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Friday, September 9, 2011

The Tenth Year Anniversary of 9/11

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It's amazing how we all know our whereabouts and what we were doing on the morning of September 11, 2001 even though it was ten years ago. That was the morning 19 Islamic terrorist hijacked three California bound airliners because they knew the airliners had the right amount of fuel they needed, to do the most damage.

I remember my family being at the Galveston Burn Center that day because my daughter was being treated for a severe staph infection that almost took her life. I had run out of vacation, so I came back to Victoria because she was progressing nicely but I was giving special permission to leave at moment's notice if I needed to. I don't know what I was doing at work because my mind wasn't there. We got a call from security telling us to monitor our televisions because our country was being attacked. We kept watching the two airliners crash into the Twin Towers time after time. We had just vacationed in New York about a year before the attacks, so I was familiar with the area that the ABC commentators were talking about. Everyone was gathered around the TV sets in different offices, sharing all the rumors, we heard that day. On that particular day, most were stunned and confused but some were angry. I was in the daze worrying about my daughter and now our country was being attacked. It wasn't until a few minutes later when my wife called to confirm what she just heard and to tell me my daughter was responding favorably to her treatment,when I stared to feel better. After that call, I started paying more attention to the television reports.

The attacks on 9/11 lead to us attacking the training centers in Afghanistan and wiping out just about all of Al Qaeda in that country. We also removed the Taliban from power. This country was united, President Bush had about a 95% approval rating and 75% of the country were with him when we attacked Afghanistan. It was  at this time when I started reading about the Middle East, their customs, and the terrorist groups. I just had to get answers as to why we were attacked. It was during this time when I started reading the New York Times and Washington Post religiously; their online editions were free back then. Back then, I believed if an article made it to print; it was true because it went through a series of vetting. I didn't start suspecting the New York Times, and the Washington Post until I started seeing some articles that were beating the war drums, for a war with Iraq. I switched to weekly magazines like the New Yorker ,where Seymour Hersh explained how the Pentagon was feeding war propaganda to the New York Times and Washington Post. I went onto read Ron Suskind's book “The 1% Doctrine" that explained the Dick Cheney theory. Dick Cheney's theory was if there was 1% chance that a country was going to do harm to us; it was legitimate for us do a preemptive strike on them or those that supported them.

The 9/11 attacks did change me; it made me realize that you can have everything today and lose it tomorrow. It also thought me that you cannot believe everything you hear from the media; especially in this 24/7 news cycle. We no longer have the old news reporters who waited for the very last minute to report, because they scrubbed their sources for the truth. In writing blogs, I will check two or three sources before I submit the material but sometimes that's not enough.

There are times when I think we are overdoing it with media 9/11 saturation, but as the day approaches, I get caught up in it-like everyone else, I just hope the threats in New York, and Washington are bogus, and they get to commemorate that special day without harm.
What were you doing on that dreadful day? Has it changed you?

15 comments:

Legion said...

I had woken up about 6:30, made my coffee and was reading the paper. At 7 I turned on GMA, they were doing their usual thing then reported a plane had hit one of the WTC buildings and speculating that it might have been a lost pilot flying a small plane and went back to other stuff for about 3 minutes. Then they received witness report that it was a airliner and speculated how a airline pilot made such a mistake and started showing a live feed of the tower.

The second plane hit and Charlie Gibson said "What was that?", I take it he wasn't watching a monitor because it was plain as day another plane had hit the other tower.

Most of the rest of the day was spent watching the news and trying to call my mom and brother to find out about my nephew, who worked in the "controversial", by some, WTC 7. About noon we heard from him, that day he didn't have to go to work until 1pm, so he was at home watching like everyone else.

Speaking of WTC 7, I knew my comments and links to the "truthers" on the VicAd would fall on deaf ears.

At least I further exposed siub,ITEMnine and ImRich for what they really are. Heck all three of them might be the same person, I wouldn't doubt it. lol

Mike said...

legion357

I wish I had your remarkable memory. Thanks for sharing.

When I read your source (MIT) I thought the rest was history... Who would argue with MIT? That's like arguing about computers with Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.

I'm kinda glad you busted up their party because they were mocking the nonbelievers..lol

Truthers are right there with birthers; they are in a world all their own.

Legion said...

You know, I was going to let the thread die a natural death after I posted the JOM (Published monthly by The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS), JOM is a technical journal devoted to exploring the many aspects of materials science and engineering. JOM reports scholarly work that explores the state-of-the-art processing, fabrication, design, and application of metals, ceramics, plastics, composites, and other materials.) link, authored by a MIT dept. head and a grad student, but one of the three, who claims to be a experienced high rise structural engineer, said it was a link to a short article and what about WTC7.

