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3rd anniversary of 9/11 |
docwoods
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 29, 2004
Posts: 595
From: outside the windy city
|  Posted: 2004-09-11 07:37 am Permalink
Just wanted to say it's been three years,and it still is absolutely impossible to get my mind around those events of that day.Shock,horror,complete disbelief,and sadness,but hoping it will NEVER occur again,and destroy life as we are fortunate to know.Raise a glass this evening and remember.
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TNTiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 15, 2004
Posts: 464
From: Knoxville, TN
| Posted: 2004-09-11 08:29 am Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: TNTiki on 2004-11-06 15:16 ]
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docwoods
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 29, 2004
Posts: 595
From: outside the windy city
| Posted: 2004-09-11 08:58 am Permalink
Beautifully put TNTiki-your posts are always heartfelt and kind-thank YOU!
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The Ragin' Rarotongan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 26, 2004
Posts: 282
From: Now, Ocala Florida
| Posted: 2004-09-11 11:51 am Permalink
Well put from both of you guys. Our lives have forever changed, and not for the better. I can only imagine the dispair those poor families must feel for those lost on that horrible, tragic day. Terrorism is now a permanent fixture in our country, which has indeed affected us all. My deepest condolences and thoughts to all of the families that lost loved ones.
Aaron
_________________
"Want a beer?'"...."It's 7:00 in the morning!"...."Scotch?"...."Not during working hours."
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ikitnrev
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Jul 27, 2002
Posts: 1298
From: D.C. / Virginia
| Posted: 2004-09-11 12:24 pm Permalink
At the time of 9/11, I didn't know anybody who had been killed, or had family members killed in those events.
Then about a year ago, I was in a leadership training class, made up of about 20 people. One of the persons in the class was an elderly black woman, about 50 years old. She was very quiet and soft-spoken.
Later she told us that she used to work in a group that was assigned to the Pentagon. Her office was about to move, and she was one of the first persons to move into the new offices, located in a different building. A few days later, Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, and many of the people killed in that incident were her co-workers. Her emotions ran the range from gratitude (for being in her new office) and guilt (why her, and not some other good people who perished)
It is odd, how you can watch footage, and read newspaper accounts, and think you know about what is going on. Then you meet somebody who has a personal story to tell about the event, and you gain a new sense - even if only a sliver - of what happened. My heart goes out to those family members who were and are the most affected.
Vern
[ This Message was edited by: ikitnrev on 2004-09-11 12:26 ]
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vintagegirl
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 12, 2002
Posts: 537
From: Los Angeles
| Posted: 2004-09-11 2:29 pm Permalink
When 9/11 happened, I knew that no one would be untouched by the event. I didn't really know anyone in NYC, but still felt like there would be someone that knew someone I knew. Sure enough, I got an email from my best friend alerting her friends that her brother was in one of the towers. That morning he called their mom about a half hour before it collapsed. He was above where the plane crashed into the building and the last they heard was that he was stuck in a crowded, smoky stairway. My friend was watching the whole time on TV, then watched as the building collapsed with her brother in it. They still hoped against hope and gave DNA samples, but as the days passed they began to realize the slim possibilities. He left behind a wife and a newborn baby.
As if all this were not enough to handle, many of the families were inundated day and night with phone calls from the media wanting interviews. The families were given no time to adjust to the situation and had their private grieving invaded constantly. Meanwhile, there were others who seeked my friend's family just because they had the same last name, thinking they might be related. It was a completely surreal time.
Later, when the bombing of the terrorist camps in Afghanistan began, my friend was sent this photo by a friend of her brother's who was in the military. Apparently, many people had taken to writing the names of those killed on 9/11 on the bombs.
