Sad Anniversary

[meika123]

Don't know how many share my feelings, but I just wanted to remember all of the dead civilians and their families on this day marking this-the sixth anniversary of the most horriffic terrorist attack to ever hit this country.
I'm keeping them all in my prayers.

Dave in NC

[Anna]

I'm right in there with you. It was a sad day. I still remember sitting in front of the television, dumbfounded. It took a while to convince myself it wasn't a hoax or a TV movie in the same vein as Wells' War of the Worlds. Then the frantic calling of everyone I knew in the vicinity of NY.

Six years later, it almost feels like it never happened, given the general mood of our country. I just wish we'd never forget.

[Black wallnut]

I still clearly remember exactly where I was, where I was headed and what radio station I was listening to when the news came across that the first plane crashed into the tower. It is doubtful I will ever forget. I think the families of those who perished that sad day will need thoughts and prayers each day for the rest of their lives. of course this day especially.

[Pappy]

That day was, in my mind, the worst event ever to befall our nation, including the civil war that tore brothers apart and the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is a day that should always be in our minds and hearts!

[germdoc]

That day was a Tuesday exactly like this day--same sunny weather, same nice temperature. It was unreal how it unfolded. I cannot believe those towers just imploded the way they did. Unbelievable.

It's impossible to compare tragedies, of course, but the attack on Pearl Harbor killed about the same number of people--2333. The Civil War killed over 600,000 people and crippled millions. Not to nitpick with you Pappy but I believe after our generation Americans will have forgotten about 9/11. Our attention spans are too short these days. Sad but true.

[ironhat]

<snip>
Not to nitpick with you Pappy but I believe after our generation Americans will have forgotten about 9/11. Our attention spans are too short these days. Sad but true.

Heck, our schools barely mention Pearl Harbor anymore. In a generation or so it will be as though it never happened. Thank goodness for the various memorials and monuments to keep the memories alive. We can't learn from the past if we refuse to recall it. OTOH, we don't seem to be remembering anything too well these days.

[Bruce Cohen]

Dave,

I'm aware of your deep emotions toward 9/11. We've discussed this in other threads. As you know, I lost some friends that day, uniformed and civilians. Also, I witnessed the second plane hitting the tower from outside my office.

To me, this holds almost grief and emotional and physical anger as the way more than average time I spent in S.E. Asia.

Take care, my brother and work as hard as you can to keep reminding others of that black day.

Bruce

As a show of respect, I'm witholding my silly signature, as it's inappropriate for this post.

[gwyneth]

Our local radio station is trying to spread the idea that Sept. 11 should not only be a day of remembrance, but a day of doing nice things for others.

Not greeting card 'nice' but showing appreciation, saying we love people, realizing that life is too short for petty stuff.

In short, honoring the memory of those who died by appreciating that we are here and can make sure we do and say things before it is too late.

[ragswl4]

I do not have the words to express how I felt that day and how I still feel everytime I think of that horrific act against our fellow citizens and our country. The words I would use would not be appropriate for this forum.

[Anna]

I found this excerpt from the book Never Forget: An Oral History of September 11, 2001, where authors Mitchell Fink and Lois Mathias collected stories from eyewitnesses. This account is by a Cantor Fitzgerald broker, David Kravette:


On the morning of September 11, I was on floor 105, tower 1. I had an 8 a.m. meeting set up with a client. He was bringing by some tech people to do some due diligence on our technology company called E-Speed. I get to work usually around seven, seven-fifteen. At eight, the client called to tell me they were running late. And I said fine. But I reminded him to bring photo ID downstairs. Ever since the last terrorist attack in '93, the building requires photo ID downstairs. He's been there before, so he knew the drill. He said, "Fine. No problem."

At 8:40, I get a phone call from the security desk downstairs, asking me if I'm expecting visitors. I said yes. "Well, they're here," they said. "But one of them forgot their ID."

I'm 105 flights up. The commute to get downstairs takes about five minutes, especially around that time. So I'm annoyed, obviously, because I have to go down now to sign these people in after I just told them to bring ID. I look at this desk assistant across from me, thinking maybe she'll help out and go down, but she's on the phone. She's also about eight months pregnant. She's a few weeks from maternity leave and she's on the phone talking to a friend and she's on a website looking at bassinets and cribs. A very nice girl expecting her first child. So how lazy am I? I decide to go myself. ...

... I take these two elevator rides down. I take the elevator from 105 to 78, change, and take the express down to the ground. I got down to the lobby. Our elevator banks actually face the visitors' gallery. And I started walking over to the visitors' gallery, I'd say it's about thirty yards, and they're standing there waiting for me. And I remember yelling, "Which one of you knuckleheads forgot your ID?"

And as I say this, you hear this really loud screeching sound. I turn around and it's kind of coming from the elevators. So I run away from it, like ten steps, and look back. And the elevators are free-falling. Then, from the middle elevator bank, not the one I came down on, but from the middle one, a huge fireball explodes in the lobby. This huge fireball is coming right toward me. People got incinerated. And I remember just looking at this thing, not feeling scared, but just sad because I knew I was going to die. But as quickly as it came toward me, it actually sucked back in on itself, and it was gone. It left a lot of smoke and everything was blown out, all the glass and revolving doors leading into the shopping area. All I felt was a big wave of heat come over me, like when you put your face too close to a fireplace. My customer and my general counsel and I just ran out. The three of us ran over the overpass to where the Financial Center is. We went down to where the marina is, where the yachts are. And that's when we found out what happened, that a plane had hit the building.

I looked up and saw this big gaping hole. I said, "What's that falling out of the window?"

My general counsel looks at me like I'm nuts. And he says, "That's people jumping out." ...

Cantor Fitzgerald had four floors in the North Tower -- 101, 103, 104, and 105. Nobody got out on those floors. Everyone who was upstairs perished. There were a lot of phone calls to wives and husbands at around nine o'clock saying good-bye, as though they knew they were going to die.

[germdoc]

To me the strangest thing was that we all felt that day that our lives were going to change dramatically--just like after Pearl Harbor or Fort Sumter.

I would venture to say that 6 years later, with the exception of a relatively small number of military, police and security officers, none of us are living any differently than we were before 9/11. Home sales and SUV sales continued to rise. After a short lull air travel became congested again. We continue to be more fascinated by Britney Spears than by world events. We're probably in more personal debt. Not a criticism or a political statement, just an observation.