computer....I came into the office just as the second plane hit. I hurried into the Ladies room,fell to my knees and started praying....I thought it was the end of the world.
It wasn't and life has moved on...however,I hope we never forget the massive loss of life and the heroes that saved those they could. When they announced that Bin Laden had been found and killed....shame on me,I rejoiced.
I've talked about this several times with my dear friend,Frank,who lost at least 6 close friends on 9/11.....I just saw the footage. I cannot even imagine actually walking through the clouds of dust that lingered as he did.


God Bless America......

[indianasmith]

I was teaching that day, and we didn't have computers or TV in our classrooms yet.  I had walked our attendance sheet across the hall to the office when our secretary said the Towers had been hit . . . I turned on my radio, and my students and I wound up listening in horror as the towers collapsed.  It was the first time I ever cried in front of my class.  The rest of the day passed in a blur.  My own children were in first grade at the time, in a different town from where I taught about 25 minutes away.  All I wanted was to go pick them up and hug them, but I couldn't do it till the end of the day.  Then we had a special prayer service that night at my church.

I can't believe it's been 11 years.

[Flangepart]

I'd gotten my truck that morning, and heard about it on the radio, then went inside where it was on TV.
It was a day of disbelief and stunned acceptance of this new reality.
11 years. Still can't forget.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO5y2O_hv3I&feature=related

[HappyGilmore]

Weather today is exactly like it was then...clear blue sky, sunny, slightly chill, yet still warm.  Had I known heading into school how different things would be within the span of a couple hours, well.

Can't believe it's been 11 years

[Trevor]

I am dreading tomorrow, not just because I am a year older but the connections I have to that day are too strong and almost too overwhelming. I had a pretty good birthday last year - going for a meal, seeing a movie I worked on (Searching For Sugarman) - and enjoyed it, while showing no disrespect to those who perished.

God bless America for tomorrow and always.

[Chainsawmidget]

Trevor, I don't think anyone will hold it against you if you choose to go on living and enjoying life.  I think it's the best way a person can pay their respects to the dead. 

[Trevor]

Trevor, I don't think anyone will hold it against you if you choose to go on living and enjoying life.  I think it's the best way a person can pay their respects to the dead. 

All I can say to that is HUG

I still want to come to New York to pay my respects at those beautiful fountains and also at the Pentagon and the field where Flight 93 crashed, just to let all of the deceased know they are never forgotten.

[Leah]

Trevor, I really can't remember 9/11, other than I was in the 1st grade when it happened.

[Bushma]

On 9/11/2001 (a year and a day after my first son was born) I remember waking up and turning on the news, then sitting hopping between news channels thinking this was some horrible War of the Worlds kind of joke.  I sat there for an hour watching the news before I had to go to work.  I was listening to the radio on the way in and checking website after website while at work.  I didn't get much done that day.  I was smoking at the time and when I went to go smoke at lunch I noticed the lack of planes in the sky and remember being creeped out by that.

On 9/11 2002 though my second son was born.  I still think it's a little weird that we have a party on 9/11, but I'm not going to let my kid down.

[Umaril Has Returned]

I remember my wife back then calling me on her cellphone as she drove home from work, and  she woke me up around 8 I'd say, and in my half-asleep state, I heard her mesage on the answering machine, she said  "Turn on the TV but don't panic."  I did and saw the rest of the event in horror.

A bigger memory? The day the AH-1 Cobras and A-10's and other assorted aircraft flew over our house as they headed towards their deployment for the war.  For over an hour, aircraft thundered over our houses as our neighbors looked up and waved and yelled and screamed their well wishes for the Taliban and Al Qaeda.  People were screaming "USA!" and yelling all kinds of slurs and curses (again, well wishes for Bin Laden, lol) and I said to myself, "this is going to be BIG..."  And here we are 12 years later getting ready to take on Syria....