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COMMEMORATION 9/11
Posts
chana
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CloseI remember when I heard of what had happened, the strongest feeling was : the unimaginable has occurred. What were your reactions then, ten years later, what has it changed for you, how strong of a souvenir does it remain for you today?
I was 3. I do not remember anything. Though I guess it has a big impact on USA's security.
(And the world.)
(And the world.)
First thing I remember of September 11, 2001 was waking up and hearing something on the television. After listening for a bit, I was like, "Wait, what just happened?" I don't think I saw footage of the towers going down 'till years later, but I went to "Ground Zero" somewhere in 2005 or 2006 I think.
My father (who used to work in one of the towers) used to joke that his old business cards might be worth something. Well, actually, I think he might have been serious, but I also suspect that he was in some form of denial.
My father (who used to work in one of the towers) used to joke that his old business cards might be worth something. Well, actually, I think he might have been serious, but I also suspect that he was in some form of denial.
I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday, pardon the cliché. I was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at a friend's house, when his brother happily announced that planes had flown into two American buildings.
Unfortunately, back then most people I knew were generally pretty delighted at what had transpired (including, I'm horribly ashamed to admit, me. In my defence, I was 9 years old and was studying at a very religious school).
Here in the UK there was actually a protest from a radical Islamic group today, with people holding up banners saying "Islam rules" or some shit as well as burning an American flag. I don't mean to offend anyone but the thought of religion motivating such violence one way or another makes me really fucking sick. There are people who argue that even if religion didn't tie into terrorism there'd be something else fueling it, but to them I ask, in this day and age, what else is capable of instilling such hatred in Man?
Unfortunately, back then most people I knew were generally pretty delighted at what had transpired (including, I'm horribly ashamed to admit, me. In my defence, I was 9 years old and was studying at a very religious school).
Here in the UK there was actually a protest from a radical Islamic group today, with people holding up banners saying "Islam rules" or some shit as well as burning an American flag. I don't mean to offend anyone but the thought of religion motivating such violence one way or another makes me really fucking sick. There are people who argue that even if religion didn't tie into terrorism there'd be something else fueling it, but to them I ask, in this day and age, what else is capable of instilling such hatred in Man?
Crystalgate
694
I just happened to watch the news that day and got to see it as they aired it. It was horrifying to watch, but I did not buy into the "the world will never be the same" hype.
It doesn't mean very much to me. I care far more about the aftermath of 9/11 than the event itself.
It doesn't mean very much to me. I care far more about the aftermath of 9/11 than the event itself.
Dyhalto
7536
This is how I found out about it, roughly 7:50am on September 12th. I didn't actually hear about it until I got to my PT job at 8:00, but until then I thought "pffft. This sensationalist piece of shit newspaper hits a new low."
I also remember the pictures of cheering Pakistani people following it. I didn't find out until several years later that the footage used was actually from a Ramadan festival or something in 2000.
That reminds me. A far-removed cousin of mine worked at the WTC. She was actually at a restaurant on break or something when the first plane hit. Needless to say, she took an extended lunch.
Killer Wolf
1235
I saw the second impact live on good morning america as I was getting ready to go to my morning classes. At the time, I couldn't drive because of an injury, so I caught a ride with a friend of mine who worked near the college. I got into my first class, an English Comp number, and the professor said he just couldn't really give a shit about "reading and writing" right now and told us it was a free class, we could stay or leave.
I went to the student union, where they had set up tv's to follow the coverage and heard about the Pentagon hit and the crash in Pennsylvania. There was a very surreal moment a little bit later. There were a number of people on campus who were there on military scholarships, reservists, etc. Beepers/cell phones started going off. It was like a ripple through even the group gathered to watch in the union. They checked their devices, stood up, looked at each other, and left. Reserve had instantly become active duty. There were some people I knew, not sure if I would go as far as calling them friends, but people I had class with and studied with that might as well have vanished from the face of the planet.
I had to leave the scene in the student union. The crying and hand wringing had picked up to an uncomfortable pitch again. I was grinding my teeth and aware of a tear rolling down my own cheek. I wanted to do anything I could, but there was nothing I could do. I wanted to be one of the people in the belly of a military aircraft, ready to drop into enemy territory, as soon as the lines were drawn, and start bringing about the reckoning.
I was supposed to be a marine, you see. My grandfather was a marine. Scouts and Snipers. Before my injury, I'd had a meeting with my recruiter. It was my choice though, because I already had a pre-paid scholarship program. I wanted to fight for my country. Then I suffered my injury. There was no place in the marines for someone who, at the time, was under doctor's orders not to attempt to sit or stand for any extended period of time.
