September 11th

[Flymetothemun]

I know that political things are frowned upon on the forums, but I just couldn't let this go unposted.

If you've checked your calendar today, you'd have noticed that it is September 11th. If you don't know, there was an attack on the former World Trade Center towers in New York City on this day in 2001. Many people were killed in the impact of Jetliners into the towers and the eventual collapse of these two towers. There were also a crash of a jetliner into the Pentagon and a crash into a Pennsylvania field. I'd just like for you reading this to take a moment to remember these people and their families and all the firemen, police, paramedics, and volunteers that helped with rescuing people from the wreckage and that helped clean up the debris. Remember those of other nations who offered to and did help. Regardless of your religion, race, nationality, political affiliation, or belief in conspiracies, please take a little bit of time to remember everybody involved in this disaster. And please also remember that life is a precious thing, that it can be lost at any time, and that it is to be treasured and cherished every day.

Please don't get political in the discussion. Thank you for reading and for your time.

[Sampa]

*Bows head solemnly to,give a prayer for,those that lost their lives that day*

[Tristonwilson12]

My uncle took the day off to go golfing on that day......he would have been in one of the top floors of WTC 2

#neverforget

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

It is a nice day, quite sunny out. A but muggy, but I mean what can you do

I mean, Air Assaults where "invented" today. By 1st Air Cav going into Khe Sahn

Russia made a Nano Bomb (FOAB)

And the September 11th attacks. RIP to all who died.

[Red Iron Crown]

We saw some of the ripple effects of the attacks here in Canada. This story is from relatively close to where I live, and is a fairly heartwarming story of generosity to strangers in difficult conditions.

[Voyager275]

Never Forget

R.I.P all those lost

[Kerbart]

I was on my way to NYC that day, just passed Iceland. Eventually we turned around and went back to Amsterdam. I'm grateful that the flight crew kept us informed on what really happened, unlike passengers on some other flights who only found out after landing what happened.

[GoSlash27]

This isn't meant to be political or ruffle any feathers, but it probably will anyway so let me apologize in advance...

IMO these yearly reminders of Sept. 11th do more harm than good. It was a traumatic experience and a lot of people died who didn't deserve to, *but*...

Saying "never forget" implies that there is an important lesson to remember.

Generally if you're on the right, it means that we should always be vigilant and never allow complacency to give the terrorists the opportunity to do this again.

If you're on the left, it means that we should be wary of the unintended consequences of meddling in international affairs haphazardly.

Perhaps it's both...

Whatever the lesson is that we're supposed to be remembering, we're clearly not doing that. We neither act like we are under threat from terrorists nor make any more effort to avoid creating enemies.

So then what's the point of all this? If it's solely for the purpose of grieving for the victims and revisiting past traumas, then it's unhealthy.

If we as a nation are not going to do anything differently than we did before the attack, then we need to just let it go and move on. There is absolutely nothing to be gained from rewinding the clock back to that day every year and feeling like victims.

Again, apologies. I don't mean anything bad by it.

Best,

-Slashy

Edited September 11, 2015 by GoSlash27

[Guest]

IMO these yearly reminders of Sept. 11th do more harm than good. It was a traumatic experience and a lot of people died who didn't deserve to, *but*...

Saying "never forget" implies that there is an important lesson to remember.

Generally if you're on the right, it means that we should always be vigilant and never allow complacency to give the terrorists the opportunity to do this again.

If you're on the left, it means that we should be wary of the unintended consequences of meddling in international affairs haphazardly.

Perhaps it's both...

Whatever the lesson is that we're supposed to be remembering, we're clearly not doing that. We neither act like we are under threat from terrorists nor make any more effort to avoid creating enemies.

So then what's the point of all this? If it's solely for the purpose of grieving for the victims and revisiting past traumas, then it's unhealthy.

If we as a nation are not going to do anything differently than we did before the attack, then we need to just let it go and move on.

Well said, thank you.

