9/11/01 - 3 Years Already!

Time sure has flown fast since the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon. RIP to those that died on 9/11. -Pat

Yeah, I know -- three years already, huh?

I just glanced at the clock and realized that it was 9/11, hung my head and said a prayer.

God bless the souls of those who died, and many wishes of luck to the families of those who have lost someone.

May God be with all those famlies who lost love ones in NYC,PA,DC on that horrific day 3 years ago. God willing this will NEVER happen again anywhere in this world.

Couldn't say this better myself Mignon.

It has indeed been 3 years since that horrible, horrible day. Like myself, I'm sure most of you people here remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when tragedy struck; it's just one of those things that always stays crystal clear in your mind through the test of time.

There will be large ceremonies held in New York, DC, and Pennsylvania tomorrow morning. Although I do not live anywhere near these cities, I, like many others, will participate with my community to honor those who lost their lives. Once again, I am playing lead trumpet with a community band in my town's annual memorial of the event. And like last year, I will probably not be able to hold back the tears when reciting "God Bless America".

Let us all have a moment of silence for the victims of 9-11. May God be with us and those who were affected.

Rest in peace to all those who died on, or as a result of September 11, 2001. With the exception of the 19 terrorists who took our planes and to all those who helped them - may you all rot in hell. If there is anything worse than that, may that also happen.

I saw this on CNN's website - it's about time.
WTC to sue Saudi Arabia over 9/11

As I write this, 3 years ago I was entering my building at 75 Broad St, downtown Manhattan. A few hours later the lives of thousand of people were snuffed out. The memory of that day is never far from my conscience. I spent that day, first running from the cloud and then trying to get home. The following days were spent in a mind-numbing haze. The horrific acts of demonic people changed the world. I pray some good will come of it.

At 9am this morning my wife and I will attend Mass. My prayers and thoughts are for the families who lost loved ones. Our parish lost three fathers. I pray that war and conflict become something that is only found in history books and not on newspaper headlines.

Its really hard to believe that three years have already passed.

Its still just as hard to believe that this shit ever happened.

What is there to say that hasn't already been said?

I... I will never forget what happened on an early Tuesay Morning of Spetember 11th, 2001.

It is and always will be a sad day, but it's a true testimony to the spirit of the "free world" that we have fought back against these tyrants.

May they all rot in hell.

May all the victims of 9/11 REST IN PEACE

It was a horrid day. God bless them all.

My heart goes out to everyone who has suffered from the attacks.

I can't believe its been three years already.

God bless all those people, their family, friends, and anyone else who was affected by it. RIP.

I didn't watch hardly any TV today. Did they do anything from New York today? Any anniversary stuff like they have the past 2 years? God Bless the families who have lost someone!

wasn't it a thursday? or a wednesday?

First, it doesn't really matter. That wasn't the point of the post.

And second, no. It was Tuesday.

i remember three years ago my friends and i are playing billiards with a few rounds of beer when it happened. we were watching it live at CNN and we stopped the game to watch. . .

GoodFella

I never said that was the point of the post, but anyway i still can't believe that really happened, it was shocking.

I was at my grandma's house just after college and i turned on the T.v. and it was saying that the 1 of the towers had been hit by a plane i carried on watching and seen the other tower get hit, i still have the newspapers from the next day.

Whatever. I'm not going to start a fight in the 9/11 thread.

I remember I was in my 2nd block class my freshman year. It happened in 1st block, but we never have the TVs on so no one knew.. but when someone found out.. everyone found out. It was crazy.. people were running around, crying everywhere. Eventually the principals made the teachers turn all the TVs off because people were hyperventilating and stuff.

I don't really think he was starting a fight -- he didn't sound hostile. I think he was just asking a question.

see anthony got it right.

Anthony is always right.

I'm sorry, I apologize, I've been on edge for the past few days. Please forgive me.

Christ, 3 years already. I remember my dad telling us that a plane flew into a skyscraper,and I thought "Who the hell flys into a building? Theyre not that hard to see"
RIP to all who lost thier lives that day.

I was back in high school, talking to my academic advisor...when one of the janitors walks up and says, "Tony (my advisors name), a plane just flew into the World Trade Center in NYC!"

I know we talked briefly about it, and thought it was some horrible accident...the pilot lost control, maybe it was a small passenger plane, at the time, we didn't know anything.

