So This Sunday

[Byzantine]

I was in 2nd grade. We got herded into the first grade room. We didn't panic; we were used to that room since our classes were often combined with the first grade's. At first, I didn't realize our principal was talking about something that had just happened; I thought it was a history lesson or something. Then I realized what had happened. People's parents kept coming to the school to get them. But I was 7 and didn't really get what was going on, I think.

[OnlySunshine]

It seems surreal that it should be 10 years since the tragedy occurred. It still stuns me that it was that long ago because I can still remember it vividly like it just happened. I remember exactly where I was when it happened.

It was the same year I graduated from high school. I was working at Sweet Tomatoes. I believe I had the day off because I was with my parents and sister all day. My sister was released from school early at 11:00am. I remember waking up when my alarm clock sounded at 9am to the sound of my parents talking loudly and just being in shock. I went into my mom's room where they had the TV on just in time to see the second plane hit the World Trade Center. It was a sight I'll never forget. My dad had an eye doctor's appointment that day. My mom, sister and I went with him. Everyone felt insecure, you could tell. The news was playing in the doctor's office waiting room at 4pm and it was still the same news cycling over and over.

Every year after then, I either look at a special TIME magazine about the event and all that occurred that day or I watch a movie like [i]Flight 93[/i] or [i]World Trade Center[/i]. Last night, I watched the Discovery Channel special called [i]Inside the Twin Towers[/i]. I remember crying when the documentary showed what it was like for those trapped above the wreckage. I would be so frightened! And the fact that some of them lost all hope and jumped to their death instead of staying inside while the smoke and heat levels rose...there are just no words.

[Norseman82]

Interesting story: the first fighter jets scrambled out of DC to stop Flight 93 (which was on a heading for DC) had only dummy ammunition, so in order to stop them they were going to collide their fighter jets into the airliner - in effect, a probable kamikaze mission:

[url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/f-16-pilot-was-ready-to-give-her-life-on-sept-11/2011/09/06/gIQAMpcODK_story.html"]http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/f-16-pilot-was-ready-to-give-her-life-on-sept-11/2011/09/06/gIQAMpcODK_story.html[/url]

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Norseman82' timestamp='1315627819' post='2302808']
Interesting story: the first fighter jets scrambled out of DC to stop Flight 93 (which was on a heading for DC) had only dummy ammunition, so in order to stop them they were going to collide their fighter jets into the airliner - in effect, a probable kamikaze mission:

[url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/f-16-pilot-was-ready-to-give-her-life-on-sept-11/2011/09/06/gIQAMpcODK_story.html"]http://www.washingto...cODK_story.html[/url]
[/quote]
wow. just wow.

[Cyprian]

I was in Court, in Brooklyn, just across the river. Someone in the Lawyer's Lounge said that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. We went outside, and from the Court steps we could see the World Trade Center, intense fire and all the smoke. Papers and all sorts of documents were flying around. It was truly surreal. My husband was a First Responder that day. He described the collapse of the 2nd Tower as something akin to a "stadium roar". He also told me of the jumpers, those poor souls who chose to jump rather than endure whatever was going on in the Towers. He said at first they jumped individually, and then by twos, and eventually whole groups jumped holding hands. He said one would want to look away, but he thought they certainly deserved for someone to be with them at their last moment, so he tried to lock eyes with them and give them, at least, a final send off.

[Ice_nine]

I mean when you have the option of either burning/suffocating to death or jumping, I can't say I wouldn't choose the latter.

I won't recount where I was on that day. I remember it vividly like pretty much everyone, but I was only 12. Nothing terribly interesting. Living in a country like America gave me a false sense of security that was ripped away in a matter of moments. Maybe in a way that's a good thing to at least be aware how fragile and volatile your own life is and how the systems around you can fall apart like a house of cards. That way you can at least be somewhat prepared when things fall down.

It was never meant to be this way, but it is and it's a hard thing to grapple with. As a child it was hard for me to comprehend how someone could kill themselves and take thousands with them. I didn't know what Islam was, what a "muzlim" was, I didn't know what the Middle East was. In fact when our teachers told us sorta what happened the table of kids I was sitting at started guessing at who the bad guys were, and we surmised that it was probably the Japanese. We probably just learned about WWII or something. I had such a narrow scope of the world that was blown open quickly.

I wanted the guilty parties to be put to a grueling death and hopefully eternal damnation. I didn't realize I was capable of such hatred. I imaged all of the ways Bin Laden should have died in graphic detail. Go over there and take care of that poo so it doesn't happen again. Blow everything up you need to. It seemed so simple to me, America was a powerful bastion of freedom and liberty and would be able to eradicated any enemies with ease.

