OT: Perspective on this day

[PatsBoy12]

Great post, Mo.

I walked my kids to school along Second Avenue in mid-town Manhattan this morning and reflected that the weather is eerily similar to what it was 11 years ago; crystal clear blue sky and a late summer coolness in the air.

The difference was that when I looked down Second Avenue towards lower Manhattan this morning, the sky was still perfectly blue and not engulfed in black smoke. Second Avenue this morning was not full of fire trucks and other emergency vehicles with their sirens screaming as they made their way to what we now call Ground Zero. I have often reflected on how many of the brave men I saw hanging onto those fire trucks and in those police cars that morning were on their way to their deaths. It still gives me chills.

Later on that morning, Second Avenue was taken over by tens of thousands of people making their way on foot from Wall Street towards upper Manhattan and the Queensboro bridge a few blocks from here.

By the afternoon, as we watched the Air Force Fighter-jets flying cover over the city, the street was a venue for the sickening sight of refrigeration trucks heading for the site; it turned out that they were not needed, given the thoroughness of the destruction.

By late afternoon the air was tainted with the now unforgettable smell of the fire and smoke that slowly made its way north (the wind was blowing away from Manhattan that morning, towards the east and south as I recall), as my wife and I found pillows and blankets in our apartment for co-workers who couldn't get out of a shut-down Manhattan.

As you can see, the day is etched in my memory and we all thank you for calling our attention to it.

RIP.

We will never forget.

I don't even know what to say about this post. It's so deep and poignant. I am a native New Yorker living in Florida now and I have members of my family who work in Manhattan and witnessed the horror that day. My uncle actually worked in one of the buildings that eventually collapsed after the Towers fell, but he happened to be on a week-long vacation at the time.

I had the honor of visiting the site soon after the tragedy and it was eerie. The smell, the site, the attitude of the other visitors and workers . . . it was almost too much for me to take in. I still can't believe something like that happened in this country. We should never forget.

 

[patfanken]

There are a lot of different memories from that day to choose from. Today I'm going to think about the extraordinary bravery that occurred that day. Think about these images.

While people were running from the fire and smoke, hundred of police, firemen and rescue workers were running toward it.

With a plane headed toward a date with massive destruction in Washington DC, some amazingly brave souls, just regular people, chose to go down fighting and in that selfless act of bravery, saved countess hundreds.

The people who for weeks after, risked life, limb, and long term health problems, scoured the ruins in an effort to bring some closure to so many.fo

I have only one regret fr om that day. Well actually I have many, but one that sticks sticks in my craw.for some reason. The twin towers were were more than just 2 buildings, they were an American symbol. That's why they were chosen as a target.

It seems to me when an enemy attacks a symbol like a flag, a monument, or in this case a pair of buildings, you rebuild it. You make a statement that whatever you knock down, we will REBUILD.....and make it even better.

So it has always pissed me off that because the twin towers no longer exist to a certain extent our enemies have won that small victory. I would have much rather they had cleared the rubble and as fast as humanly possible rebuilt those buildings better than ever (along with an appropriate memorial) as a our own statement and a huge FU to anyone who would try to attack us. "See you knocked it down and we built it again. You lose!"

The sad fact that so little has been been done over the last 11 years at the site is an indictment of our own problems that are all to rooted in partisanship and individual self interest. And I hope this isn't interpreted as a political statement, but rather a sad reality.

Rather lets take the time and remember the kind of bravery, selflessness. and LACK of individual self interest that was shown that day. The kind of bravery that we are capable of both as a country and as individuals and aspire to reach that level of greatness every day.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I heard that the soldier who shot Bin Laden dead could be facing jail time for writing a book about it without consent from his superiors?

Is this true?

 

[Rob0729]

I will never forget 9/11/01. My thoughts and prayers still go out to the victims and their families.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I heard that the soldier who shot Bin Laden dead could be facing jail time for writing a book about it without consent from his superiors?

Is this true?

I don't know if the story is true or not, but it doesn't seem too far-fetched. That was a big military operation, and some of the information he may have used in the book may be considered highly classified stuff. I'm almost positive he wouldn't have used any names, sources, or other highly sensitive information in the book, but I am sure there are some elements that our military and/or government would not like revealed in such a public forum.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I will never forget that day. My daugther was going to NYU grad school and working in a tall building very close to the WTC.

She watched the 2nd plane go into the tower. She saw the people jumping from the building.Had the 2nd plane missed the tower my dauthers buildign was next in its path.

Then her building was evacuated. But then she could not go back to her apartment on 14th street. All the cell phones went dead and I could not reach her for hours. She had to walk from lower Manhattan to her roommates sisters apartment at Columbia. We finally got in touch with her late in the afternoon. By that I was half crazy with worry.

I'll never forget that day- ever.

Thanks for sharing that with us. I'm glad your day ended with good news.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

....
I would have much rather they had cleared the rubble and as fast as humanly possible rebuilt those buildings better than ever (along with an appropriate memorial) as a our own statement and a huge FU to anyone who would try to attack us. "See you knocked it down and we built it again. You lose!"

