911 - 20 years later

20 years later.

I still remember.

I still mourn for all who lost their lives at the hands of islamic terrorists.

I will never forget.

This is not a right-left issue.

It never was.

It's a human issue.

Feel free to leave some input about what was happening with you on that day. Later today, I will add some appropriate personal impressions as well. Remember, giving some personal impressions does not mean giving out any personal information about yourself.

This thread is for everyone in PF, it is apolitical.

Please stick to the wishes of the OP. Thanks.

 

Today is the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and like many I recall hearing that a plane had crashed into the twin towers at an early morning meeting and thinking that it must have been a small plane.

Once I was back at my desk I checked the news and realized that it was something bigger. I was watching the news when the 2nd plane struck the other tower.

I had a job to do and my responsibilities kicked in.

It was only much later that evening after I was back home that the human toll became reality as reports of those who were working in downtown Manhattan could not be reached by their families.

A few days later I recall seeing the skies empty of planes and thinking how nice it was in contrast to the burning pyre that marked the remnants of those that had perished.

It was a time for reflection and to comfort those who had lost loved ones and to cherish those that were still with us.

Hopefully as time passes the important lesson will be learned...always tell your nearest and dearest that you love them every time you leave them.

Peace
DT

 

It reverberated around the world. For some reason I had the TV on when I saw the reporting of the first plane and as they were reporting the second plane hit. We all felt America’s pain that morning.

But it was what came after.

<Comments Edited>

 

My stepfather was visiting us and had gone to bed early.
We saw the reports of the incident on tv and I said to the family that I had to wake Albert and tell him.
He was exhausted from his trip and was not rouse able.
“Albert, you have to wake up! Someone has flown a plane into the world trade centre!”
Albert said, still mostly asleep, “tsk, tsk”.
It was the most appalling thing to happen and has changed the course of history. So many people dead, just like that.
Harrowing stories of mobile phones ringing. The sight of trapped people jumping from the buildings. People coated in pale dust. Expressionless with shock.

 

I was speculating- but America went through a hard scary time - it was not just the WTC but the sniper attacks and the anthrax attacks. All of these had you very concerned as well as the constant “terror threat” alerts

All of these fed the outrage that fired the impetus to war - a costly nasty brutal war fought on two fronts.
Lives lost on 9/11

https://www.usnews.com/news/nationa...0/counting-the-lives-lost-as-a-result-of-9-11

lives lost by American military alone Iraq 4,576 Afghanistan 2,432
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2021-09-10/counting-the-lives-lost-as-a-result-of-9-11

To really honour those who died on that day we, US and it’s allies, should have worked to make the world safer

in that I feel we failed

 

The one that tugs my heart the most was the flight 93 - how brave were they? Again the good bye calls. Everyone seems to focus on the WTC and that was the biggest site and largest number of people so sometime it feels that flight 93 although not forgotten is less remembered

 

I was the Flight Clearance Chief at MCAS Yuma, watched it all happen live on TV after the first plane hit. I still remember getting the NOTAM to ground all aircraft and the two birds that were armed with live munitions sitting stand-by on the taxiway just incase we got something on our radar. They sent all the kids home from the schools in Yuma and locked down the base. It is a day I will never forget. A day that changed the world as we knew it forever

 

remember all the people that perished on 9-11, and all those that perished in the Middle East since due to our over-response during this 20+ year war

and be thankful this war has finally come to an end, thanks Trump, thanks Biden for ending this war, the only way to end it was both parties pushing to end it, that has finally happened

 

Delete

 

I remember, but 20 years has tempered the emotions. No disrespect, indeed, my heartfelt desire is to honor and mourn on this day, but I feel much different than I did 20 years ago. I don't agree with @Bowerbird that we're not safer, and I don't quite agree with @Darth Gravus that it changed the world as we knew it forever.

The wars have not made us safer, and in that I agree with Bowerbird, but measures taken in the aftermath have worked.

Of course, modern airport procedure could be seen as just one element of a "changed world," and Darth is correct that 9/11 changed the world. But so did the Kennedy assassination, Pearl Harbor, the hostage crisis and a number of other great tragic incidents. There must be a 90 year old who witnessed both 12/7/41 and 9/11. Though he would have been only 10 in 1941, it would be interesting to hear the stories comparing the two.

20 years is an important anniversary. 9/11 can never be forgotten. My thoughts are with the victims, if only for this moment.

