Never Forget

[Camino LS6]

Almost a decade now...

[ocnblu]

What a day it was.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Been watching MSNBC for the last hour, which has been replaying their "live" coverage minute-by-minute of that morning. I told myself I wouldn't be glued to the TV today, but so far I can't pull myself away. I have never forgotten that day, nor the way it made me feel. I do want to get in the car and go to NYC tonight, but the wife wants me not to.

[Camino LS6]

I too, was captivated by the MSNBC replay of events as they happened that day.

It almost felt like I had a duty to watch.

[Intrepidation]

It's one of those things where you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when it happened.

Never forget, but at the same time I can't dwell on it. Jessica's birthday is today after all. Gotta find the good.

[SAmadei]

I don't understand why so much is being made of the 9th anniversary, though. Is there going to be more hoopla next year?

Its hard to believe how fast time flies. Those kids Bush was reading to are probably driving and thinking about collage. Meanwhile, its an event that has still deeply affected me... between the sadness, horror and anger. Living in NJ, I had some friends/family who could have been there, but luckily weren't. And subsequently working in NYC, I met many people who did lose friends/family or were personally involved with the attack. Its impossible to not see how it affected the entire NYC area.

That said... "We Will Never Forget"... this is so true. Even ten years later, this is truer and stronger than ever.

But other things I'm not certain about... "Things are different now", a sentiment during the days after the attack seems to have passed. People changed for the better in the days after the attacks, but much of that day to day behavior has gone back to normal. I'm also not so sure about "We can't let them win"... because some would say we have. We've spent a lot of money and effort to make things safer with debatable results... and we've allowed this to fuel our fears, which people have exploited for much personal profit.

Still, 9 years later, my condolences to all who lost friends and family and and cheers to the heroics that occurred that day, big or small.

[daves87rs]

It' would be hard to me to forget...since our wedding was only a few days away, I had a friend who worked in one of those towers, but he was on vacation that week.

It forever changed me, and always will....

[Camino LS6]

Even corporate America reacted in a tasteful way. GM provided vehicles for NYC, and then there was this:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3zXZX2sXHYI%26feature%3Drelated&h=b1690

[balthazar]

My wife was in NYC on 9/11, I didn't kno exactly where.

I drove like hell, F-150 howling, high beams & hazards on, about 45 minutes across rural areas I'd never been before, trying to beeline from where I was to her work building.

Completely flying by the seat of my pants and some sort of subconscious compass.

Once there, a co-worker told me their 7WTC meeting had been moved a number of blocks away.

Some relief of course, but I didn't hear from her until about 3:30PM and didn't see her until nearly 6PM.

Hard hard day all around.

Never forget.

[Blake Noble]

I don't understand why so much is being made of the 9th anniversary, though. Is there going to be more hoopla next year?

Its hard to believe how fast time flies. Those kids Bush was reading to are probably driving and thinking about collage. Meanwhile, its an event that has still deeply affected me... between the sadness, horror and anger. Living in NJ, I had some friends/family who could have been there, but luckily weren't. And subsequently working in NYC, I met many people who did lose friends/family or were personally involved with the attack. Its impossible to not see how it affected the entire NYC area.

That said... "We Will Never Forget"... this is so true. Even ten years later, this is truer and stronger than ever.

But other things I'm not certain about... "Things are different now", a sentiment during the days after the attack seems to have passed. People changed for the better in the days after the attacks, but much of that day to day behavior has gone back to normal. I'm also not so sure about "We can't let them win"... because some would say we have. We've spent a lot of money and effort to make things safer with debatable results... and we've allowed this to fuel our fears, which people have exploited for much personal profit.

Still, 9 years later, my condolences to all who lost friends and family and and cheers to the heroics that occurred that day, big or small.

Generally, I have to agree with you.

I think Bush was reading to a 5th grade class that day ... I'm not 100 percent positive on that, but I'm fairly certain. If so, most of those kids probably are enrolled in college classes and driving, yes.

I was in the 5th grade the day this happened. My elementary school elected not to show us any of the coverage while we were in class. Instead, the staff decided to carry on as if nothing had happened. I do remember parents showing up left and right to get their kids out of there, though, and after a while that sort of alarmed the small lot of us that had to be left there until the day ended.

Other than the continuous news coverage that was on just about every cable channel we had (even Cartoon Network, a small, strange detail I remember), there isn't much else I remember.

[CSpec]

Raw primary sources.

[regfootball]

It's one of those things where you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when it happened.

Never forget, but at the same time I can't dwell on it. Jessica's birthday is today after all. Gotta find the good.

one of my then coworkers had her son on 9/11/01.

[CSpec]

I think DC's loss gets lost in the shuffle quite often. People in my office said they could see the smoke rising from the Potomac from our building. On the other hand, imagine how this country would have responded if the planes that ended up in the Pentagon and Pennsylvania had succeeded in their mission of destroying the White House and Capitol Building.

[the_yellow_dart]

I apologize for putting a light note on such a serious topic (I'm not trying to be rude). I just want to relay the story of one of my friends as a lead in to a serious point.

I have an Indian friend here in Toronto who turned 19 (Canadian drinking age) on Sept 11, 2001. He is dark skinned for an Indian, and falls into most people's ideas of what a Muslim would look like, and has a lot of friends here that also fall into the same category. He had to skip his own birthday party, because he thought that people would get the wrong idea about a group of brown men out drinking and partying on that day.

The reason I relate this story is to show the fears that Canadians shared on that day: Fears that a renewed xenophobia would grow in America. Fears that a police or surveillance state would emerge. Also, fears that pressure from America would force the same effects on Canada.

September 11th certainly has had an effect on America. However, now that I can look back nine years later, I'm pleasantly surprised by the outcome. America has become more cautious, but it doesn't feel that much more racist or afraid to me. I think this is something to be proud of, America. You have taken a terrible event and taken mostly only the positive lessons from it. To all of you who didn't jump on the 'kill the Muslims' bandwagon, give yourselves a pat on the back.

[Camino LS6]

Great post , Mr. Dart.

And it brings me to something else we ought to remember: The instant and complete hospitality shown to stranded Americans by our Canadian friends. I found coverage of that story to be deeply moving and a clear illustration of just how close the two nations are.

[CSpec]

September 11th certainly has had an effect on America. However, now that I can look back nine years later, I'm pleasantly surprised by the outcome. America has become more cautious, but it doesn't feel that much more racist or afraid to me. I think this is something to be proud of, America. You have taken a terrible event and taken mostly only the positive lessons from it. To all of you who didn't jump on the 'kill the Muslims' bandwagon, give yourselves a pat on the back.

Unfortunately, I strongly disagree with that sentiment.