In case it's hard to read, it says: "Osama, we'll never forget Sean Lugano, Matt Burke, Jimmy Riches, Mark Ludvissen, Brent Woodall, Richie Allen, Charlie Herein + Mike Andrews and now YOU won't forget them. Xavier Alumni + NYAC-RFC"
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Raffertiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 31, 2003
Posts: 1527
From: L.I.
| Posted: 2004-09-11 2:40 pm Permalink
My brothers best friend was in the first tower that crumbled, and managed to make it out with minutes to spare. He saw things that were too horrible to be broadcast on the news. It's not my place to tell, so I won't. The only positive thing I can think of that came out of this was a renewed sense of pride in our country and what we stand for. Strangly enough, I already see people acting embarrassed of America. I feel a loss of respect for these people. I am proud to say that when I woke up this morning, my wife had already hung our flag.
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Tiki_Bong
Deleted
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 0 | Posted: 2004-09-11 3:03 pm Permalink
As a international mutt of Serbian decent, boy was I was proud when America was bombing Serbia where I have many relatives.
My great aunt living there is on kidney dialysis, but could not keep it up due to lack of electricity. Many of my relatives were forced to live through extreme hardship as a result. They had nothing to due with that country's dictatorship.
I think it's great that America is here to tell the World how it should be living, based on our own great sucess, as We've been doing that for many decades.
Unfortunately, the innocent citizen's of our little "student contries" do not understand our great wisdom as "teacher country". They do not seem to recognize our fine clothes...
[ This Message was edited by: Tiki_Bong on 2004-09-11 15:04 ]
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TNTiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 15, 2004
Posts: 464
From: Knoxville, TN
| Posted: 2004-09-11 6:14 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: TNTiki on 2004-11-06 15:16 ]
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TNTiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 15, 2004
Posts: 464
From: Knoxville, TN
| Posted: 2004-09-11 6:16 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: TNTiki on 2004-11-06 15:16 ]
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kha_o
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 30, 2003
Posts: 20
From: Soon to be in Colorado
| Posted: 2004-09-11 9:14 pm Permalink
February 26, 1993 - bombing of World Trade Center in NYC - 6 dead, 1000+ injured
June 25, 1996 - bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arbia - 20 dead, 372 injured
August 7, 1998 - bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya - 225 dead, 4085 injured
October 12, 2000 - bombing of USS Cole in Yeman - 17 dead, 39 injured
...but the average American didn't know who bin Laden was until September 11, 2001.
It wasn't until terrorism was over the US's doorstep (and not a club in Germany, a plane over Scotland, a pub in Belfast, an embassy in Tehran, an Olympic Village in Munich, a US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, a department store in London, an airport in Rome) that most Americans gave a damn.
We then put the blinders up for Moscow, Madrid, Beslan, and too many other places in the past three years.
Honor the victims of 9/11, but we Americans seem to have an issue with walking a mile in someone else's shoes and not waking up to a problem until years after the fact.
Terrorism wasn't invented in 2001...
...just like the crisis in the Slavic states didn't begin in 1998.
...World War II did not start in 1941
...World War I didn't start in 1917
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Tiki Royale
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 06, 2002
Posts: 891
From: The Aloha Room in Beautiful Belmont, CA!
| Posted: 2004-09-11 10:54 pm Permalink
Never Forget.
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donhonyc
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Posts: 1173
From: The Quiet EAST Village
| Posted: 2004-09-11 11:28 pm Permalink
I was here in Manhattan the day of the attacks. I hope nothing like it ever happens again. Ground zero is a little under 3 miles from here. That day it seemed like it was three feet away. Over the last day or two the footage of the towers falling has been played over and over. I think the memory of the people that were lost that day should always be honored, but in all honesty, I don't need to see that footage ever again. Aside from the fact that it is incredibly depressing to watch, it makes me very, very angry.