The sad fact that so little has been been done over the last 11 years at the site is an indictment of our own problems that are all to rooted in partisanship and individual self interest. And I hope this isn't interpreted as a political statement, but rather a sad reality.

Rather lets take the time and remember the kind of bravery, selflessness. and LACK of individual self interest that was shown that day. The kind of bravery that we are capable of both as a country and as individuals and aspire to reach that level of greatness every day.

It was really tough over much of the last ten years to drive past Ground Zero and witness the agonizingly slow progress that was being made on the site because of the squabbling and greed of developers and other involved parties. Things have at last come together, but it wasn't our finest hour.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I heard that the soldier who shot Bin Laden dead could be facing jail time for writing a book about it without consent from his superiors?

Is this true?

I'll wait until I have the facts before I make any judgments, but it doesn't seem improbable that a lot of the operational details have not yet been declassified, so he could be in hot water. I could see many legitimate reasons for keeping the details classified to the general public, including the possibility of inflaming already deranged people as well as protecting the men who were engaged.

Beyond that, I don't know if Seals and other Special Operations personnel sign a separate agreement not to disclose mission details subject to penalties.

 

[patsfan13]

I have thoughts on the Seal Team guy being harassed by the Pentagon but perhaps this isn't the right thread to explore that topic.

 

[patfanken]

I'll wait until I have the facts before I make any judgments, but it doesn't seem improbable that a lot of the operational details have not yet been declassified, so he could be in hot water. I could see many legitimate reasons for keeping the details classified to the general public, including the possibility of inflaming already deranged people as well as protecting the men who were engaged.

Beyond that, I don't know if Seals and other Special Operations personnel sign a separate agreement not to disclose mission details subject to penalties.

The guy was on 60 minutes on Sunday. He gave a blow by blow description of the everything from the preparation to the execution of the operation. The entire show was utterly fascinating, but I didn't hear or see anything that would be considered informative to our enemies. It was good that they told the whole story, and they did a great job. Informative and professional. And the guy who told the story would make a great Patriot. He just "did his job".

 

[CheeseMonkeys]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Victims of the September 11th attacks and to their families. Also to the many people who gave their lives to save others on that tragic day. And thanks to those who still put their lives on the line daily to make this country a safer place...

I was only in 5th grade when the attacks took place... I remember my principle coming into the class room and making the announcement that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers. Many of my classmates didn't have an understanding of what was going on and how big of a deal it was although we knew something bad was definitely happening. I remember a kid from the back of my class saying something like, "cool, plane crashes!!". The principle informed him that there was nothing cool about it and how serious it was.

Judging by the look on my teachers face and how the class went the rest of the day, I knew something terrible was happening. Other kids were getting out of school early, and I remember hoping that I would also get dismissed early... When I did get home I watched the news and saw the footage of what happened and couldn't believe that it was real. It showed People crying and you could see how terrorized they were.

I had no family or friends that were in the towers or planes. At the time, my life hadn't changed much...For the past few years whenever 9/11 comes around I've watched the various TV specials that came on. reflecting back and thinking of all the terror so many people felt makes me very sad and emotional. It's hard not choke up a little when you're hearing personal accounts and seeing footage up people jumping out windows out of shear hopelessness.

Although the events have my this country stronger, America will always be scarred... Life goes on, we just need to make the best of it and really appreciate the things we have.

 

[Koma]

My memories from that day are fairly pedestrian compared to some of the more powerful stories shared here.

I was working in the training dept of an insurance company in CT and we had a project meeting scheduled for 9 AM that morning. All the people working on the project knew each other pretty well, as we had worked on other projects before. One woman came in and asked if anyone had seen that a plane had struck one of the WTC towers. No one else had and one of the guys in the room made a King Kong related joke, asking if there a was giant gorilla involved. I have to admit that, at the time I wish I had been a little bit faster and made that comment. But the woman who had seen the footage didn't smile at all and said that it looked pretty bad. I thought it might be something like that accident where a plane (a B-25 or B-26, I think) crashed into the Empire State building in the 40s or 50s.

The meeting went on as usual and, when it ended around 9:30 or so, we were able to get to a TV and see that things were really bad and there was nothing to joke about. The people on my team tried to get back to business as usual, but between making phone calls, discussing things amongst ourselves, going to one of the TVs in the building, and checking the internet, we didn't get a whole lot done.

Some other people have mentioned similar experiences, but I'll never understand how two of the Team Leaders in my department decided that trying to make sure everyone was quiet and working was the best to handle situation. I remember one of them loudly commenting that she was going to look into limiting people's internet access. I understand that different people react to situations differently. I can only speak hypothetically, but, if I was in their position, I'd like to think that I wouldn't be badgering people to write procedures during one the most significant events of our lifetimes. At any rate, our department manager returned to take charge of things shortly after noon. Around 2, he went around and told us, if we wanted, we could go home.