As a couple of years passed, service just sort of turned into one of those things I had to let go of. I had a big enough anti-authority streak in me that I figured maybe not going into the military would turn out to be the best move for me. My physical therapy was putting me back together, and I was content with the life I had. Until that day. I'd never felt so broken as I did then. I wasn't one of the soliders, about to be deployed to protect our nation. I was just background noise. Then, I felt like absolute shit for having these self centered thoughts while something so much larger than me was going on.
Cell lines were jammed. The campus was emptying out fast. I was walking (well, it was more of a stylish limp at the time) to the parking lot to see if I could catch a ride with anyone I knew. That was when I heard a plane overhead. From the news coverage, I knew that everything was supposed to be grounded. The sound of a lite plane flying over actually gave me pause.
I met a couple of people along the way, snapshots and glimpses of other people's take on the day. The girl who was worried about her aunt who worked in the WTC. The guy who couldn't get through to check on his sister who was in the hospital for something completely un-related. Overheard snatches of conversation as I passed by. I remember "They're saying it was Pakistan... Aren't they our friends? After this? You can kiss Pakistan goodbye." A lot of impotent and misdirected anger going around.
I finally caught up with someone I knew well enough to task with the ridiculously out of the way trip to where I lived. I got into the car with him and his brother. We took side streets and back roads, not sure if there was actually a reason, or if it was just a 'because.'
A couple of weeks later, we were given an assignment by the same English Comp teacher to write about the event. I wrote this very mean spirited treatise that basically laid out a complete scorched earth plan, with the intent of decimating as much of the prospective terrorist pool as possible, with the hopes that the friends/family of prospective terrorists would slit said extremist's throats in their sleep just to keep from drawing the deadly gaze of the united states down on their block. One of the key phrases was "If you want to call America the Great Satan, then I think it is time for us to start raising some hell." It seems almost prophetic in a sideways kind of way now, how I laid out this detailed plan from the point of view of myself as the president, and how at the end of it, once all those responsible, even indirectly, were dealt with (smoking corpses in mass graves), I would surrender myself to be judged for my laundry list of war crimes. Another phrase from close to the end of the paper, but one that I actually rephrased for the final draft, was "If you want to wage a coward's war on our innocents, I say we should declare open war on yours. Turnabout is fair play."
Later on, I somehow drew the Islam lot for the subject of my final report in Western Civ. By that point, though, I was able to write completely objectively. Prior to 9/11, my total exposure to Islam was limited to passages in Burroughs books about how Islam Inc. was trying to take over the world, a kind of "oh, THOSE guys," that I got from my time in private school, and some stuff I remember reading about Muhammad Ali.
Through the research for my paper, I realized that every great writing can be perverted to serve as a tool for brutality and prejudice. The 9/11 terrorists were no more of an honest representation of followers of the Qu'ran than the Klu Klux Klan was of Christianity.
Today, ten years after the event, I commemorated it by putting on a black shirt, a flag pin, and driving around in a Ford while listening to Johnny Cash.
I went to the student union, where they had set up tv's to follow the coverage and heard about the Pentagon hit and the crash in Pennsylvania. There was a very surreal moment a little bit later. There were a number of people on campus who were there on military scholarships, reservists, etc. Beepers/cell phones started going off. It was like a ripple through even the group gathered to watch in the union. They checked their devices, stood up, looked at each other, and left. Reserve had instantly become active duty. There were some people I knew, not sure if I would go as far as calling them friends, but people I had class with and studied with that might as well have vanished from the face of the planet.
I had to leave the scene in the student union. The crying and hand wringing had picked up to an uncomfortable pitch again. I was grinding my teeth and aware of a tear rolling down my own cheek. I wanted to do anything I could, but there was nothing I could do. I wanted to be one of the people in the belly of a military aircraft, ready to drop into enemy territory, as soon as the lines were drawn, and start bringing about the reckoning.
I was supposed to be a marine, you see. My grandfather was a marine. Scouts and Snipers. Before my injury, I'd had a meeting with my recruiter. It was my choice though, because I already had a pre-paid scholarship program. I wanted to fight for my country. Then I suffered my injury. There was no place in the marines for someone who, at the time, was under doctor's orders not to attempt to sit or stand for any extended period of time.
As a couple of years passed, service just sort of turned into one of those things I had to let go of. I had a big enough anti-authority streak in me that I figured maybe not going into the military would turn out to be the best move for me. My physical therapy was putting me back together, and I was content with the life I had. Until that day. I'd never felt so broken as I did then. I wasn't one of the soliders, about to be deployed to protect our nation. I was just background noise. Then, I felt like absolute shit for having these self centered thoughts while something so much larger than me was going on.