Well, after my appointment, I went up to my favorite history teachers room, he taught my US history classes and my International Relations class. His room was the only room that had cable on the TV.

I was shocked when I watched the footage of the next plane hitting and what was happening, a chill just went down my spine. I think we were all frozen in time at that exact point.

I remember going to lunch, I was in broadcast club, but nobody played music that day. I was discussing with one of my Int'l Relations classmates who we thought was behind it. By now, I think everybody knew there had been a terrorist attack on NYC, but didn't know how bad it was. I figured that it had to be Quadhafi from Libya or maybe Saddam, but I think the general conclusion that whoever had done these attacks had just fucked up real bad.

Later that day, most of the teachers kept teaching - some were in disbelief and didn't acknowledge anything was wrong (my calc teacher)...she just kept teaching and didn't turn on the TV. My AP Bio teacher however (my last class of the day) turned on the TV for the entire class, and we watched as we learned another plane went down in Pennsylvania, and another hit the Pentagon.

When I finally got home that day, I called my Dad at work and made sure my family was all in check. Who knew what was going to happen next? I remember I sat down, glued to the TV between CNN and FoxNews and any other station giving coverage and trying to just comprehend what happened.

My Dad came home, I remember thinking about other things - my grandparents who were in WWII, and my Dad's generation that went through Vietnam...I couldn't sign up I was only 15/16 at the time, but I sincerely thought that there would be a draft coming, very, very soon.

The next day was quite similar...the news stations covered the skyline of NYC, still in a haze of blood and dust from the now fallen towers. Later that afternoon is when I think the news media finally started reporting how Osama Bin Laden and this band of thugs called "Al Queda," who we breifly covered in Int'l Relations with regards to terrorist associations, was behind the atrocity.

The next days kind of were a blur - I remember President Bush standing with the responders at the WTC, giving that speech with his loudspeaker, saying how we were coming for them. I remember...must have been a bit later, the first attacks on Afghanistan and seeing the "shock and awe" on FoxNews.

---

As far as remeberance, I try to make it a tradition to watch the 9/11 documentary by the two French directors which I taped off the TV every year around this time. I watch it alone, because it brings me to tears, and I don't like to talk during it (similar to when I watched The Passion of the Christ). As of now, I haven't watched it, I'll probably wait until nobody is home, I'll turn it on and watch it...and never forget.

My heart is still broken! My prayers continue to go out to the families!


Don Cardi

i remember i was at school after lunch which was at about 11:30 i had social studies and during that class people were getting dismissed left and right and no one knew what had happend or anything and the teacher jokingly said what are we getting attacked..i remember leavin listenin to my cd player listenin to the radio and hearin about it then seein it on tv thinkin it hadnt really happened..the boston herald had come out with a special report newspaper at noon that day because it had happened i still have all the newspapers from that day

I remember that day well. Tuesday, September 11th, 2001.

This attack occured during the latter part of 2001-- the best time I've ever experienced personally, and draped a shroud of confusion upon that time. I was glad on October 7, 2001, when I saw on Fox News that we had attacked Afghanistan. I remember in history class that year discussing finding bin Laden. The bastard still hasn't been caught. By 9-11-05, I bet he will be, though. It is interesting that in a time, 2001-2004, nothing has really changed physically, technologically, even entertainment-ly, but the political landscape of the world has been changed so much.

I remember I work up and was just about to sit down and eat my breakfast (cereal). I wanted to watch some of McGyver on WGN Chicago before I went to class but when I went to the station the news was on. So I flipped through the other stations (only had about 8-10) and they all had on the same thing. So finally I stopped to see what was going on and I heard a plane flew into the World Trade Center. At first I thought that some idiot didn't know how to fly & didn't think anymore about it. I had history class that morning & when I got to class they had the news on the overhead projector and the 2nd plane had hit. We spent History & Political Science class watching the Towers crumble. Only later that day did it all become clear what had happened.

We were living in Newport News,VA at the time. I had just started a new job with my neighbors business I was riding with her and her husband called her on her cell phone and told her what happened. I thought Oh God so we turned on her car radio and was listening to what was going on. I could not believe this was really happening. I got a call from my husband who had just got home from work telling me he had to go back to the navy base he was a security guard. They had to protect the base. This base was where they kept the weapons,torpedo's etc. He didn't get to come home for 3 days. I'll never forget it at the main base in Norfolk all the ships and subs had to go out to sea for a few days.

