If you ask people "where were you on 9/11 the moment it happened?" I
think everybody remembers.
This day is forever etched in my memory and I must say, it has not made my life
any happier since this event.
I'm worried about the future of Planet Earth. Climate, wars...
Luckily, I have a way to escape reality: building with LEGO.
Yes, sat at my desk and looking at footage on the internet, sad day for all.
In Off Topic, Leftoverbricks writes:
In Off Topic, legoman77 writes:
Never ever forget
John P
If you ask people "where were you on 9/11 the moment it happened?" I
think everybody remembers.
This day is forever etched in my memory and I must say, it has not made my life
any happier since this event.
I'm worried about the future of Planet Earth. Climate, wars...
Luckily, I have a way to escape reality: building with LEGO.
I was getting ready for work that morning, and my wife was watching news in the
living room. "Hey, someone flew a plane into a building in New York",
she said. I assumed it was some light airplane, that went off course. I sat
down and watched the news while she started on my breakfast in the kitchen.
The newscast was live, and confused, as people still had no idea what was going
on. The smoke was rising from the first tower. Then, right on the newscast, live,
the second plane came in out of nowhere and hit the second tower. Immediately
I new that it was not an accident, but that America was under attack.
When I got to work the television was on. It stayed on all day. One of my co-workers
was in a jubilant mood. "The Americans have stuck their necks out too far,
and finally got theirs" he said. I told him off for being so stupid. It was
a time when reflexive anti-Americanism was still fashionable among many Canadians,
but that soon changed. Twenty four Canadians were murdered in the 9/11 attacks.
We didn't get much work done. The television stayed on, and we watched one
tower fall, and then the other one. It was incomprehensible. We still didn't
know much. We didn't know who had done such a terrible thing, or why. We
had lived in blissful ignorance of the existence of enemies who hated us, and
our civilization.
Our daughter was on a student trip hiking in the mountains at Colorado Springs,
not far from the NORAD base. We couldn't reach her, and didn't know if
she would be safe. I got home from work.
After what felt like the longest day, I got home from work, and told my wife:
"This is the day that the world has changed forever. From now on, nothing
will be the same."
I was getting ready for work that morning, and my wife was watching news in the
living room. "Hey, someone flew a plane into a building in New York",
she said. I assumed it was some light airplane, that went off course. I sat
down and watched the news while she started on my breakfast in the kitchen.
The newscast was live, and confused, as people still had no idea what was going
on. The smoke was rising from the first tower. Then, right on the newscast, live,
the second plane came in out of nowhere and hit the second tower. Immediately
I new that it was not an accident, but that America was under attack.
When I got to work the television was on. It stayed on all day. One of my co-workers
was in a jubilant mood. "The Americans have stuck their necks out too far,
and finally got theirs" he said. I told him off for being so stupid. It was
a time when reflexive anti-Americanism was still fashionable among many Canadians,
but that soon changed. Twenty four Canadians were murdered in the 9/11 attacks.
We didn't get much work done. The television stayed on, and we watched one
tower fall, and then the other one. It was incomprehensible. We still didn't
know much. We didn't know who had done such a terrible thing, or why. We
had lived in blissful ignorance of the existence of enemies who hated us, and
our civilization.
Our daughter was on a student trip hiking in the mountains at Colorado Springs,
not far from the NORAD base. We couldn't reach her, and didn't know if
she would be safe. I got home from work.
After what felt like the longest day, I got home from work, and told my wife:
"This is the day that the world has changed forever. From now on, nothing
will be the same."
Thanks Silvan. I was in France in July and thought of you. Wish I was closer
to where live, but just there for a little while on a cruise.
My birthday is this month, guess how old I will be.
John P
Thanks Silvan. I was in France in July and thought of you. Wish I was closer
to where live, but just there for a little while on a cruise.
My birthday is this month, guess how old I will be.
John P
On 9/11/2001 I was serving as an Air Traffic Controller overseas in an allied
country, i had an airforce cargo plane getting ready to line up for takeoff and
we got word to disallow any takeoffs and that airspace will be shut down once
all planes return to base.
