To Honor Our Heros

[old medic]

At this moment 21 years ago, I was walking out the door heading to work, as many of my fellow Emergency Service Brothers and Sisters were. Today is my 1st 9/11 retired and its making me think of all the folks that walked out their door, dedicated to serve their community, never to come home again...
Not just from that terrible day, but almost every day...

 

[Ronstar]

Yes it was a very sad day. May all who perished RIP.

 

[harllee]

Thank you for reminding me of this

 

[Car-Guy]

Yes it was a very sad day. May all who perished RIP.

+1, and may we never forget!

 

[Koolau]

The greatest honor would be making certain such a thing never happens again.

 

[Car-Guy]

I'm surprised and honestly a little disappointed that so few forum members here didn't take a minute today to post to this thread acknowledging their remembrance of this dark day in US history and really the history of the world and of the innocent people that were lost. I expected this thread to be 4 or 5 pages long by now.

I hope it's just because they missed/overlooked the thread and not apathy...

 

[stepford]

I'm surprised and honestly a little disappointed that so few forum members here didn't take a minute today to post to this thread acknowledging their remembrance of this dark day in US history and really the history of the world and the innocent people that were lost. I expected this thread to be 4 or 5 pages long by now.

I hope it's just because they missed/overlooked the thread and not apathy...

Maybe it's that 9/11 means very different things to different people and folks felt it might be better to reflect on that privately.

 

[Car-Guy]

Maybe it's that 9/11 means very different things to different people and folks felt it might be better to reflect on that privately.

Even for the innocent folks that died in the towers, planes, etc?

I see pages of RIP threads/comments here all the time for so many celebrities that pass on.... But maybe you are right. Innocent folks died around the world every day.

For me, I'll say again "may they RIP".

 

[MarieIG]

I'm surprised and honestly a little disappointed that so few forum members here didn't take a minute today to post to this thread acknowledging their remembrance of this dark day in US history and really the history of the world. I expected this thread to be 4 or 5 pages long by now.

I hope it's just because they missed/overlooked the thread and not apathy...

I was looking for an old post of mine, which I did not find.

It was a very painful time. Everyone from where I came from either knew someone, or knew someone who knew someone.

DH's co-worker was in one of the Towers, but made it out. He told DH that he could feel the building twisting and the firefighters had to know they weren't coming out.

He met my DH (they had Nextels) and they walked over the Brooklyn Bridge together. I couldn't reach my DH for most of the day. My DH was in a nearby building and watched from the roof. He took photographs of the towers which I subsequently took away from him and threw in the trash. I had co-workers who had appearances in NY Supreme Court that day, which was in the vicinity. They also made it out via the Brooklyn Bridge.

Our parish had so many funerals (firefighters). The children in my sons' high school lost something like 19 parents. My office manager lost her sister - she was waiting and waiting . . . My chiropractor lost his sister (a Court Officer who went over to help).

People were walking around here in a palpable, overwhelming, surreal haze of grief.

Almost all conversations came back to where were you when . . . who they knew . . .

My bosses at the time owned the office building where we worked and took in the employees from a small insurance company which had been displaced until they finally got back in their building. Once in a while we heard a "happy" story. People who ran late for work that day; one of the attorney's wives, who worked in a tower, was in that latter part of her pregnancy - called in sick. . .

I would not walk by ground zero for the longest time, but finally went to pay my respects.

No, I did not forget.

 

[Car-Guy]

^^^^^
Glad you remember.


I knew two who died in the Towers. (They were business acquaintances) Both left behind young families as I recall.

 

[Gumby]

I'm glad that people still take the time to remember and honor those who were lost. As for myself, I was there in Manhattan watching the whole thing live and in color right from my office window. I can remember every single detail of that day - every sight, every sound and every smell. I doubt I will ever forget.

 

[MarieIG]

^^^^^
Glad you remember.


I knew two who died in the Towers. (They were business acquaintances) Both left behind young families as I recall.

Yes, so many children lost their parents.

 

[aja8888]

Some of my clients worked in the Towers. Many of their workers perished. So sad. I worked with some of the people in those companies, but only knew their field staff.

 

[jazz4cash]

Thanks for this thread. Thanks to the heros and remembrances to the lost. I was just thinking that I’ve heard virtually nothing about today being significant. It’s the first time I ever remember it being ignored. Lots of drama over NFL week 1. Last year it was on a Saturday and I was at a car show but we had moments of silence for WTC, the Pentagon and Shanksville. I was at a car show yesterday and I expected some mention but nothing was said.

 

[Koolau]

I'm surprised and honestly a little disappointed that so few forum members here didn't take a minute today to post to this thread acknowledging their remembrance of this dark day in US history and really the history of the world and of the innocent people that were lost. I expected this thread to be 4 or 5 pages long by now.

I hope it's just because they missed/overlooked the thread and not apathy...

I've watched footage of the bombing of the USS Arizona at least 100 times. I've visited the memorial at least a dozen times. I've encouraged every visitor I meet in Honolulu to visit the memorial. But I can't watch the 9/11/01 attacks on TV and can't visit the memorial. After 21 years, those memories are simply too raw.

There is a sense in which the attacks at Pearl Harbor were "resolved." The war (WWII) was won and the "culprits" (for want of a better word) were vanquished. But after 21 years, there is a feeling (at least for me) that we've never resolved 9/11. Nothing has been "won" and the "enemy" is still waiting to strike again. I have no idea how true all of this is in reality, but it feels true to me. Though reliving the events of 9/11 is important to avoid a repeat and to honor those who gave their lives, it is very difficult for me. I share my feelings here at a cost. I suspect that may be why some folks are reticent to share in this thread. I honestly don't believe it's apathy. I think it's getting past the pain but YMMV.

