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  #1  
Old 09-11-2007, 08:17 AM
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Drac Drac is offline
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A moment of silence

I was at work when the Twin Towers where hit. I remember being stunned & my brain shut down for a minute or two. I than remembered to call into the base to see what my status was. I called my wife next & told her what was going on. Our work had monitors that normally put out company news & stats but they shifted over to the news being broadcast for the whole day. Very little got done that day.

This past Sunday my Color Guard participated in a memorial ceremony with the organization 343. It was in memory of the 343 firefighters who died on that day.

As with the ceremony I ask everyone to take a moment to think of those who were lost that day victims & heroes, firefighters & police. I also ask you to remember those who serve this country in effort to prevent 9/11 from happening again.

Democrat, Republican, Liberal or Conservative, at times like this we are all just Americans.

Jim


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Old 09-11-2007, 09:49 AM
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If anyone had asked on Sept. 10th of that year, what would happen if NYC was attacked, I think most of us would have said that they would fall apart and would probably cause more damage in their panic than from the attack. This is because of the view of the city that we see in the media.

What happened that day was just the opposite. We saw firemen and police rushing towards the dying buildings. We saw the mayor and his team at the site. After the terrible collapse, we saw union carpenters, steelworkers, and pipe fitters heading towards the rubble with whatever tools they could grab. Lines formed around the block to donate blood and doctors fought their way to hospital expecting a rush of victims that sadly never made it that far.

In those terrible hours it became apparent the vast difference between us and the terrorists. They destroy life and property without remorse. They feed on ignorance and fanatic hatred. They see the world at its best in the 7th century. We, on the other hand, built those towers - and the planes and the Pentagon. We thrive on the intelligence and industriousness of our people to reach out and to strive to make life better. We see a future of unlimited promise.

On that terrible day, a group from the plant I worked at went into the poorest section of Houston to rehab a house for United Way. It was a beautiful day, with near perfect blue skies. We heard the initial reports on the drive over, then listened on radios as we stripped paint and repaired the siding on the house. The boss sent someone for a portable TV and we got to watch the horror of people jumping to their deaths and then the final sickening collapse. The house was owned by an elderly woman and her daughter came to check on her during the day. As the daughter left, I happened to be working near the door. She stopped and said to me, "Y'all are doing a very good thing on a very bad day."

When you create, when you build, when you educate, when you help others - you are fighting the force of evil that murdered all those people on Sept. 11. Rock on.


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  #3  
Old 09-11-2007, 12:53 PM
Carey Quinn Carey Quinn is offline
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Jim,

Thanks for starting this thread.

As with other milestone events in our lives, I believe most of us remember vividly what we were doing when we heard the first news about the events of September 11, 2001. I remember being numb with disbelief that anything like this could happen. Then, upon finding out that this was indeed an attack, I became almost enraged. I haven?t gotten over it yet and don?t know that I ever will.

I wish no harm to any man and only want to live in peace but I will defend me and mine and you and yours with a vengeance that should not be seen in the light of day. It hurts my heart so much that our troops have been called to avenge that precious blood that was lost and defend the rest of us from further harm and there are people who call themselves Americans who speak against them in any way.

I could rant on for a while about this but in deference to my fellow forumites, I will quit.
Take care, God bless, and be safe.

Respectfully,
Carey


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Old 09-11-2007, 01:29 PM
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Buddy Thomason Buddy Thomason is offline
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I went outside this morning to put up the flag. In my neighborhood mine is often the only flag flying on those several special days during the year. I'm disappointed that so many Americans seem to have sunk back into denial and complacency, as if what happened on 9/11/01 was somehow 'not all that bad' - as if it was 'our own fault' - and as if it can never happen again.

On a related note, I read in a medical journal that arrived at my office today that approximately 12.4% of the roughly 29,000 different rescue personel involved in the immediate aftermath of "9/11" have suffered from clinically diagnosable PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).


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Old 09-11-2007, 02:44 PM
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A little after 9:07am, I was in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast, listening to a local radio talk show host, whose attention was suddenly diverted. He blurted out that CNN was showing that an air plane had smashed into one of the WTC twin towers. I ran to turn on the TV just moments before the second plane hit, and we all know the terribly sad events that followed.

Some might think that I would have been less affected than an American. However, the events of that September morning left me reeling, and changed the way I have viewed the world ever since. As a Canadian, I viewed the attacks of 9/11 as a direct assault on Western civilization and have taken it very personally.

It is revealing how many people were affected directly and indirectly by the tragedy. To give you an idea, look at my case.

A neighbour friend was in New York City on business, and was strolling with a colleague under the shadows of the WTC in Battery Park when the planes hit. They had to run for safety through the choking dust cloud as the first tower collapsed. My friend was sure he was goner. They were lucky enough to reach the waterfront, where rescue boats were taking folks to New Jersey, the only way out.

My sister-in-law soon discovered that she had taught high school to Jeremy Glick, one of the heroes of Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania.

Our niece and her husband, were both working just a dozen blocks north of the towers, and had to evacuate their buildings during the ensuing panic. Naturally, it was a very traumatic experience for them.

Twenty-four Canadians died as the result of the terrorist attacks.

Canada will always stand shoulder to shoulder with our American brothers and sisters to defend our way of life!

We will never forget!

