Remembering the victims of 9/11

How do you know they were Islamic, Tommy? Hmmm...?

Well, I was 38 at the time. I'm in the Mountain time zone, so it was pretty early when my phone rang and it was a friend telling me to turn on the TV because something weird was happening, but she wasn't sure what. So I turned on CBC Newsworld, and saw early morning anchorman Ben Chin reporting that a plane had hit the first tower. At the time they weren't really sure what had happened - were cautiously treating it as an accident, pending further information.

I told my friend that if it was really serious, they'd get Peter Mansbridge (CBC's chief anchorman) out of bed and hustle him into the studio to take over... which, of course, is what happened. I watched the whole day, morbidly fascinated by what was going on. I saw the second plane hit, and later on, both towers come down. I saw the people walking all that way out of the area on foot, and was glad that (at that time) the tallest building in downtown Red Deer was so short, a plane would almost have to be on the road to hit it.

And something I've noticed a lot of Americans forget about that day - it wasn't only Americans who died. People from several dozen countries died, whether in the towers or on the planes. And Canada, vilified by some people to this day for the erroneous assumption that it was our fault that the terrorists got into the US (it wasn't our customs agents who slipped up, people!), took in many, many Americans stranded outside the country when the US airspace was closed. A tiny little area of Newfoundland opened its doors to a lot of stranded passengers, making sure they had somewhere to sleep, enough food, access to the news, telephones to call their families, and much more. Those stranded passengers were grateful, but the rest of the US seemed to forget awfully soon after - if they had even known ('cause I guess the news gets more viewers if they report some erroneous crap about Canada instead of something true... ).

Anyway, I had nightmares for weeks after seeing all this on the TV. I can't imagine how it must have been for the people who were actually there. I remember that for weeks, Larry King had musicians on his show, people to play and sing gentle, uplifting songs - Enya's "Only Time" became kind of a hymn in those days immediately following the attack.

People were generally in some kind of shock, to some degree, even if they were thousands of miles away, as I was. But you know the "six degrees of separation" thing? Six degrees of separation lie between me and one of the people on one of the planes that crashed into one of the buildings (not sure if it was one of the towers or the Pentagon).

One of the things I remember crossing my mind that day was about how the trees in the area would be choked to death by the smoke, ashes, and other noxious stuff. And were any beloved pets riding in the cargo holds of the planes? I don't know - in nine years, that's something I've never heard asked or answered.

Canadians keep dying in Afghanistan. Now that there are no WWI veterans left alive, and the WWII vets are dwindling, the Silver Cross Mothers at our Remembrance Day ceremonies are women who are my age - their sons are the casualties in Afghanistan.

That's really depressing, for a lot of reasons, but it must be hell for them.

JollyRoger said:

A partial list of those to be remembered:

[snip]

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How do we know they were Muslims? Only 24% of Americans of Arab ethnicity are Muslims.

My cousin died on that day and she is still sorely missed.

WTH, it happened before I as a member here? It was THAT long ago? WEIRD!

"You've been reading too much Tom Clancy. Go away and let me sleep" - me on being woken up right after the second plane hit Then they turned the TV on... what I said after that would get censored.

I was 12 at the time, which puts me in the odd position of being old enough to understand what happened- i.e. Muslim extremists launched a terrorist attack on the US- but really old enough to really understand what this meant, and certainly not old enough to understand the severity of the event. It was a weird thing that happened, and made the evening a confusing flurry of panicked news reports and concerned-looking parents.

Funny thing is, I don't think I really ever did understand until about a week ago- there was a program on Channel 4, which was just video footage of the event, from various on-the-scene reporters, people with cameras, etc. Somewhere amid all that, something in my head clicked, and it became a real thing that really happened to real people, and not just some abstract body count. Hell of a thing to hit you nine years down the line.

As a New York City Police Officer, then and now, I would like to say two things: a) that day just totally sucked, and b) I was truly touched then, and still now, by the outpouring of support from folks all over the world in the days, weeks, and years that followed. I tip my hat to all of you, and I ask you to remember that it is that oupouring of pure compassion, the urge to help rather than hurt, that is the greatest affirmation of what makes us good, and is our greatest weapon against evil.

Never forget.

i dont remember a single one of them, really.

I too remember that day vividly. I was still unexperienced in work - had graduated about a year and a half before, begun a little private practice with a friend - and we were working on a legal action for a guy who was expelled from his own college. Someone called my associate and urged us to watch the news, because the US was under attack.

I first thought it was some kind of joke, specially because there wasn't much animosity against the US fresh out the Clinton administration AFAIK; nevertheless, I remember being appalled the next days by the amount of people I've seen, timidly it's true, expressing notions that what happened was deserved price for imperialism. I have my criticism for the US as well, but at that time and circumstances, and looking at such horrifying murderous event, I really did thought these people were nuts by even contemplating such thoughts.

I cannot imagine such thing happening in, say, São Paulo, Brazil's largest city; so I am due to say that I can't truly appreciate the feelings of those personally touched, but also the feeling of the citizens of the victim nation. So I extend my sympathies, and hope that from the tragedy, people who did survive emerged wiser.

Regards .