[Camacha]

I would like to remember the human rights and basic freedoms that were sacrificed after 9/11. Sadly, we have to come to the conclusion that we ourselves have done much more damage to our society than any terrorist ever could. I hope our children can forgive us one day.

[Bill Phil]

It's funny how relevant The Crucible is in the USA. Beware of "witch hunts."

Yes, it was sad. It still is. But reminding people every year is like trying to stay in the same stage of grief. Let's move on, okay? Thousands more die every year, from other things which were accidents. Why don't we all commemorate them? Yeah, 9/11 was an "attack on every US citizen," but we still overreacted. We did what the terrorists wanted us to do. Now it's going to just get worse.

What's weird is that most major aircraft attacks on the U.S. happened on an island...

[Elthy]

For me the date doesnt only mark the first political/historical thing i can remember, but its also my grandmas birthday, so it also results in eating schnitzel...

[Dman979]

I talked to my parents about the attacks a few years ago. They told me about the utter lack of planes in the air for weeks afterwards, the frantic calls trying to find out what happened to my aunt who lives in Manhattan. They also asked people not to give me gifts for my birthday (which is in 12 days! Woot!), but to make donations to the Red Cross.

My sociology teacher told my class that on September 10th, his neighborhood was distant from each other. On September 11th, he recalled a huge wave of patriotism- even a man standing on a corner waving an American flag for hours on end. He said "it was the first time I have ever seen such a remarkable transformation in our culture in such a short amount of time."

I have never been to an airport without going through security. The closest I've been to getting on the tarmac is by watching old movies.

[Robotengineer]

This isn't meant to be political or ruffle any feathers, but it probably will anyway so let me apologize in advance...

IMO these yearly reminders of Sept. 11th do more harm than good. It was a traumatic experience and a lot of people died who didn't deserve to, *but*...

Saying "never forget" implies that there is an important lesson to remember.

Generally if you're on the right, it means that we should always be vigilant and never allow complacency to give the terrorists the opportunity to do this again.

If you're on the left, it means that we should be wary of the unintended consequences of meddling in international affairs haphazardly.

Perhaps it's both...

Whatever the lesson is that we're supposed to be remembering, we're clearly not doing that. We neither act like we are under threat from terrorists nor make any more effort to avoid creating enemies.

So then what's the point of all this? If it's solely for the purpose of grieving for the victims and revisiting past traumas, then it's unhealthy.

If we as a nation are not going to do anything differently than we did before the attack, then we need to just let it go and move on. There is absolutely nothing to be gained from rewinding the clock back to that day every year and feeling like victims.

Again, apologies. I don't mean anything bad by it.

Best,

-Slashy

Agreed.

Edit: To add a bit of perspective on my viewpoint, I can't remember 9/11. I can remember the winding down of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and the economic crash of 2008, (Not that those are related directly).

Edited September 12, 2015 by Robotengineer

[LordFerret]

I watched the towers go up. I watched them come down. I passed through them daily (the north tower) when I worked in NYC, and had I still been working in NYC at the time - I'd have been there at the hour the first plane hit. I've had dinner at Windows On The World, 107th floor, with my lady ... watched the sun set over Jersey, watched the lights come up downtown (such a marvelous sight)... so odd to be sitting there eating dinner, watching helicopters fly by below you. They, and some of those within them, were a part of my life. They are now all gone. Need I say more?

[GoSlash27]

I talked to my parents about the attacks a few years ago. They told me about the utter lack of planes in the air for weeks afterwards, the frantic calls trying to find out what happened to my aunt who lives in Manhattan. They also asked people not to give me gifts for my birthday (which is in 12 days! Woot!), but to make donations to the Red Cross.

My sociology teacher told my class that on September 10th, his neighborhood was distant from each other. On September 11th, he recalled a huge wave of patriotism- even a man standing on a corner waving an American flag for hours on end. He said "it was the first time I have ever seen such a remarkable transformation in our culture in such a short amount of time."

I have never been to an airport without going through security. The closest I've been to getting on the tarmac is by watching old movies.

