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Post by Kapitan on Sept 11, 2021 14:36:43 GMT
No, not Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play: mostly Saudi terrorists used four jets as missiles, killing 3000 or so people, mostly civilians with no particular interest or activity in the Middle East, but rather just people going to work, doing their jobs, taking a flight, or busying themselves with normal routines.
I assume most people old enough remember that day pretty well, the same way a previous generation did with the assassinations of JFK or MLK, or on a happier note, the moon landing. I know I remember it very well.
Does anyone want to talk about their recollections of 9/11?
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Post by B.E. on Sept 11, 2021 14:40:57 GMT
That it's been 20 years feels pretty unreal to me. Honestly, over the past 24 hours or so, I've been worrying of a terrorist attack occurring due to it being an anniversary. I felt this way in 2002, 2006, 2011, 2016, and now 2021.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 11, 2021 14:59:23 GMT
I've had those same thoughts, B.E.: every major anniversary, it seems like an obvious time. Of course, that's the whole point of terrorism. When the group isn't capable of normal "face to face" combat or competition, it's all about terror, as the name implies. The damage those fanatics did to America was more to people's psyches than the (substantial and tragic) damage they did with the planes and to the deceased.
It also ushered in a whole new era of mass surveillance in the name of security, truly weakening American citizens' civil rights, not to mention the new era of extrajudicial killings around the world in the name of anti-terrorism. The Patriot Act is still with us today, and our military and special forces continue to fight on numerous fronts around the world under the so-called authorization of the authorization to use force given to President Bush way back then to combat Al Qaeda.
But those are really not the main topics that warrant attention on the anniversary of the event. I should rein it in, because the day itself should be remembering the dead and those they left behind.
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Post by kds on Sept 11, 2021 21:56:40 GMT
Twenty years. I just remember it was a few days after I turned 21. I was starting my last year of college. The Ravens were coming off a Super Bowl win. Things seemed so optimistic.
But, that Tuesday morning brought so much uncertainty, sadness, and fear.
I also remember how united we became in the wake of the horrible event. You couldn't find anything with a US flag on it in any store for a while. Somehow, we lost that, and became divided later in the decade, and its only gotten worse.
I cannot watch any of the specials they run each year. I lived it. It left a scar. I don't care to relive it.
But today, two decades later, on an absolutely perfect late summer day, I will raise a glass to the people we lost on that absolutely horrific day.
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Post by jk on Sept 11, 2021 22:12:13 GMT
Well, I'd just paid my weekly visit to the blood bank in the city centre and bought myself a Gary Lucas CD before returning home. I played half of it while eating lunch and then went upstairs to work. Then I got a call from my son…
Much later that day I played the rest of the album, beginning with this track, "The Brain From Planet Eros". The line "I wanna see New York tonight!" sounds as chilling now as it did then:
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 11, 2021 23:04:33 GMT
I had just changed jobs/careers and started working in an Emotional Support classroom for children with disabilities at a local school. The Director of the school was talking to the gathered students in the gym like he usually did when one of the teachers' aides came running into the school and was all out of breath and said, "Turn the TV on. The United States is being attacked."
For several minutes it was information gathering. Phone calls were made to see if we should be evacuating and sending the students home. They were not; it was determined that we were probably not in danger, but who knew for sure. For the rest of the day, the TV remained on and there were no regular classes going on. The students just watched movies or colored/drew or played games or listened to music or whatever could distract. The Director did take questions from the students and explained the situation the best that he could. A lot it was, respectfully, over their heads. Heck, it was over my head.
So, after school I went home and tried to learn as much as I could about the situation. I do remember there was a lot of talk/news about what would be cancelled including businesses, schools, church, yes, concerts, and pro sports, which was getting interesting for baseball and, of course, the NFL season was just starting. In a day or two there was some relief, the fear was subsiding, but you just felt awful watching the devastation on TV and seeing the families and friends grieving. It was kind of a helpless feeling. Just terrible.
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Post by B.E. on Sept 11, 2021 23:20:54 GMT
I had just changed jobs/careers and started working in an Emotional Support classroom for children with disabilities at a local school. The Director of the school was talking to the gathered students in the gym like he usually did when one of the teachers' aides came running into the school and was all out of breath and said, "Turn the TV on. The United States is being attacked." Holy shit. What a chilling line. I can imagine everyone's mind racing and imagining what the aid meant by "attack". And, tragically, the reality was probably worse than anyone's imagination (short of a nuclear attack).
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 11, 2021 23:32:24 GMT
I was in the office and remember the confusion through those first few hours. Also, the internet was basically down. Everything was slow. The NYT for a while was basically just its homepage with some very basic text, no links to other stories, no details, not much in terms of images. There were rumors of other planes. It was really awful.
Then that evening, a friend and I sat on my patio drinking beers and talking about what it all might mean. The most notable thing about it was that for the first time ever, my patio was silent: there was none of the air traffic that usually marred that experience, all flights having been grounded.
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Post by B.E. on Sept 11, 2021 23:40:34 GMT
The scary thing (if that's the right word) is that it wasn't just us who were caught in confusion, it seems none of the agencies, the air traffic controllers, everyone involved, NO ONE knew what the the hell was going on or, really, what to do about it. That's how it's depicted in the movie, United 93 (and from everything else I've read/gathered). I'm not placing blame, just underscoring how confused and utterly unprepared we all were. So tragic...
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