The 2 pilots in the cargo jet were getting impatient and repeatedly asked "what's
the holdup?" but we were disallowed to give a information over the radio.
I sent a truck over to their plane and asked them to disembark and board the
truck that will bring them over to the control tower.
By the time they arrived- we managed to get a television up in the tower (TV's
were freakin' heavy in 2001- heavier if you had to carry them 4 stories up,
but i was manning the radio which exempted me from doing that...) none of us
could believe what we were seeing...
a few hours later they allowed only military planes to occupy airspace...
And after 23 years minus a couple of weeks, I'm in NYC, walkable distance
from ground zero and I find myself looking at demonstrators with disgusting signs
and thinking to myself; "yeah, we forgot..."
I even have some doubt my words will occupy this thread for too long which will
only further prove my point... I put it as mildly as possible but i do understand
how this could be interpreted as a violation...
Thank you for sharing that. I am a student of history and no one born after
9/11 will ever understand what the feelings were at the time. That is true of
all history for people that did not live it. Cuban missile crisis, cold war,
the Greatest Generation, Sputnik, landing on the moon, and so many others can
not be transferred to the ones that never lived it. That is why stories like
yours mean so much. They can put a piece into the puzzle of understanding.
John P
On 9/11/2001 I was serving as an Air Traffic Controller overseas in an allied
country, i had an airforce cargo plane getting ready to line up for takeoff and
we got word to disallow any takeoffs and that airspace will be shut down once
all planes return to base.
The 2 pilots in the cargo jet were getting impatient and repeatedly asked "what's
the holdup?" but we were disallowed to give a information over the radio.
I sent a truck over to their plane and asked them to disembark and board the
truck that will bring them over to the control tower.
By the time they arrived- we managed to get a television up in the tower (TV's
were freakin' heavy in 2001- heavier if you had to carry them 4 stories up,
but i was manning the radio which exempted me from doing that...) none of us
could believe what we were seeing...
a few hours later they allowed only military planes to occupy airspace...
And after 23 years minus a couple of weeks, I'm in NYC, walkable distance
from ground zero and I find myself looking at demonstrators with disgusting signs
and thinking to myself; "yeah, we forgot..."
I even have some doubt my words will occupy this thread for too long which will
only further prove my point... I put it as mildly as possible but i do understand
how this could be interpreted as a violation...
I was off sick from work, with flu. I was having a hot bath and listening to
the radio when the first reports started coming in. I though t it was a terrible
accident at first. Afterwards I turned on the tv and sat watching, horrified
at the scenes that were developing and the news just kept getting worse and worse.
And then the first tower collapsed. And then the second. And news of the Pentagon
attack. My flu didn't matter anymore.
I’ll start by expressing my respect for you, Mr. Patterson, and your position.
God bless both. That said, I would prefer not to dwell on these events (911 not
the only atrocities of that period) in favor of focusing on what lays before
us as a nation and part of the global community.
I know what you’re saying, my friend, so maybe try and understand what I’m saying
now: Let’s move on. Remember the fallen by all means. But don’t focus on victimhood
or overly on exacting payment, it’s arguably been collected.
I personally prefer looking forward. There are so many atrocities for us to
“Never forget” you can count me out of celebrating the remembrance of any of
them. I nonetheless, feel very deeply for those families affected by the senseless
loss of life that day. I mean, what the h. e. double toothpicks is wrong with
some?
I’ll start by expressing my respect for you, Mr. Patterson, and your position.
God bless both. That said, I would prefer not to dwell on these events (911 not
the only atrocities of that period) in favor of focusing on what lays before
us as a nation and part of the global community.
I know what you’re saying, my friend, so maybe try and understand what I’m saying
now: Let’s move on. Remember the fallen by all means. But don’t focus on victimhood
or overly on exacting payment, it’s arguably been collected.