Cell lines were jammed. The campus was emptying out fast. I was walking (well, it was more of a stylish limp at the time) to the parking lot to see if I could catch a ride with anyone I knew. That was when I heard a plane overhead. From the news coverage, I knew that everything was supposed to be grounded. The sound of a lite plane flying over actually gave me pause.
I met a couple of people along the way, snapshots and glimpses of other people's take on the day. The girl who was worried about her aunt who worked in the WTC. The guy who couldn't get through to check on his sister who was in the hospital for something completely un-related. Overheard snatches of conversation as I passed by. I remember "They're saying it was Pakistan... Aren't they our friends? After this? You can kiss Pakistan goodbye." A lot of impotent and misdirected anger going around.
I finally caught up with someone I knew well enough to task with the ridiculously out of the way trip to where I lived. I got into the car with him and his brother. We took side streets and back roads, not sure if there was actually a reason, or if it was just a 'because.'
A couple of weeks later, we were given an assignment by the same English Comp teacher to write about the event. I wrote this very mean spirited treatise that basically laid out a complete scorched earth plan, with the intent of decimating as much of the prospective terrorist pool as possible, with the hopes that the friends/family of prospective terrorists would slit said extremist's throats in their sleep just to keep from drawing the deadly gaze of the united states down on their block. One of the key phrases was "If you want to call America the Great Satan, then I think it is time for us to start raising some hell." It seems almost prophetic in a sideways kind of way now, how I laid out this detailed plan from the point of view of myself as the president, and how at the end of it, once all those responsible, even indirectly, were dealt with (smoking corpses in mass graves), I would surrender myself to be judged for my laundry list of war crimes. Another phrase from close to the end of the paper, but one that I actually rephrased for the final draft, was "If you want to wage a coward's war on our innocents, I say we should declare open war on yours. Turnabout is fair play."
Later on, I somehow drew the Islam lot for the subject of my final report in Western Civ. By that point, though, I was able to write completely objectively. Prior to 9/11, my total exposure to Islam was limited to passages in Burroughs books about how Islam Inc. was trying to take over the world, a kind of "oh, THOSE guys," that I got from my time in private school, and some stuff I remember reading about Muhammad Ali.
Through the research for my paper, I realized that every great writing can be perverted to serve as a tool for brutality and prejudice. The 9/11 terrorists were no more of an honest representation of followers of the Qu'ran than the Klu Klux Klan was of Christianity.
Today, ten years after the event, I commemorated it by putting on a black shirt, a flag pin, and driving around in a Ford while listening to Johnny Cash.
Shinan
4314
I'm not entirely sure. But I recall something like sitting in front of the computer. However I cannot have been online (and on IRC) since then I'd probably have heard about what happened so my memory seems to connect me to playing some Diablo 2.
Then my mom came home from work and told us to turn on the TV and there it was some smoking bulidings and a whole lot of "what the fuck?".
So I stopped playing Diablo 2 and probably went on IRC.
Now ten years later it's interesting to see how much the terrorists won that day :D
Then my mom came home from work and told us to turn on the TV and there it was some smoking bulidings and a whole lot of "what the fuck?".
So I stopped playing Diablo 2 and probably went on IRC.
Now ten years later it's interesting to see how much the terrorists won that day :D
author=Crystalgate
but I did not buy into the "the world will never be the same" hype.
It would be ridiculous to claim that 9/11 didn't change the world. An international vigilance against terrorism, a multinational coalition and presence in the Middle East, paranoia about being attacked, and the aftermath of the event, as you said, quite literally stamped an impression on society for everyone, overnight, in the civilized world to this day.
I mean are you kidding me?
Shinan
4314
Well I didn't buy into that hype at first either. But it's pretty clear ten years later that it did change the world in pretty profound ways.
I must be one of the few people who was completely unaffected by this. Not sure why that is but it makes me feel weird thinking about it.
It would be ridiculous to claim that 9/11 didn't change the world.
There is probably no doubt that the world was changed by 9/11, the real question is whether the changes were positive or negative as a whole. Unfortunately, I can't really answer which.
Shinan
4314
Definitely negative. I can't come up with a whole lot of positive that came out of that stuff. Except maybe a good sci-fi story or two. Possibly even a decent excuse in a movie. ("Ever since 9/11..." How often have you heard that line to explain away something stupid in a movie?)
Crystalgate
694
author=Feldschlacht IVSure, it changed things. Heck, there are a lot of events which has a worldwide effect. However, most of us don't notice it as much.
It would be ridiculous to claim that 9/11 didn't change the world. An international vigilance against terrorism, a multinational coalition and presence in the Middle East, paranoia about being attacked, and the aftermath of the event, as you said, quite literally stamped an impression on society for everyone, overnight, in the civilized world to this day.
I mean are you kidding me?
