[Big Mac]

So it's probably been done to death for most of you, but I think it's appropriate to start a thread on the tenth memorial of this world-altering attack. These Forums should take note of this day.

[Athens]

For the Families of those that died and for those that died, of all nationals that lost loved ones. Will never be forgotten. I quote "love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic."

The world has seen enough blood shed. 9/11 should be a reminder that life is to short to argue and disagree for tomorrow some angry person may end your life. Let that be my contribution to this day to you. Understanding and peace.

[Big Mac]

In light of that response above, my dear Athens, I'm really starting to regret that I tried to be as friendly as I have been toward you. You're pushing my buttons, and I think you're unquestionably doing it on purpose.

[Athens]

Edited... No I was not trying to push buttons. See PM.

[Big Mac]

I'm sorry I misjudged your intent. And I thank you for wanting peace and prosperity for both sides and a just end to the conflict. I want that too, although my view is very different from yours, and my hopes are expressed in much different terms. I also, however, wasn't expecting that kind of sentiment in the September 11th thread; it looked to me as if you spilled it over from the Israeli protest thread to get to me.

[Lateralus]

I was in high school at the time. Just old enough to halfway understand the magnitude of the situation.

I saved the newspaper the following day - took it out for a read this morning. How time flies...

[Big Mac]

I had a reply but it got eaten when it I accidentally clicked a link. Oh well. I'll try to recapitulate part of it:

I think we need to not only remember 9/11 but remember why we were attacked by barbarous, filthy, evil Arab-Muslim terrorists. (Standard disclaimer: There are good and bad people within all groups, including Arabs and Muslims. But those responsible for 9/11 are what I called them; in fact my description is much too kind.) We need to remember that, as far as that very visible conflict in the middle east is concerned, there was one side that was jubilantly passing out treats and shooting automatic weapons into the air in the streets in celebration over the fiery, greusome deaths of thousands of innocent Americans.

Perhaps most importantly of all, we need to realize that we live in a dangerous and heavily corrupted world of would-be future bin Ladens who are planning the 9/11s of tomorrow. We've done far too little to make global terrorism a high crime of universal jurisdiction. The civilized world successfully fought piracy on the high seas when it was treated as such. Global terrorism and jihad is far too acceptable in too many quarters.

Egypt is in flames, the horde there attacked the Israeli embassy, murdering and pillaging, while the rest of the "Arab spring" has seemingly cooled off, at least temporarily. Most in the Middle East have been thoroughly brainwashed by state propaganda media. As they take over those countries, do you think things will be better or worse for the US, Israel and the West generally? I don't think the answer is too hard to figure out.

Far too many in the Middle East, especially the most politically active, hate the US, Israel and the West. But are we going to allow them to dictate to us our foreign policy? As much as I like Ron Paul that seems to be his approach - don't bother the scum and they won't bother you. Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Perhaps you (the general you, no one here specifically) believe like Ron Paul that our intervention in the Middle East was one of the more significant or most significant factors leading to 9/11. I don't buy that, but if you do, ask yourself if you think our foreign policy should be aligned with our values and interests or with the demands of Islamo-fascism.

If we had fought WWII just as some would like us to have responded to 9/11, we would have brought Europe under the control of the Third Reich in exchange for a non-aggression pact with Hitler. Think about that analogy for a second - I think it's spot on.

A friend told me a week ago that she couldn't believe we let them ruin our lives like they did, referring to 9/11. It was an overly dramatic, embellished remark, but it had a ring of truth. The free world has been altered considerably, mostly for the worse, because they pulled off that cursed attack. Ten years later Americans need to reflect on the true lessons learned and how we should apply those lessons in this new decade. 9/11was the crescendo attack to what I think many will regard in the future as a low intensity third world war. How we choose to fight that war going forward will have immense ramifications for humanity.

[Athens]

Its one of the few days I will always remember every thing about. Challenger when it blew up I was watching it live at school on a little tube TV, I was 6. The teachers expression was of shock. The only other memory I have at that young age was Expo 86. Princes Dianna would be the next one I will always remember. It was just before I would start at my new High School. Was watching it unfold on CNN, I was 17. 1998 Just before my school year is to start that horrible plane crash near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia happened. October of 2000, the USS Cole attack, I only remember that one because a couple years before the ship was docked in Vancouver and i had a tour on it. 2004 The Christmas day earth quake and Tsunami. June 25th 2009 Michael Jacksons death.