I was in New York for a school thing from September 8, 2004, to September 12, 2004, and I went to the World Trade Center site on September 10, 2004. It really brought tears to my eyes, and you feel an immense sense of national pride when there. The two light beams were incredible, too.

It was only like 6 am for me, I wasn't even awake yet. My dad heard it on the radio on his way to work, and called home to tell us... THAT got me up pretty quick... I couldn't believe it. I thought there must have been a misunderstanding or something.

Then, once I got to school, there was an assembly first period, and most people had no idea yet. That's usually too early for anyone to know the morning's news yet... it wasn't even 8:00 yet. So the dean told us what happened, said a prayer, and we sang the national anthem and God Bless America. The rest of the day, the TVs were on in every classroom, and we weren't doing anything, so being typical Zia, I left and went home. If I'm gonna watch the news all day, I'd rather do so in sweats or pj's.

No disrespect, but it's ironic you would post a 9/11 tribute on this board, seeing as how the mob was involved in the theft of steel and other materials from ground zero. Again, my apologies if this came off as insensitive, but I found the looting of such a sacred site by mobsters deplorable yet somehow expected. Expected in the sense that we almost laugh every time Michael Jackson is picked up on a molestation charge. Just Ironic, that's all...

Memo to AllEyesOnChris:
We're not mobsters here, nor do most of us condone anything they do.

Any more ironic than you choosing the picture of a mobster to represent your avatar? Someone who is responsible for the death of others, and someone who makes his living off the misery of others? Lets not confuse why we "admire" our movie and tv mobsters with the reality of what they do.

I remember that day so well. And my heart breaks when I think of it. My community was hit very hard, as we're only about a half hour from NYC. It seemed that there were funeral processions everywhere you turned, for weeks and even months. We lost so many young men and women, so many children were left without their mother or father. My brother lost his friend, who was a lieutenant with the fire department. It was so sad to see Joe's photo and hear his name read again, and know that he's not here to see his son go to college or see his daughter growing up. I just remember watching the smoke cloud from the conference room of my office that day and wondering how anyone could survive that.

I insist that we watch the memorial from Ground Zero every year. The reading of the names seems endless, and each of those parents this year brought me to tears, but I feel that it's the least we can do to honor their memory.

It was a horrible day. We just stood in shock and horror looking at the skyline and there were no more Twin Towers. One of the worst things I remember was how everyone went downtown looking for their loved ones, showing pictures and stopping anyone on the street asking if they saw their loved one. Everyone looked like zombies, everybody was crying. It was awful.I guess we were all hopeful, there was a chance someone could tell them something, just something to hold on to. I am so blessed I didnt know anyone personally from the attacks. But almost everyone in New York including me, knows of someone who lost someone, friend or relative, or had a story of how they escaped.

What kind of escape stories have you heard? I'm just curious because you hear a lot about how people died, but I haven't heard too much about people escaping.

After the attacks, everyone had a story of someone they knew who had a story or a friend who had a story. Basically, you just heard lots of stories about people who ran into buildings to escape the smoke, people running towards the East River, ducking in alleys, etc. It was very sad, and it smelled like dust and smoke for weeks after the tragedy, almost like a charcoal smell. The saddest thing was all the pictures posted up and people holding pictures of their loved ones just wanting to know something if anyone saw their loved one. It was awful.

Buttapcanrican:
That's one thing I'll always remember about the aftermath of 9/11. I'll never forget the news just showing story after story of loved ones trying to get on camera just to show a picture of someone lost in the rubble. That was gut-wrenching and such a horrible time and I hope it never happens in the U.S. again.

So you hope something like that happens again? but not in the U.S. i find that disturbing.

I'm pretty sure that's not what they meant.

So you hope something like that happens again? but not in the U.S. i find that disturbing. [/b][/quote]That's not what Goombah meant, though I can certainly think along those lines, to some extent.

After 9/11, I seriously think it was time to take the fucking gloves off 100%, and avoid the political bullshit, which Bush did to an extent. But God forbid if I was President, I suspect that most of the Middle East would be a fucking parking lot by now if I even thought they were planning on attacking the US.