Man it all really effed with my head. I grew up having all of these romantic notions of what America was and her place in the world, and then I disdained her for lying to me and lulling me into a false comfort. Now I try to have a more balanced view. The world not being black and white is a shock to a little kid.

edit:

ps modz the past participle of floopy is not automatically philtered out. Not that I would ever say such a thing, but you know, in case someone else does

Edited September 10, 2011 by Ice_nine

[dominicansoul]

i'm not going to re-hash where I was, I've done that the last two years on phatmass (by the way, you newbies are BABIES...heck i was way outta college and had just entered the convent at the time these events occurred...)

instead of going back to the day of, i want to fast forward to the present. Here is what you see at ground zero today:

[img]http://cdn.babble.com/strollerderby/files/2011/09/911memorial.jpeg[/img]

what was once the twin towers and pavement are two "waterfalls" where the towers originally stood. Trees are abundant. I think it is a very beautiful memorial to what happened on this day 10 years ago. The footprints of the towers seem to magnify the loss, yet, there is abundant life all around. We will never forget, yet, we will not just stay stagnate in the past, we must live on...

I was reading there was an estimated 17,000 people on the premises at the time of the attacks. The large majority survived. Yet, this is still shadowed by the staggering number of victims, even when there were more survivors at the World Trade Center complex than there were victims.

Let us remember those who had to face the consequences of the loss of a family member, I know that they will never be the same. Not to mention, we have been at war now for 10 years... so many military personnel have lost their lives also to what happened on this day... when everything is said and done... I hope the survivors still outnumber the victims of this tragic day in American History...

[vee]

Today I think of all those who lived, especially those who ran in to help and now carry the effects of that in their body. They commonly suffer from breathing and stomach problems but who knows what psychologically and spiritually. Im sure some days they envy the dead. I think of my friend and fellow phatmasser Indwelling Trinity who was just such a person, running in to help, spending today her birthday and subsequent days down at ground zero.

[LinaSt.Cecilia2772]

I was in first grade, i remember not knowing about it until after school. I was too young to understand, and all i could remember was being upset that people were being sad the day before my birthday.

I look back on that now and realize that i shouldn't have been so selfish when so many people were lost and affected by these horrible acts. I pray for peace in our world, peace in our hearts, for those who survived, and for the souls who were lost. Today I see a nation for the first time in a very long time come together regardless of skin, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or any other differences to remember our loved ones, and to celebrate the heroes.

God Bless this country, the people in it, and for our leaders and former leaders who are trying to make our world a better place.

[TeresaBenedicta]

I was twelve years old. Like many, I remember that day quite vividly. I remember getting on the school bus in the morning and hearing some kid say that “the Sears towers fell down” (clearly didn't really know what was going on). I remember getting to school and watching the news during Mr. Saari’s math class.
But most of all, I remember the emotion. The powerful impact that that event had on my very being. Too young to fully comprehend, but old enough to feel the pain of that day. Watching that footage, the planes hitting, the towers falling, the people jumping...
Normally time blurs our memory and dulls our emotions… to the point that, when recalling a time of great emotion, we simply recall that we [i]felt [/i]happy or sad.
But today, as I remember September 11th, I am brought back to that dreadful morning and the days that followed. The shock, the tears, the I-don’t-know-what…it's felt as real today as it was ten years ago.

[vee]

Edited September 11, 2011 by vee8

[FutureSister2009]

I was 10 and in 5th grade. The teachers all knew about it but we didn't watch it on TV or anything. I guess they didn't want to scare us. I really couldn't comprehend it all at 10 years old. I just thought it was a simple plane crash. As I got older, I understood it even more. Now that I'm 20, I can fully understand what happened and I still feel devastated. I thank God every day that I didn't know anyone that was killed personally but I can still feel like crying when I think about it. I saw Ground Zero and the museum that was built when we went on our 8th grade trip. You wouldn't even know that there used to be 2 huge towers there when you look at it. It's pretty incredible.

And I just watched the ending of the movie United 93 for the first time. Shook me up and left me speechless. God Bless them.

[Lil Red]

i remember [url="http://oxyparadoxy.blogspot.com/2011/09/silence.html"]the silence[/url].

[ardillacid]

This thread is a covert attempt to get everybody to reveal their age!

[Ash Wednesday]

I was out of college and working too. OLD ASH.

I couldn't believe what happened, we watched it on TV at work. It was surreal, like something out of a movie, I was mostly numb and in shock and I don't think it all hit me until the end of the day and I was driving home. Then I just got really really depressed.