And the clearest in memory of all of these September 11th 2001. I woke up around noon and called a client I was supposed to see at one to let them know I was going to be late. The first words out of his mouth " I just can't believe what has happened today" and at this point I had not turned on the TV yet. I asked "What happened" and he continued to tell me about the World Trade centers. I then turned to CNN and watched for hours in horror of what happened. I eventually tuned to Canadian News which was also covering everything related to it including stories about 60 or so planes diverted to Canada. The next day I took a bus to YVR to see all the Jumbo Jets idle at the Airport and I remember how empty the sky's where. It was strange seeing Fighter Jets flying over often in pairs or more many times through out the day. It would be many days before the full tragedy would actually hit me and it started hitting close to home. One of the teachers at my high school was supposed to be at the World Trade center and no one knew if she was ok. One of my customers was in NY and near ground zero when it happened. A friend's family lost a loved one at the site.

That day will be with me for the rest of my life. Along with Challenger and Dianna. 3 Epic events etched into memory for life. Followed by nearly a decade of denial over conspiracy theories which recently I have dismissed.

Edit Addition

Im going to ignore most of Big Macs post because it pushes my buttons (not intentionally) But I want to comment on the last part

A friend told me a week ago that she couldn't believe we let them ruin our lives like they did, referring to 9/11. It was an overly dramatic, embellished remark, but it had a ring of truth. The free world has been altered considerably, mostly for the worse, because they pulled of that cursed attack. Ten years later Americans need to reflect on the true lessons learned and how we should apply those lessons in this new decade. 9/11was the crescendo attack to what I think many will regard in the future as a low intensity third world war. How we choose to fight that war going forward will have immense ramifications for humanity.

I agree absolutely, and like to add beyond how its fought, how we repair the damage to our free society as well. We must go back to being a free society, not a fearful one. Even if they blew up one building a week, heart attacks, cancer, car accidents will be the most likely cause of death not a terrorist attack. We should not change who we are out of fear. We don't negotiate with terrorists, we shouldn't change our way of life either.

[SSharon]

I think we need a general lounge version of this thread without all the political parts.

I heard about the twin towers being hit by a plane and watched the second plane hit live on TV. I was in the northeast corner of Jerusalem at the time and heard celebrations and gunfire around me for hours.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by SSharon 

I think we need a general lounge version of this thread without all the political parts.

Seriously. A thread of remembrance doesn't need to be a massive rant against foreign policy.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

I remember waking up to my wife on the phone with my mother... something about how we couldn't come home (we were flying to see my parents that day). I was thinking my mom -who I could hear through the line- was maybe being unusually dramatic for some odd reason. Then my wife saying something like "What' was attacked? The Twin Towers? The Pentagon...?" I'm half asleep thinking "Oh great, WWIII must have just broke out. I wonder who we're at war against?"

We flipped on the TV and like a lot of people that day just sat there spellbound by what was going on, and then shocked when we witnessed the towers collapse on live TV.

I was supposed to be on vacation, but all flights were canceled, so I drove to work. The city was virtually empty- I recall being one of the few cars tooling down Sunset Blvd feeling like the place was a war zone. I looked up and saw military helicopters fly by overhead. When I arrived at work, I was turned away at the gates with the warning that Hollywood was believed to be a target as well. So I just drove home. I recall listening to the radio- lots of speculation about who had attacked us and why, but still so many unanswered questions.

I recall the weeks right after 9/11 it seemed everyone in the country came together around the tragedy- and that part was probably the only good outcome. Of course, it only lasted a few weeks and soon bickering, insane conspiracy theories, political grandstanding, overreacting P.C. nonsense as well as overreacting hostility toward anyone who even 'looked' Muslim took over and it's been tainted by the same parade of crap ever since.

This year, I didn't even give any consideration to the date. I spent the day at the beach with my wife and son, and it really didn't hit me that it was 9/11/11 at all. Not out of disregard for anyone that lost their life or loved ones that day, just that this being the 10th anniversary of the event holds no particular significance for me. The memory of the day held the same meaning for me when it was say, four years and three months to the day. Or seven years and a month. Or when it's 15 years, three days. I see no difference in this being the exact decade anniversary for me to memorialize the day any more or less than I otherwise would on any other given day. I think the media more than most individuals just likes to be sappy in ways like that.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally Posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE 

I think the media more than most individuals just likes to be sappy in ways like that.

I agree. Sunday almost seemed contrived to get people to sit down and watch TV (and ads) all day long.

[andi*pandi]

I don't need to remember; I can never forget. I couldn't even read the comics on Sunday without being prompted to remember. The whole paper was sad stories.