Hello, Mignon;

It should be clear to you that God cannot stop someone from avenging wrongs done to them with a suicide-bombing (I am willing to bet you a suicide-bombing has already happened this morning in the Middle East). It's pointless to eulogize; men, women, or children who have not done anything of significance because they were victimized, especially when their deaths only profit the government of a country with propagandistic purposes. Moreover; it's not very honorable to attempt to gain any sort of acceptance or accolade by mourning or panegyrizing those who one never knew personally.

I would not be very surprised if another terrorist attack took place on American soil before long - bonds with Israel aside - as these so-called 'terrorists' can most easily sneak into this country through the unguarded Mexican border which people of every race & creed can be found trespassing for many reasons (only to be returned to Mexico from where they attempt to sneak into the country again): be it drug-trafficking, or kidnapping of American citizens, or other illicit &/or amoral & repugnant activities with impunity.

Hello, Mignon;

It should be clear to you that God cannot stop someone from avenging wrongs done to them with a suicide-bombing (I am willing to bet you a suicide-bombing has already happened this morning in the Middle East). It's pointless to eulogize; men, women, or children who have not done anything of significance because they were victimized, especially when their deaths only profit the government of a country with propagandistic purposes. Moreover; it's not very honorable to attempt to gain any sort of acceptance or accolade by mourning or panegyrizing those who one never knew personally.

I would not be very surprised if another terrorist attack took place on American soil before long - bonds with Israel aside - as these so-called 'terrorists' can most easily sneak into this country through the unguarded Mexican border which people of every race & creed can be found trespassing for many reasons (only to be returned to Mexico from where they attempt to sneak into the country again): be it drug-trafficking, or kidnapping of American citizens, or other illicit &/or amoral & repugnant activities with impunity. [/b][/quote]Sorry, I'm usually fairly agreeable here, but your post just made my blood boil. How can you sound like such a jerk? Do you think that we feel compassion for those families to gain acceptance? Even if you didn't know anyone that perished that day, you feel compassion for their families because they've suffered a horrendous, heart-breaking loss. And you pray to God that nobody ever has to feel that kind of pain again. Does that mean that nobody ever will? Of course not. But you pray anyway, because it is only humane to hope that it will never happen again.

So you hope something like that happens again? but not in the U.S. i find that disturbing. [/b][/quote]I've seen some stupid comments made on these boards, but yours takes the cake. If you are going to make such a moronic statement, do us all a favor and keep it to yourself.

ohh well, maybe is late for this post, but wasnt around in these days. That awful day 9/11, I was in home, cuz I took a sabatical year, so, I always woke up pretty late, that day, I woke up pretty early 9:30 pm (same time than nyc) and put my tv on, my local channel was talking about the nyc incident. I thought, OMG, this is not possible, plus I have some relatives there, so I was worried for them too, was a pretty sad day, not only for americans though, for all, see all that people dying on live was shocking, all that suffer, is a day I never can forget though, I was 20 year then and 3 years later when I rewatched the whole stuff on tv,I started to cry, cuz till now, I cant understand why stuff like that can happend in our world, inoccent people dying and not only there, around the world, maybe is human nature, who knows, anyway my prays are with the persons who lost some relatives that day, god bless you all.

First of all - Wow.

Secondly, actually I personally knew someone who was on one of the flights. And died.

If you don't agree with us honoring the people who died in 9/11.. then why would you even open the thread? Just skip to the next one and be on your merry way.

I never said anyone felt, or feigned, compassion for the families of the victims for acceptance (compassion is an understandable feeling given the situation). I said it was senseless to panegerize those dead if one did not know them personally or if they had not done anything honorable that the person was aware of.

Perhaps because I've felt more tragedy than most people I am unable to feel very sensitive for those who I don't know, or those who don't mean anything to me. What they or their family must endure is their business; not mine. Agony is integral to life; one must learn to suffer.

Of course my opinion is just that & my right to express it is no different from yours in this board, as long as it is presented respectfully.

I didn't know anyone personally who died on 9/11 (thankfully), but that still doesn't mean that I can't mourn them for the way in which they died & under the circumstances. Are you saying we should be insensitive if personally were not affected by the tradegies. What about the Holocost? Is is wrong to feel compassion for those that suffered for NOTHING!? I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, I'm just wondering why we had to know somebody to feel emotion?

Like Zia said, it was very early here in California. My routine is, right after my alarm goes off, I turn on the tv to CNN/MSN and saw them talking and showing footage of the first plane. I was really surprised and confused. Then within minutes the second plane hit and I knew then it was more than an accident, as I assume everyone did.