After I got home, I was just glued to the coverage for the rest of the day.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

I was on the first day of my master's degree internship at a school in East Hartford, CT, near the Pratt and Whitney plant. The principal came on the intercom and said, "I need all teachers to stop by my office during their lunch period." I thought it was odd but didn't think anything of it. I left at 11:00 that day (as I did on all Monday and Tuesday's) and as I was signing out, the secretary had the radio on. I could not make out what was happening besides utter chaos. As I walked out of the office, the principal was walking in. I remember exactly what he was wearing, where he was standing, the look on his face, all of it when he told me what had happened. I ran to my car and put on whatever radio station I could find and flew back to the UConn campus to watch. As I was leaving, I noticed a sign in front of the school saying all parents were able to dismiss their children, no questions asked. Many employees and Pratt lived in that area and were being sent home. Amid the confusion, no one knew what was next, so to me that made a lot of sense.

I spent the afternoon and evening with my girlfriend (no wife) watching footage. I had never been to NYC but she lived in Queens for over 10 years and new Manhattan like the back of her hand. Experiencing it with her made it more surreal.


I was talking to my fifth grade class today when it hit me, none of my students were born when this happened. It is strange to think about something so vivid to me, something that feels like it was yesterday, was not experienced by my students.

 

[BlueThunder]

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I heard that the soldier who shot Bin Laden dead could be facing jail time for writing a book about it without consent from his superiors?

Is this true?

I don't know, but this isn't the time or the place to hash that out and given some of the comments about past insensitivity it's amazes me that the same people can't see that. Besides, I was always told by folks who knew that real heros are generally pretty reticent about discussing personal acts of heroism.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

There are a lot of different memories from that day to choose from. Today I'm going to think about the extraordinary bravery that occurred that day. Think about these images.

While people were running from the fire and smoke, hundred of police, firemen and rescue workers were running toward it.

With a plane headed toward a date with massive destruction in Washington DC, some amazingly brave souls, just regular people, chose to go down fighting and in that selfless act of bravery, saved countess hundreds.

The people who for weeks after, risked life, limb, and long term health problems, scoured the ruins in an effort to bring some closure to so many.fo

I have only one regret fr om that day. Well actually I have many, but one that sticks sticks in my craw.for some reason. The twin towers were were more than just 2 buildings, they were an American symbol. That's why they were chosen as a target.

It seems to me when an enemy attacks a symbol like a flag, a monument, or in this case a pair of buildings, you rebuild it. You make a statement that whatever you knock down, we will REBUILD.....and make it even better.

So it has always pissed me off that because the twin towers no longer exist to a certain extent our enemies have won that small victory. I would have much rather they had cleared the rubble and as fast as humanly possible rebuilt those buildings better than ever (along with an appropriate memorial) as a our own statement and a huge FU to anyone who would try to attack us. "See you knocked it down and we built it again. You lose!"

The sad fact that so little has been been done over the last 11 years at the site is an indictment of our own problems that are all to rooted in partisanship and individual self interest. And I hope this isn't interpreted as a political statement, but rather a sad reality.

Rather lets take the time and remember the kind of bravery, selflessness. and LACK of individual self interest that was shown that day. The kind of bravery that we are capable of both as a country and as individuals and aspire to reach that level of greatness every day.

It took several months to clear the site and even then some received no remains. It's a grave site and not just a symbol in many respects and in hindsight they did the right thing and built something to commemorate not so much the landmarks but the lives lost when the towers were destroyed. I wasn't crazy about the design at first or the endless bickering about how to proceed, but watching folks at the pools today etching names as personal rememberances and looking at the water falling into the seemingly endless void, it seemed right.

As for the terrorists, if they didn't figure out they hadn't won shortly after 911, they did shortly after 5/1/11.

There is a move afoot to continue to maintain the towers of light (that were originally designed privately as an art installation to initially and periodically temporarily commemorate the towers) and make them an ongoing part of the memorial. I think in some ways they are awesome, and an even better reminder than rebuilt actual skyscrapers could ever be. They should now be lit twice a year, on the anniversary of the attack and the anniversary of day justice was served.

 

[Reckedtrek]

When it comes to 911, I am not the same as I was before that day, but I am since healed. Scar tissue is stronger than untouched skin. I will never forget that day as long as I live. 11 years ago today terrorists took down two towers and damaged the pentagon, and took thousands of lives in the process. They also united this country and the American spirit was strong.

They will not succeed, we will not fade away but instead come back better than before.

 

[blackglass3]

I joined the Air Force in 96 as an 18 year old just looking to get out of my parents house. But on September 11th was when I learned what being in the military actually meant and have been incredibly proud to serve ever since. I will never forget how I felt that day, and will continue to serve my country as long as they let me.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

https://twitter.com/thinkprogress/status/245698982809042944/photo/1

 

[ivanvamp]

I joined the Air Force in 96 as an 18 year old just looking to get out of my parents house. But on September 11th was when I learned what being in the military actually meant and have been incredibly proud to serve ever since. I will never forget how I felt that day, and will continue to serve my country as long as they let me.

I am the son of a Navy Cross winner (fighter pilot in Vietnam) and the nephew of a US Marine (one uncle) and a 12-inch gunner on the USS Arkansas in WWII (another uncle).

I want to say thank you very much for your service to our country.