The best revenge is living well.

[Doofy]

I was asleep. Someone phoned me, woke me up and told me to turn on the TV.
And then I watched with almost complete indifference. I guess I'm used to seeing things blow up and fall over. IRA and all that.

[ort888]

Touching doofy.

I was living right outside of DC. I had left my cell phone (we had no land line) at work in downtown DC. I had woken up, read about the plane hitting the first tower, was late for work so rushed out the door. By the time I turned on the radio, the second plane had hit. As I was driving into the city, it was being evacuated. Traffic was at a standstill coming out and I was all alone going in... like some sort of idiot. Some sort of city wide siren system was going off. It was very surreal. At some point during my drive in the plane hit the Pentagon. I did not hear it. There were early reports that the entire city was under attack. By the time I got to work, there was a massive ominous smoke pillar rising a few miles away. The whole city smelled of burning chemicals. I was at work with only one other person and we went up to roof and just watched for a while in silence. The city was deserted. Military jets were circling above. Alarms going off. The TV was reporting that there were explosions at the mall and other planes inbound. I waited at work for about an hour and then drove home on practically empty streets. Spent the next 2 or 3 days at home glued to the TV. The entire city had been shut down.

[OAW]

I remember the morning well. It was still relatively early in the Midwest, so I hadn't gotten up yet to get ready for work. I received a call from my mother and she was frantically telling me to turn on the news. I didn't know what was going on but I jumped out of bed and went to the living room to turn on the TV. At that point the first tower had already been hit. I didn't know exactly what was happening at the time ... I just figured something must have happened to the plane and it was a really terrible, freak accident. Then I saw the second tower get hit on live TV and I knew what the deal was then. I remember yelling out "These motherf*ckers ain't playing with us!" .... totally forgetting that I still had my mother on the phone. I can't say that I was in "disbelief" like you hear a lot of people say. I had a pretty good idea about what was happening and why. When the Pentagon got hit about 30 minutes later I was certain ... and I knew the Capitol building or the White House was next. I remember telling my mother that the financial, military, and political centers of the US were under attack. The most disturbing thing for me was watching people literally jump off the roof of the towers to escape the flames. As bad as watching the towers actually fall ... the people jumping was worse. I said ... "There's going to be hell to pay behind this sh*t. It's on!" My mother agreed. War was inevitable ... and IMO, very much justified. Neither of us would have predicted that a decade later our country would still be at war in the Middle East.

OAW

[sek929]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

I was asleep. Someone phoned me, woke me up and told me to turn on the TV.
And then I watched with almost complete indifference. I guess I'm used to seeing things blow up and fall over. IRA and all that.

The main takeaway I have from 9/11/01 is that the US is no longer shielded from the violence of extremists others have dealt with for decades, if not centuries. I was 18, and just starting college. I sat down in front of the TV and cried, which was the first time I experienced such emotion due to a world event.

10 years later I see our country being dragged into an all-out holy-war with individuals who have defended their homeland against invading superpowers in the past. I see a people with resolve and belief like none other on this earth, willingly giving up their children to death and martyrdom. I see this and think, are we treading ground that others have already tried, and failed.

I think the only way for a society to truly move forward is for the majority of people to stand up and take their freedom for themselves. Our efforts in the middle east, especially Afghanistan will be in vain. There is no winning, only death.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by sek929 

The main takeaway I have from 9/11/01 is that the US is no longer shielded from the violence of extremists others have dealt with for decades, if not centuries. I was 18, and just starting college. I sat down in front of the TV and cried, which was the first time I experienced such emotion due to a world event.

In a meta-sense, sure. But it's a mistake to say "see, this is what it's like out there America." In the last 30 years, there have only been a dozen or so incidents of mass casualty terrorism that resulted in over 200 fatalities. So an incident netting almost 3,000 fatalities is pretty damn significant on its own.

[smacintush]

I have been in a self-imposed media blackout for a couple of weeks, and I sure wasn't going to break that for 9/11 weekend.

I don't see the value of going out of ones way to relive, dredge up, or cultivate negative emotions.

[Poliphilo]

It was a very puzzling, and troubling, day for me.

I was in Korea at the time and I saw it all unfold on CNN with Korean voiceovers. No one in the apartment could speak Korean. Naturally, we wanted to know what on earth was happening so I put the TV on mute and my roommate tried to tune the radio into an English-language station, but he couldn't find one. He gave up trying and ran back to the TV. By chance, the radio was left on a station playing classical music.

We watched the second plane strike to the Lacrimosa movement of Mozart's Requiem.