The whole day at work, the tv was on and everyone was in a daze. My heart broke for all those people and all of NYC. It definitely brought every American together. We all felt the pain and horror to a large degree.

I wish I could say it won't happen again, but I am very pessimistic in that respect. However, I pray I am wrong.

TIS

I didn't know anyone personally who died on 9/11 (thankfully), but that still doesn't mean that I can't mourn them for the way in which they died & under the circumstances. Are you saying we should be insensitive if personally were not affected by the tradegies. What about the Holocost? Is is wrong to feel compassion for those that suffered for NOTHING!? I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, I'm just wondering why we had to know somebody to feel emotion? [/b][/quote]Well stated Irishman. I, too, didn't know anybody who died on 9/11. But that doesn't mean I can't mourn and show my compassion for the innocent lives lost. Such a deeply tragic event like 9/11 brings out tremendous emotion in all of us. God forbid, if I did know someone who was a victim, I can't imagine the grief that was endured. I have the utmost respect for the spouses/families of the 9/11 victims who are fighting to ensure that we learned from our mistakes that lead to 9/11.

I never said anyone felt, or feigned, compassion for the families of the victims for acceptance (compassion is an understandable feeling given the situation). I said it was senseless to panegerize those dead if one did not know them personally or if they had not done anything honorable that the person was aware of.

Perhaps because I've felt more tragedy than most people I am unable to feel very sensitive for those who I don't know, or those who don't mean anything to me. What they or their family must endure is their business; not mine. Agony is integral to life; one must learn to suffer.

Of course my opinion is just that & my right to express it is no different from yours in this board, as long as it is presented respectfully. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Yes, just as my opinion was presented. And what in God's name makes you think you have cornered the market on suffering? Everyone suffers; it's part of life. However, you definitely implied that we only eulogize those victims, even though we didn't know them, to "gain acceptance".
And I quote:
>>Moreover; it's not very honorable to attempt to gain any sort of acceptance or accolade by mourning or panegyrizing those who one never knew personally.<<

I feel that we do it because we are human and we feel for others that have suffered. I also believe that, while there is pain in every life, sending someone you love off to the office, only to see their building collapse on television a few hours later, is beyond the usual tragedy that befalls each life. To lose someone you love is a horror, but to lose them in such a public way that is repeated over and over in the public eye, to lose someone you love in such a senseless way, is beyond agony. I cry for the victims of September 11th and their families the same way I cried when I saw the Murrah building in Oklahoma, when I saw Lori Hacking's mother on TV the other day, when I see anyone who lost someone they loved, and I am moved to tears by their grief and courage to go on. To isolate oneself from the suffering of others is supremely selfish and self-absorbed, in my opinion.

If I may ask, what tragedy have you suffered that would cause you to be unable to feel agony for the people who died on September 11, 2001?

I didn't know anyone personally who died on 9/11 (thankfully), but that still doesn't mean that I can't mourn them for the way in which they died & under the circumstances. Are you saying we should be insensitive if personally were not affected by the tradegies. What about the Holocost? Is is wrong to feel compassion for those that suffered for NOTHING!? I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, I'm just wondering why we had to know somebody to feel emotion? [/b][/quote]Well I will say it: Guineapig's opinion IS incontrovertably wrong.

For the sake of communication, you shouldn't make assumptions like the ones you're making about someone you don't know personally.

I was very clear on my first post, but here I'll try to explain again my viewpoint:

I understand the feeling of compassion for those who experienced loss during those attacks & those who either died during or survived them, even when considering that what they had to endure is commonplace in much of the Middle East (even worse for them in a sense because the people who die there haven't lead such prosperous lives as the people working on the WTC or living in America). The attempts made by the American Media, & our current government to attempt to show bereavement for their citizens are simply a little too transparent for me, but clearly not to those jumping on the bandwagon (those my original post targeted). Perhaps you are genuinely compassionate & do deeply feel for the loss those families experienced (truly an admirable thing), but I doubt every, or even most, with their 'proud to be an american', or 'united we stand' stickers feel the same way. It is also a little ironic because it's clear only a small fraction of those citizens would give up their lives for their country & their 'freedom' - most believe lies that Muslims hate us for our 'freedom & democracy.'