Re: 8 years on
- From: "I'mAWhosoeverToo" <rosie_belle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:24:32 -0700 (PDT)
On Sep 11, 3:20 pm, "Yowie" <yowie9644.DIESPAM...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
8 years ago, I can still vividly remember my DH waking me up at about
11:15pm
saying 'A bomb hit New York'. Wearily, I stumbled out to the lounge to watch
the coverage, thinking it was some sort of stunt, a joke, a sci-fi movie. We
watched in increasing horror as the second plane hit the other world tower,
and by the time the next plane had hit the pentagon, we were both thinking
'here comes world war 3'.
We stayed up most of the night, watching in horror, disbelief and open grief
whilst the tragedy that struck New York, Washington and Pennsylvania;
attacked America, indeed and dealt a blow against the peace and stability of
the whole world unfolded. My thoughts went out to all those in the line of
fire, all those who would be affected by this.
My heart skipped a beat when I realised my mother was overseas, on holiday,
unreachable (in the days ahead I paid a small fortune in phone calls trying
to track her down - I found her in France). And then another as I realised a
great friend was actually in the air, flying back from Sydney to NY at the
time (she was diverted to LA and couldn't get home - nor even call her
husband - for 3 more days) .
Everyone stumbled into work the next day, sleepless, shocked. People
desperately tried to contact their loved ones not only in the USA but around
the world. Work allowed the use of the busines phones to do it, they didn't
really have a choice - although most of the lines were down and the ones
that weren't were so overload, it could take *hours* to get through to a US
operator, and even then it didn't mean the call could go through. There was
a constant vigil of at least a handful of people in the conference room,
watchign the only TV we have here, coming out after a while white and
shaken, no longer physically able to watch any more. For the first time, I
saw my colleagues, both men & women, openly weep.
Friends gathered to console and support each other - everyone, and I mean
*everyone* I know, knew someone who knew someone that was directly effected.
The internet connections were flakey at best, but messages of support and
friendship were posted, as well as a 'please check in' for those who had
been disconnected. It took a very long time, even over here, for it to stop
being at the top of people's minds. Even a month later, I saw a low-flying
jet and immediately had flash-backs, had a moment stricken with fear. I
hadn't realised I was so close to the airport.
8 years on, its no longer front page news every day, but the consequences of
that senseless act still reverberate around the world, effecting lives every
day, every minute. To all those who live with the heartache and grief of
that terrible day, as well as the incredible acts of heroism and sacrifice,
you have not been forgotten. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you.
lest we forget.
Yowie
Thanks for posting this, Yowie. I had no concept that those in
Australia were really affected by what happened on 09/11/01. But of
course you all would be - friends, neighbors, family members and
connections therein were affected all over the world that day.
I still get teary-eyed when I think of that day and watching it
happen, first hand, by television. The shock. The worry. The fear.
The unknown answers to so many questions. And yes - the question, "Is
this the beginning of the end?" My partner and I had to travel that
day nearly two-thousand miles from Arizona to my home state in order
to assist my family in the midst of a health crisis. Rather than just
packing for a two week trip, however, we ended up taking both vehicles
packed to the brim with our two dogs as many clothes as we could pack
along with all essentials - including our two PC's. You see, with
what was going on, we didn't know when we would be able to come back
home - of *if* we would be able to come back home. Everything was so
uncertain - and frightening. Because we spent the day alternately
packing and watching the TV in disbelief (it was all so surreal), we
didn't get out of our town until 2pm - only reaching Palm Springs,
California around 8pm - just in time to see President Bush's address
to the nation on the TV in the hotel lobby as we checked in. When we
went through Phoenix (the 5th largest city in the nation) earlier that
day, it was literally akin to a ghost town compared to it's usual
hustle and bustle. All flights in and out of Sky Harbor Airport (one
of the busiest in the nation) were cancelled, so this only added to
the eerie stillness. Hardly any traffic on the freeways. Again, it
was all surreal.
I will never, ever forget that day and I think I now know how
Americans who were alive when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor felt
on December 7, 1941. I don't ever want to experience that kind of
thing or that kind of feeling again. I don't want anyone to
experience it.
Yesterday, on 9/11/09, I was angered beyond tolerance when I saw that
our president re-declared 9/11 remembrance day to be renamed
"Patriot's Day" and to change to focus to a day of "community
service". To me, this is a way to make us forget, to whitewash what
really happened, to get us to forget that Islamic extremist terrorists
planned and executed a plan to harm us - to kill our citizens - as
well as to bankrupt our American democracy, values and freedom and
instill unreasonable fear in us. To get us to forget about those who
died. To get us to forget.
Just as we can never forget the Holocaust, we can NEVER forget 9/11.
to suggest otherwise is a slap in the face of those who died and those
who were left behind. Thank you again for posting this topic, Yowie.
Lest we forget...
.
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