David
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Old 09-11-2007, 03:40 PM
fitzo fitzo is offline
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One of my most poignant memories of watching the tragedy unfold was an image of "everyday" heroism, when someone suddenly emerges without a second thought to help others in need. As that horrible roiling cloud of impenetrable dust came down the street funneled between the tall buildings people were very naturally running for their life to stay ahead of it.

In the midst of this, there was a shot of a lone guy in scrubs running straight into it carrying a doctor bag.

I think about that guy every year, and hope he made it through okay.


"never forget"

Last edited by fitzo; 09-11-2007 at 03:56 PM.
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Old 09-11-2007, 04:21 PM
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Thank you all for telling your memories.

TJ & Carey, I can't even begin to express how much I understand where you are both coming from & how hard it is not to lose yourself at the anger of what happened. Maybe in another post on another day I will discuss my views of what I feel about those who cause this but I try to think of those who tried to acted, those who fell & those that came together. I fail most of the time but then the very people who I feel the anger for, those of the victims & their families, I remember that anger & hate weren't on the minds when they charged into help another. It helps sometimes, but only sometimes.

Moosehead, I grew up in Detroit so when I say Americans I mean all North Americans. My in-laws also live on the Canadian border in NY (Ogdensburg) & told us how much their neighbors stood against what happened.

Fitzo, I think I remember that shot. I think it was framed on a wall of a military hospital. Amazing.

Jim


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Old 09-11-2007, 05:23 PM
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I spoke with a young lady that works in a local bagel shop. The owner is from Brooklyn and he posted a sign that during the same times from the first attack until the towers fell, they would not sell anything, but would have free coffee and encouraged people to remember those that died. (He keeps a poster on display of the firemen and police that lost their lives.) The young lady told me that she had customers come in and demand to buy bagels, refusing to take no for an answer. At one point she broke into tears over it. Fortunately, the other customers - those with class - quietly encouraged the morons to leave.

Jim, I admit that my first reaction was one of total anger and hatred. I can now understand what earlier generations went through with Pearl Harbor. But that anger is just as destructive as the enemy. It means so much more to remember the innocent that died and the suffering of their families, as well as the unbelievable heroism of so many good people - many of whom sacrificed their lives or their health to try to save people they didn't even know. During some training, the subject came up and I asked a fire captain, "..Knowing what we know now, would firemen head up the stairs in a similar situation?" He cut me off before I finished the sentence and said, "In a heartbeat."

It doesn't always seem like it, but the good people vastly outnumber the evil ones. You just have to look a bit to see them.

Edmund Burke said it best: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."


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Old 09-12-2007, 11:50 AM
Carey Quinn Carey Quinn is offline
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Jim,

I look forward to further conversations.

Texas Jack, I agree that the victims of this incident and the rescuers should be held up as models but I believe that a certain amount of righteous indignation against those who would do us harm serves to help keep us safe.

Its kind of like the idea that I won't kill a rattle snake if I don't have to but I sure want to know where he is and what he's doing while he's in the area.

Carey


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Old 09-12-2007, 01:22 PM
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Don't get me wrong, Carey, the righteous indignation is still there. (I'm Irish - we are genetically programmed to hold grudges.) What's the old saying? "Revenge is a dish best served cold." Better to not let anger and fear rule our thoughts - after all, that's what terrorists are trying to do.

By focusing our remembrance on the victims and the heros, we make the positive steps that it takes to truely defeat the purpose of terror. When we recognise the size of the forces for good that rose up against evil, we erase the terror they sought to impose.

"If it is a tyrant you wish to depose, first destroy his throne in your heart." (Gibran)

I treasure the photo of a knife made by one of the KNet members embedded in the gas tank of a Taliban generator in Afghanistan.

They slaughtered some innocent people, but they accomplished nothing, and I will give them no ground.


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Old 09-12-2007, 02:00 PM
Carey Quinn Carey Quinn is offline
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TexasJack,

We are in agreement. Must be the Texas heritage and Irish blood that we share.

Carey


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Old 09-12-2007, 03:41 PM
Sandy Morrissey Sandy Morrissey is offline
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December 7,1941-----September 11, 2001. I lived through them both. The memories and the scars I bear from the one, the hatred lives from the second but seems to have died from the first. I guess the difference was in the perpetrators. The Japanese did pull a sneak attack, true---but they were men of courage and integrity. The terrorists were neither and are shameful examples of humanity. There is no excuse for murder for murders sake.


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Old 09-14-2007, 02:02 PM
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NJStricker NJStricker is offline
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My brother and I were on vacation that week at a timeshare outside Stowe, Vermont. We were getting ready for a day of hiking, eating breakfast and watching TV while throwing our gear together. We were watching the Today show. Matt Lauer and Katie Couric were interviewing Tracy Uhlman about her new clothing line. I normally wouldn't remember crap like that, except that they cut her off to report that a plane had collided into one of the towers. It was about 7:00 a.m. or so.

I remembered thinking to myself, "Large passenger planes don't crash into skyscrapers. Small planes might crash into a house, but this was no coincidence."

About 20 minutes later the second plane crashed. Then I knew it was no accident. We hung around for another hour and watched the tv coverage. I actually called a friend who worked in downtown Chicago and warned her that there was an attack. We topped off the gas tank in our car, bought a few more supplies, then went on our hike. When we got back to our place that evening we heard about the other crashes. The hike was nice, but both of us had that eerie feeling that we didn't know what the world would be like when we returned to contact with the rest of the world.
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