Most of what I've seen looks far to familiar. A problem emerges and instead of trying to solve it, they run their own politics. A war is started that doesn't help the problems it was supposed to help. People decide that a problem can be simplified to match a simple solution such as "let's take them out in one swoop" or "bomb the shit" or whatever. Paranoia.
There has been changes, but it's very familiar and doesn't live up to the hype it got back then. Still, I did make a clumsy statement.
Edit: To clarify, I did not buy into the hype because those who claimed the world will never be the same suggested changes that I knew wouldn't happen and also didn't happen. Instead, what did change was typically things that people claimed would not happen.
I was 8 at the time but it was pretty serious around here. We Australians tend to lead boring lives on a world scale but we kinda freaked out at the idea of them being attacked.
Both my parents were like 'yeah we saw it coming'. Actually, so was I. I already knew what America was like (bit of a kid nerd XD). It doesn't make it any less devastating, but truth be told it isn't that big of a deal in actual physical sense. It was more a symbolic attack upon America that shocked everyone. During Revolutions and World Wars we see more than five million people die because of single people- like Lenin or Hitler. I do feel for the 3500+ that were affected, but it's really the symbolism that was the crux of the matter.
Both my parents were like 'yeah we saw it coming'. Actually, so was I. I already knew what America was like (bit of a kid nerd XD). It doesn't make it any less devastating, but truth be told it isn't that big of a deal in actual physical sense. It was more a symbolic attack upon America that shocked everyone. During Revolutions and World Wars we see more than five million people die because of single people- like Lenin or Hitler. I do feel for the 3500+ that were affected, but it's really the symbolism that was the crux of the matter.
author=KingArthurGenerally negative.It would be ridiculous to claim that 9/11 didn't change the world.There is probably no doubt that the world was changed by 9/11, the real question is whether the changes were positive or negative as a whole. Unfortunately, I can't really answer which.
Terrorism had been declining for some time, and was (and is) at an all time low in human history. The opportunists in the US gov't at the time unfortunately used it to promote and further their own agenda, rather than handle it maturely and properly. Fear is a great (greatest?) motivator, and they used it deftly for years and years afterwards, to the point that even 10 years and no attacks of any incidence on USA soil later, people are still keyed up about it.
If you want to see the proper way to handle a terrorist act, look at Britain and the July 7 subway bombings. Rather than acknowledging the terrorists as credible threats (thereby legitimizing them and inducing terror in the populace), they denounced them as nothing more than criminals and the act a criminal act. And then they rode the subway the next day.
Unfortunately, in the year after the attacks in 2001, an extra 1,600 americans died because of increased road traffic on the US highways. Needless deaths because of unreasoning fear. That's a tragedy
I was 15 and was just about to leave with my dad to go to school in the morning. When I came out of my room to head out the door, he was there watching the news, a burning WTC on the screen. We saw the 2nd plane hit on live television. I'll never forget how quiet the news broadcasters became. They just stopped talking completely when they saw that plane hit the second tower, and the air was quiet for a good minute or so after that. It was eerie.
facesforce
442
I remember watching 9/11 on the tv on that day, working on a project in my garage. At that time, my only thought was that the warped reality of this world was finally going to be known. Ten years later, and I have noticed a trend of misery stemming from that event. It changed the world, yes... But was it worth the world to use it as an excuse to seize power? Was the change that resulted from which, the change we should allow to progress.
Dyhalto
7536
Putting the divisive wrangling about the event's importance aside, this and this are absolutely atrocious.
For all the stupid budget, deficit and debt ceiling melodrama (all of it completely irrelevant), you'd think the Federal government would offer SOME gratitude, compensation, and respect. Heck, a Real President would just executive order $1 billion dollars to take care of them and not look back. Whose going to argue against it?
For all the stupid budget, deficit and debt ceiling melodrama (all of it completely irrelevant), you'd think the Federal government would offer SOME gratitude, compensation, and respect. Heck, a Real President would just executive order $1 billion dollars to take care of them and not look back. Whose going to argue against it?
author=kentona
Fear is a great (greatest?) motivator, and they used it deftly for years and years afterwards, to the point that even 10 years and no attacks of any incidence on USA soil later, people are still keyed up about it.
I agree with pretty much everything you said. However, to be fair there have been more than 40 attempted terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since 9-11-2001 but most of them have been prevented by local, state, or federal law enforcement. A few were prevented because the terrorists themselves were complete idiots (like the pantybomber or the plot on Times Square).
author=Dyhalto
For all the stupid budget, deficit and debt ceiling melodrama (all of it completely irrelevant), you'd think the Federal government would offer SOME gratitude, compensation, and respect. Heck, a Real President would just executive order $1 billion dollars to take care of them and not look back. Whose going to argue against it?
That's not really how executive orders work. :(