The day the towers came down was scary enough. In some ways what was even scarier was living in a city under siege in the days and weeks that followed. Huge sections of town, including my neighborhood were closed off to any kind of traffic with the exception of authorized vehicles. Phone lines were shut down. Ocasionally you could reach somebody by cell phone. Fighter jets were constantly circling over Manhattan. Military vehicles were everywhere. Constant sirens filling the air. And the burning smell lasted for about a month. And by the way, as much as the media wanted to squeeze the dramatic value of the smoldering fire by saying it was 'the smell of death', it wasn't that way. And broadcasting it in that context didn't help the situation. I was really offended by that. It smelled like a utility fire, not a funeral pyre, but that 's beside the point. It was very sad and scary around here. If I have seen anything in my life that has been truly 'mind boggling' it's what I saw and felt that day. It was just too much for your mind to comprehend. It was the day Godzilla came to town. A friggin' monster movie come to life. That may seem like a strange analogy, but It seems more bearbable to think about it like that
The positive side is that at this point it seems people have done their best to move on and return to some sort of normalcy, and it's working. Rise above.
Tonight when I was walking home I could see the memorial beam of light stretching into the sky from ground zero. Somehow I felt better loooking at it. It seemed as if one had a visual on the path all those people who were victims took to some infinite place in the sky. Then I just thought for a second....why did this ridiculously wasteful event ever have to happen? why?
[ This Message was edited by: donhonyc on 2004-09-11 23:57 ]
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Bamboo Dude
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 05, 2004
Posts: 164
From: Orange Countiki, CA
| Posted: 2004-09-12 01:37 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2004-09-11 15:03, Tiki_Bong wrote:
As a international mutt of Serbian decent, boy was I was proud when America was bombing Serbia where I have many relatives.
My great aunt living there is on kidney dialysis, but could not keep it up due to lack of electricity. Many of my relatives were forced to live through extreme hardship as a result. They had nothing to due with that country's dictatorship.
I think it's great that America is here to tell the World how it should be living, based on our own great sucess, as We've been doing that for many decades.
Unfortunately, the innocent citizen's of our little "student contries" do not understand our great wisdom as "teacher country". They do not seem to recognize our fine clothes...
[ This Message was edited by: Tiki_Bong on 2004-09-11 15:04 ]
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Aloha Bong! I have to say that there is much truth in what you speak; sometimes, I find myself embarrassed by the pompous, self-righteous attitudes that Americans tend to project to the rest of the world. Try as we may, we are just as human as any of the people living on earth. Despite all the good we have done in the world, we will still be criticised for our shortcommings. When we look for support from those whose freedom was bought with the blood of our soldiers at Normandy, and are denied, we are expected to "understand". We allow immigrants to come to our country, and we give them help to start their own businesses, while our own homeless wander the streets.
We mourn our tragedy deeply, though it marks but a single day, and spectate at the slaughter of hundreds of thousands in Rwanda over months of civil war, and cavalierly comment as we flip through the couple hundred cable channels looking for more appealing entertainment. Yes, there are things I am not too proud of in America.
Despite these shortcommings, I am PROUD to be in the USA; PROUD to be a US citizen; PROUD of the men and women who have died for this country; and am PROUD of the citizens who died three years ago. PROUD that one airplane never reached its' target because of the actions of a few brave citizens. PROUD that we have all come together from a wide spectrum of the human experience to honor the great sacrifices made in New York city on September 11, 2001. Whether or not we 'deserved it' because of our indifference to human suffering in the rest of the world, will have to be debated in another place and time.
It is my PRIDE that kept me from posting a response during the 24 hours that will always be, for most US citizens, a day of remembrance for those who paid the ultimate price to make a difference on that fateful day. I wish that, in the least, we would honor our countrymen by saving the discussions of our shortcommings for another day.
Today is now 9/12, and I am saddened by the story you share, Bong. There is so much that needs to change, within our borders, and without. Perhaps the real lesson of 9-11 is to get back to the true meaning of "United We Stand".
[ This Message was edited by: Bamboo Dude on 2004-09-12 01:39 ]
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Satan's Sin
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: 729
From: Imperial Beach, CA
| Posted: 2004-09-12 09:40 am Permalink
"The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past."
-- William Faulkner
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