I worked for American Airlines at the time. Needless to say it was a pretty rough day. I first heard about it on the radio when I woke up (I was in Dallas, so an hour behind) and then turned on the TV to see what was up. Saw in the ticker that AA was one of the planes, and called my friend who worked in AA Flight Safety. He answered, but said he couldn’t talk. I knew then it was true.

The rest of the day was running around the AA corporate headquarters trying to help in any way I could. I was unmarried and otherwise unattached at the time, so I could focus on being at work when so many had left to be with their families.

Ultimately I helped plan and carry out some of the company’s official memorial services for the crew and other employees lost on AA flights 11 and 77.

It was a pretty intense time and one that I will never forget.

I don't remember anything at all about that day. I would have been 9 at the time. I remember when they declared the war I was sort of pissed off because I watched Magic School Bus every morning (I didn't have cable TV until I was about 8 or so and I couldn't get enough of it) and they were talking about the war instead.

I was 5 at the time. I dont remember anything special ahppening at school, but i remember coming home on the bus a little later so that the later grades (i was in pre-school at the time, we had half days every day, the rest of the school got out at 3) could come home ona half day schedule. When i got home, i remember a vivid image from the news on the tv. Its showed a plane crashing into a tower. Im not sure if it was really on the news or if this was my imagination. But at the time i had no idea what it meant. After that i think i just sat at home doing whatever i did back then. It wasnt until years later that i started to understand just what had happened that day, and it has only been in the most recent years when ive gotten into politics that ive come close to fully understanding it.

I feel sorry for the loss of loved ones that day, and i pray to whatever god exists that i never have to go through the pain and torment that the relatives and friends of those lost on that day had to go through, and that some are still going through.

aimeeandbeatles said:

I don't remember anything at all about that day. I would have been 9 at the time. I remember when they declared the war I was sort of pissed off because I watched Magic School Bus every morning (I didn't have cable TV until I was about 8 or so and I couldn't get enough of it) and they were talking about the war instead.

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My sister was about the same age, and with her it was Dragonball Z (time-zones being what they are). I guess it's hard to grasp that sort of thing at that age.

Traitorfish said:

My sister was about the same age, and with her it was Dragonball Z (time-zones being what they are). I guess it's hard to grasp that sort of thing at that age.

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I was only six. I remember the day of the attack I wanted to watch Arthur, but my mom kept it on the news. I didn't really understand what was going on at all until a few years later. I do remember that a lot of people were talking about going to war, which struck me as a very bad idea at the time. From the mouth of babes...

I was getting ready to leave the house to go to the airport for a trip to the east coast. The buildings collapses were pretty spectacular as a live event. Kinda like the Kennedy assassination.

now seriously, i cant hear it anymore. nine years have passed.
movies about nine eleven. documentaries about nine eleven.
news stories about nine eleven every freaking year.
what a freaking tragedy. 3000 something freaking americans dead. poor you.

do you hear the freaking spaniards be all "nine three, nine three, freaking remember nine three"?
no?
well, you know why?

because they sucked it the freak up, that's why!

jesus freaking christ let it freaking rest already. war happens. terror attacks happen. people die in those. which is indeed a freaking tradegy. but that's no freaking reason to remain the freaking drama queens of the freaking world for nine freaking years.


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I had a fight with my family on that day.

I was what, nine? Nine and very stupid and very naive... and very brainwashed. I thought I understood how the world works. My image of America was of an aggressive warmongering empire. I remember first hearing about the attacks the morning of September 12 when I was getting ready for school. I thought it was a momentous event, but because of my perception of America I had no symphathy for the victims of the attacks.

So, my reactions to the attacks then was not shock or sadness but excitement. This prompted one of my relatives to sharply pull me to one side and scolded me. "How can you act like this when thousands of people have been murdered? Don't you dare say nonsense this at school if the teacher talks about it in class." And the teacher did talk about it in class. I remembered her looking at me with a strange look - I probably said something inappropriate, but I can't remember what exactly. Later, when I got home I had another argument with my family about the trajectory of the planes. I was silly, very stupid and I thought I know better than them. To say I was being rude was an understatement. It ended with my grandmother beating me down to the ground repeatedly with some kind of baton. I deserved that.

It was only a year or two later when I watched one of the memorial programs on television on the anniversary of 9/11 that I realized how stupid and wrong I was. That Al Qaeda are criminals. That this is a horrible act, that real people are affected and real people died. That the world is a complex place.

And then I realized that my reaction on the morning of September 12, 2001 was probably the same reaction many, many people around the world had. People who were fed anti-American rhetoric constantly by the society and the media around them, people who were conditioned to see the world in black and white, us and them, good guys and bad guys. I realized the power of perception, of manipulation, and how we are all too susceptible to them. Suddenly the Muslim crowds burning American flags and cheering the terrorists are placed in a whole new light.

Never forget the people who were murdered on that day. Never forget the attacks for what they are - a heinous criminal act on innocents, designed to sow fear, terror, discord and hatred. Never forget that this is the act of criminals. To give in to fear and hatred is to surrender to the same force that made the attacks possible, the same force that these criminals seek to propagate, and the same force that allow humans to celebrate the murder of fellow humans on that day. I tell myself never to forget that.