I personally prefer looking forward. There are so many atrocities for us to
“Never forget” you can count me out of celebrating the remembrance of any of
them. I nonetheless, feel very deeply for those families affected by the senseless
loss of life that day. I mean, what the h. e. double toothpicks is wrong with
some?
Thank you for the compliment. I do not think we obsess on it, but it needs to
be remembered and is the most significant thing that happened to the US and the
free world since WWII. It affects almost every aspect of ours lives today.
It is history that has shaped the world as it exists today. Not to remember
and to not comment is folly. (the same for Israel.) The thousands that died
and still die from that attack need to be remembered. We have had to adjust
our policies, laws, how we fly and travel, and living without those that died.
My wife went to Desert Storm and came back 100% disabled. I, for one, will
never forget what was done that day. We woke up that day and we need to be reminded
and those that were too young or not alive that day need to know just what happened.
Should we not celebrate the "Greatest Generation" for what they did
in Europe? (Hopefully we will not need another Greatest Generation as there is
no generation after that that would give what those men and women in WWII did.)
If we did not "obsess" on certain parts of history we would not honor
MLK, the struggle of blacks to be equal, the struggle for women to vote and be
equal to men, all the veterans that have sacrificed to keep America free, and
those that died in Benghazi or Abbygate. Never forget.
I’ll start by expressing my respect for you, Mr. Patterson, and your position.
God bless both. That said, I would prefer not to dwell on these events (911 not
the only atrocities of that period) in favor of focusing on what lays before
us as a nation and part of the global community.
I know what you’re saying, my friend, so maybe try and understand what I’m saying
now: Let’s move on. Remember the fallen by all means. But don’t focus on victimhood
or overly on exacting payment, it’s arguably been collected.
I personally prefer looking forward. There are so many atrocities for us to
“Never forget” you can count me out of celebrating the remembrance of any of
them. I nonetheless, feel very deeply for those families affected by the senseless
loss of life that day. I mean, what the h. e. double toothpicks is wrong with
some?
the Never Forget phrase can mean multiple things.
By never forgetting the ideologies that have fueled past atrocities like 9/11,
holocaust and many more- perhaps we can learn to curb such monstrous ideologies
so we can have a better future.
In the past few years, we've seen many 'viral' successful attempts
to re-write settled history and in some cases erase and deny past atrocities.
Once we forget the historical seeds of the hate and ideologies that have fuel
these wholesale acts of violence- we will end up allowing that ideology to return
and rise right under our noses.
The ideology behind the 9/11 attacks used to be intolerable and 23 short years
later- it is on full, unapologetic display in the same city.
I remember vividly. I had just celebrated my birthday (Happy Birthday my fellow
September Birth Brother). I was working at the bank. A normal day for us.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
A coworker had went to make her grilled cheese sandwiches in the breakroom and
turned the little black and white console we had on the breakroom. It had an
antenna (talk about old school) to receive the channels. She came running out
saying a plane had hit the twin towers in New York.
We didn't think anything of it and thought it was an accident. A little
later she came back and said that a second plane had hit the other tower. We
thought something was up.
We pulled the little console out and watched the events unfold from there. Needless
to say, that week, we spent much of our work days with the tv on so we could
stay abreast of the situation.
Out of the blue, after many months, we received a card in the mail with a hand
written note from a work aquantance in New York who was in the Towers when they
were hit. Our office was part of his Book of Business for investments and we
had always asked him about working in the Towers and how neat it was (at the
time).
He had sent letters to all of his work contacts saying he was alive, well and
grateful. His letter was one of thanks, kindess and love. That letter was his
first hand account of the details of that day and his way of therapy to cope
with those events. We had no idea what it was really like until we got that
letter. It resonated with us for years. We kept it in the front of a photo
album we had. On my last day at the office (before moving on to another job)
I opened that photo album to read his story.
I hope those employees kept the album and future generations will look back on
that letter the same way we did, when we got it, and when it happened.
USA, Texas
Netherlands, Overijssel
United Kingdom, England
Canada, Ontario
France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