 

[REWahoo]

But I can't watch the 9/11/01 attacks on TV and can't visit the memorial. After 21 years, those memories are simply too raw.

Agreed. It affects me unlike any other event I can think of. Sadness. Anger. Disgust. I suppose in part it is because I witnessed it live (on TV) but there are other reasons that are beyond the scope of this forum.

 

[Koolau]

Agreed. It affects me unlike any other event I can think of. Sadness. Anger. Disgust. I suppose in part it is because I witnessed it live (on TV) but there are other reasons that are beyond the scope of this forum.

I realized as I was typing, and as I reread what I typed, I haven't adequately expressed my feelings. Words fail - even after 21 years. YMMV

 

[Montecfo]

i was in fact sitting on an American Airlines airplane at Dulles that early morning on a flight scheduled to depart for Dallas. For reasons they did not explain and which we had no way to know, we began to taxi back to the terminal and were told we would be deplaning. I turned on my phone and called my wife from the cabin and she was hysterical, a plane had just crashed into the WTC.

Moments earlier, AA flight 77 had taken off from that same airport headed for LA. It crashed into the Pentagon some moments after I deplaned.

To this day I always remember how fortunate we were to not be one of the flights that the terrorists chose to hijack. I am in awe of the courage shown by so many that day, from passengers and crew to first responders and decisive leaders. I am saddened by the senseless loss of life, shattered families and lives changed forever.

Our nation pulled together in a way that it has not come close to since. That is the one part of that tragic time that I hope we can someday re-create without the tragedy.

Always remember.

 

[Teacher Terry]

A good friend of mine worked at the Pentagon but luckily was at a training somewhere else. What a sad and heartbreaking day all those people dying. Plus all the first responder that survived that day and then later died from health issues from that day.

 

[old medic]

A good friend of mine worked at the Pentagon but luckily was at a training somewhere else. .

My Uncle worked at the Pentagon and his office was in the area hit. Due to several different things, we didn't get any word from him until that evening that he OK. He was at Norfolk at the time.

 

[street]

Thanks for the thread on remembering the Heros, the ones that died, and all first responders and all involved.

It is unbelievable it was 21 years ago. It seems like it just happened, but the one thing is we should never forget that terrible day.

 

[Car-Guy]

Our nation pulled together in a way that it has not come close to since. That is the one part of that tragic time that I hope we can someday re-create without the tragedy.

Always remember.

Now wouldn't that be great to see and experience that happen.

 

[Venturer]

I've watched footage of the bombing of the USS Arizona at least 100 times. I've visited the memorial at least a dozen times. I've encouraged every visitor I meet in Honolulu to visit the memorial. But I can't watch the 9/11/01 attacks on TV and can't visit the memorial. After 21 years, those memories are simply too raw.

There is a sense in which the attacks at Pearl Harbor were "resolved." The war (WWII) was won and the "culprits" (for want of a better word) were vanquished. But after 21 years, there is a feeling (at least for me) that we've never resolved 9/11. Nothing has been "won" and the "enemy" is still waiting to strike again. I have no idea how true all of this is in reality, but it feels true to me. Though reliving the events of 9/11 is important to avoid a repeat and to honor those who gave their lives, it is very difficult for me. I share my feelings here at a cost. I suspect that may be why some folks are reticent to share in this thread. I honestly don't believe it's apathy. I think it's getting past the pain but YMMV.

I am in the same state of thought as you on this. It truly never got resolved, as was proven recently when we pulled out of Afganistan. We "the USA" are still the main terrorist target. To me the song Alan Jackson had is still one that resonates with me. As we forget the past we are doomed to repeat it. God bless the USA.

 

[disneysteve]

We knew several people who worked in and around the towers. One friend was actually supposed to be there that day for an interview with Cantor Fitzgerald. He got delayed or rescheduled for some reason I don't recall. Cantor Fitz lost nearly 70% of their entire workforce in the attack. Several friends and relatives were stranded in NYC and had to walk miles to escape the city before they could find a way home. We live about 90 miles from NYC so the attack was relatively local to us with lots of personal connections.


My own story includes having the opportunity to treat one person injured in the attack. She was attending a conference at the WTC Marriott at the base of one tower. She managed to get out and made it onto a train before they all shut down. She was from DC but knew about the Pentagon attack so didn't want to go home. She stopped in Philadelphia and got a hotel room. At the time, I was the on call physician for many of the downtown Philadelphia hotels. I got a call to see her. Only minor physical injuries but emotionally a mess, as one would imagine.


My wife and I were glued to the TV that night scared for the future trying to stay calm around our then almost 6 yo daughter. It was a scary time.


We visited NYC about a month later but didn't go near Ground Zero because DD was with us. My wife and I went back around Thanksgiving and did go as close to the site as we could. The whole area was still cordoned off, buildings all around still had blown out windows, and smoke was still rising from the rubble of the towers and other buildings that had fallen.


We've been in the city many times since but have never returned to the site. We really need to get up there and visit the memorial and museum.

 

[Toast]

I wanted to post earlier but just did not have the words. Still don't. I watched the towers fall. Thinking about the innocent lives lost, the extreme bravery of so many, the pain of those who still miss their loved ones, and the trauma and health issues affecting survivors and rescue workers breaks my heart. I remember.