I am a little uneasy about exploiting 9/11, though. Not this thread; threads like this are wholly appropriate. The OP is wise in rejecting politics, but I see a problem with politics exploiting 9/11.

Growing up, December 7th was the "day of infamy," from my parents' generation. I remember solemn memorial on those days every year. Now, I see 9/11 as anything but solemn. It's been a media blitz for days, with not a short, serious memorial speech by POTUS, but a Washington extravaganza and a cast of thousands. I think it's disrespectful.

 

This is where I'm at, as well. The timing is actually fitting, and allows us to compare how we feel being out of Afghanistan to how we felt on 9/11.

The War on Terror was a real thing, which I supported. Peace is what I support now. The timing allows closure for both, and I hope this gaudy Washington media production isn't repeated.

FDR's "day of infamy" speech itself was 7 minutes long. 9/11 is being commercialized and politicized, and I find that disgusting.

 

I think of all those events, only Peral Harbor had the same impact on the nation and the world as 9/11. Peral Harbor led to the interment of Japanese in our country, it led to the US involvement in WWII and the dropping of two atomic bombs which changed the world forever.

9/11 lead to the creation of the largest bureaucracy in our nations history and a series of laws that stripped away freedoms and rights. 9/11 was used as justification for the NSA to spy on its own citizens and for Congress to give the executive branch the power to detain anyone, including citizens, indefinitely without trial or legal council. The Middle East is forever changed due to our actions based on 9/11.

Nothing has changed the world like 9/11 until last year and COVID

 

Agreed. My point is we could go through history and rank every event in how it impacted the world. That's a job for historians at another time.

I dunno. I just feel uneasy about some of this. It seems like we're trying to celebrate what should be a moment of silence. I don't know if that makes sense, and maybe it doesn't. It's early. Lol.

 

Makes 100% sense. I agree it has become a spectacle for people to showcase how much they care instead of honoring those that died

 

My old man was doing helicopter flight training in Yuma at Fort Huachuca

 

Fort Huachuca is a good ways down the road, but not too far by helo. Yuma has some of the best ranges in the country for both fixed and rotary wing training. We used to get units from all over the world coming there.

 

I never like living in the desert and always got station in the Southern US the farthest north I ever got was at Fart Belvoir, Va.

 

I was laying brick back in 2001 and had no radio on or TV and wondered why there were long lines forming at the gas stations.I never heard about what happed until the evening when I got back home.

 

What should have been included in Spike Lee's documentary. Start at about 19:40. I'm sure YouTube will take this down shortly.

 

The desert grew on me during my 3 years in Yuma, but not enough to live there permanently. I never was stationed further north than MCAS New River, NC

 

I was packing my bags on the morning of September 11. It was a calm day in West Lake Hills Texas. I was in the lower level of a split level house that I shared with my roommate Robin. The band that I was playing with was booked to play in New Orleans that night. It was supposed to be the first show of a three week tour that would take us to the North East Atlantic coast. I was getting ready for the guys to pick me up when I noticed that Robin had the TV on upstairs and it was tuned to CNN. Something she never does. Just then I hear her call to me.

"Turn on your TV, Right now! "
What? I said.
"Just turn on your TV." She said.

When I turned the TV on the first plane had just hit a short time earlier. I saw the rest unfold in real time after that. I remember just being in a state of shock. I had a sinking feeling that this was just the start of something really bad. I did not know what it was.

Needless to say, the tour dates were cancelled for at least a week. The next show that we played was was the following Thursday at a Texas themed night club in Manhattan. As we approached the city, we could still see the smoke rising from ground zero . We were the first band to play there after the attack as all of the bands had been cancelling. The place was completely packed. The people there profusely thanked us for driving all the way from Texas to play that show. I will always remember it.

 

How would U.S. react today? Someone on the radio just said, "All we lost that day". We lost, so many brave AmeriCANs, so many more that didn't have time to be brave, landmarks we'd grown to depend on, the delusion that America is safe from attack, peace.

If something like that happened today would we come together as Americans? Or facetiously blame each other? We lost a lot on 911. But since then we've lost so much more. We've lost our way, we've lost our soul, we've lost U.S.

 

Honor and remember those lives lost by working to make sure it doesn't happen again, work to keep our freedoms and the country we live in, work to keep it a country to be proud of. Don't forget who is responsible. Too many have forgotten and are more concerned with not hurting someone's feelings rather than the reality of it.