By contrast, I have never been through airport security. I flew plenty prior to 9/11, but decided I would not willingly submit to such foolishness, so haven't been on an airliner since. 14 years and still going. But in the interim I did learn how to fly an airplane myself and never had to undergo security screenings to do it (irony)

I remember clearly exactly where I was and what I was doing when I learned about the attack that day, but you know what? I also remember the little details of other days in my life when other horrible things happened. The Challenger disaster. The LA earthquake and (years later) Watts riots. The moment the levees broke in New Orleans. The moment the tanks rolled in Iraq. The day that the economy collapsed and Detroit imploded. Many horrible times in my personal life.

I remember all these things and carry their lessons, but I don't commemorate them every year. I don't do that because it's not healthy unless there are important lessons to learn from them that I need to reinforce.

Bad things happen, and I either deal with that fact or else choose to get stuck in the past feeling sorry for myself.

Sorry for rambling,

-Slashy

[Nuke]

i dont need any special days to mourn for humanity, all of them work.

[Camacha]

My sociology teacher told my class that on September 10th, his neighborhood was distant from each other. On September 11th, he recalled a huge wave of patriotism- even a man standing on a corner waving an American flag for hours on end. He said "it was the first time I have ever seen such a remarkable transformation in our culture in such a short amount of time."

I have always found the respective responses very interesting. When the English were struck by the 2005 London bombings, they just carried on. Almost no one stayed home and those interviewed responded very soberly. My guess it is the somewhat underwhelming English nature combined with the memories of living through the blitz. No need to fuss, just do your job.

Or you could wave a flag on the street corner, of course

[Dman979]

I have always found the respective responses very interesting. When the English were struck by the 2005 London bombings, they just carried on. Almost no one stayed home and those interviewed responded very soberly. My guess it is the somewhat underwhelming English nature combined with the memories of living through the blitz. No need to fuss, just do your job.

Or you could wave a flag on the street corner, of course

Perhaps the responses differed because of their goals and targets. To my Soc teacher, at least, the 9/11 attacks felt like an attack on what America stands for. I don't know much about those bombings, but I'm guessing that they were received differently. Also, "stiff upper lip" is a thing.

[Guest]

To my Soc teacher, at least, the 9/11 attacks felt like an attack on what America stands for.

What does America stand for? To many people in the Middle East I imagine the U.S. stands for exploitation and meddling destabilization so, in that sense, 9/11 most certainly was an attack on that. I'll guarantee you the attack had literally nothing to do with our "freedom"... That's just a political cop-out to dehumanize "the enemy" and shut down any critical conversation about what the possible reasons for such an attack could be.

[Camacha]

Perhaps the responses differed because of their goals and targets. To my Soc teacher, at least, the 9/11 attacks felt like an attack on what America stands for.

Wherever a terrorist attack occurs, it is an attack on the values of that society. The difference is probably what the local inhabitants feel is their society. I can imagine that the English interpreted it much more as an attack on the western world (or at least Europe) and its values, whereas the US citizens might have felt is was an attack on just their nation or values.

I might have a dig on research papers on that matter later. These (possible) differences in perception intrigue me.

[Guest]

I might have a dig on research papers on that matter later. These (possible) differences in perception intrigue me.

Even better, go right to the source, the terrorists we've captured.

[Dman979]

What does America stand for? To many people in the Middle East I imagine the U.S. stands for exploitation and meddling destabilization so, in that sense, 9/11 most certainly was an attack on that. I'll guarantee you the attack had literally nothing to do with our "freedom"... That's just a political cop-out to dehumanize "the enemy" and shut down any critical conversation about what the possible reasons for such an attack could be.

What does America stand for? As you said yourself, it means different things to different people. I would imagine that to the man with the flag, the attacks represented an attack on his home and security. To me, the attacks were a tragic loss of life that could have been prevented. (They mean more to me, but I'm not going into that. Forum rules.) To my teacher, the attacks represented an attack on his values.

What did the attacks represent for you?

[Vanamonde]

This was intended to be a memorial thread. This forum is not a place to discuss national characters, civil rights political arguments, or terrorism policy.