My God, the guy doesn't even realize how the buildings where constructed.

I watched a documentary about the new tower being built last week, no more main exterior support like WTC S., N. and 7 were built.

8' reinforced concrete walls housing the elevator shafts in the center. IT is a more conventional design. The WTC buildings relied on the outside walls as the main support.

Rebecca said...

I had given birth six days before, so I was co-sleeping-in with my baby when my dad called and woke me up. He asked if I was watching the news. I said, "No." and he told me to turn on the television. I remember thinking that what I was seeing was happening in another country, because I couldn't fathom that happening here. Now I can...

Now I have a ten year old.

Edith Ann said...

I didn't really know about this until I got to work. We sat and watched it for days, it seemed.

I can remember this overwhelming feeling of sadness at all the lives lost, but a huge feeling of amazement that it wasn't worse. Watching all the paper bits float down like rain made me really realize that our God is an awesome God--it could have been shrapnel and beams and stuff like that.

Believe it or not, I am a very optimistic person, and I do believe folks will give their best when need be. That was confirmed for me during all of this.

I did watch the Diane Sawyer piece on the 9/11 babies. It was extremely touching to hear the children talk about a parent they never knew. Watch it here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/September_11/911-babies-fathers-killed-world-trade-center-attacks/story?id=14482589 It will touch your heart in a sweet way.

Rebecca said...

The reason we bought this house was because when Christian walked into one of the bedrooms he said, "This is MY room!" His room has a mural of the New York sky-scape on one wall, complete with the WTC towers. He's always identified with them because when we see any story about 9/11 it is followed with a "and you were just six days old..." When he sees those towers on the news, they are collapsing, but not in his room.

Mike said...

Legion357
I saw the reinforced concrete walls when Matt Lauer was given a tour of the new center.
I liked the way the construction workers honored those who died. They lined up the crane and the operators of the machines lowered their booms in a bow like moment....They are doing a first class job.

Rebecca

I understand that feeling;I don't think anyone ever imagined we would be attacked.

Mike said...

EA

I agree,I've seen time after time where people gave their all in a time of crisis.

I saw a small portion of Diane Sawyer's piece  and I thought the pictures compared to their dads were remarkable.

Mike said...

Rebecca
Nice touch.

Kyle said...

I lived and worked in London at the time but was at home that day. The BBC cut right to a live feed shortly after the first plane struck. I spent the afternoon watching the events unfold - they evacuated major buildings in London that day and in the veining I tool the subway and the sense of shock and fear was palpable even 4000 miles away. The way news iwas covered with constant live footage and Internet reaction I think played a large role in searing the event in our minds

Mike said...

t's been 10 years since 9/11 ,yet we still have those that blame an entire religion for the actions of maybe 5,000 radical Islamic terrorist. A poster named RedXIII does not say we got the information of possible threats from a Muslin in Pakistan. The father of the Christmas Day bomber provided information about his son prior to the his attempt to blow up an airliner...A Muslim street vendor warned us about the Times Square car bomber. I just heard a report stating that 200,000 Muslims dying as a result of war in Iraq,Afghanistan and Pakistan...Some were killed by the Taliban and al Qaeda but their deaths are war related.....RedXIII,submitted false information because  about the current administration was just following a Bush administration memo to be on the look out for right wing extremist, who might recruit returning veterans..He should lookup the goal of the "Oath Keepers."

Gloria7 said there is a fine line between tolerant and totalitarianism..Really? They are two totally different things...People that aren't dark skin will tolerate racial profiling because they won't be profiled...The NYC terrorist Div. is doing more than racial profiling but the people of that city are fine with it.

Legion,just my luck but later today I will get to watch the WTC conspiracy therory.

Mike said...

Kyle
Thanks for sharing. We are always told of how our friends across the pond reacted but getting an actual account is much better.

Legion said...

While your watching the conspiracy Mike, keep this video in mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwdD6ERutEI&feature=player_embedded

Mike said...

Thanks Legion,I will.

I won't be swayed by the conspirators but I need to know what to debunk..I know I won't understand the technical terms such as formulas,resistance,heat needed,and structural damage but I still have your post and now the video link you supplied,,,I don't want to be totally in the dark because who knows my know-it-all nephew might bring up this subject on my next visit to Texas City...:-)

Legion said...

It's kind of funny, I read the comments after the video link I provided and the comments of another video from the truther camp...

I had no idea there where so many structural engineers and demolition experts that cuss like sailors in the US. Much less foreign policy experts.

The comments are nothing but a cuss each other out forum!