Sep 11th, the tenth anniversary

[Neil]

Hard to believe it's ten years!

Personally, I'm going to put aside Sunday evening, and watch United 93. It's a film I know will upset me, hence me not having watched it yet! But I feel it's my own little way of paying homage to the people who went through that nightmare.

[bassman]

There's been a flood of coverage here in the States all week. As expected, some of it is still incredibly chilling. I continue to get emotional hearing and seeing these things that i've seen basically non-stop for ten years. It still feels like it just happened.

Now there are 'credible' reports that there will be some form of an anniversary attack within the next few days. Let's hope the government has it under control and we don't have more innocent lives lost. Sunday will definitely be a somber day. Even more so for people in the cities that witnessed it first hand and lost family and friends.

I think you'll enjoy United 93, Neil. It's of course upsetting in some ways, but it also makes you proud for the people on that plane and what they did to try and save lives.

[Tricky]

Like Bass says it still feels like it only happened very recently, I cant believe that was 10 years ago now! I still remember I'd only just started working after leaving college when it happened, and I went round my grandmas after work and the footage showing the planes hitting the towers was on the news, I thought for a couple of minutes that it was the trailer for some new action film, then I suddenly realised it was actually happening. That one event has changed so much about the world since then, the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, Bin laden and Al Qeada on the news all the time, all the restrictions on flights now, the hundreds of thousands of people both ISAF and civilian who have died as a result of the wars triggered by 9/11, and the paranoia is still lingering. 10 years, crazy how the time goes....

[MinionZombie]

I've been watching a bunch of the documentaries currently doing the rounds on various channels at the moment as my way of respecting the anniversary. It's still to this day just incredible - and hearing stories from the people who were there and who lost loved ones, it's harrowing stuff ... immensely chilling.

My experience of September 11th, freshly into the Upper Sixth Form, was one of the girls in our year passing by saying "a plane's just gone into the Twin Towers", and those of us there didn't pay it an awful lot of attention, we responded with a sort of un-knowing "how random", as we were all thinking of that time a small plane flew into the Empire State Building.

Then our history teacher was curiously late to the lesson, but said absolutely nothing to us (strangely) ... and it wasn't until I went home and saw on the TV (I believe I walked in just as a bit of footage of one of the towers collapsing was being re-run on the news) that I just went "what the fuck?!" ... the next day we'd all naturally been watching the news like crazy the night before, and we were pouring over newspapers that people bought (indeed I've saved a few newspapers from September 12th) and it was all pretty strange.

I guess it took a long time to really 'get' what was going on and what had actually happened, and in each year that follows - when anniversary programming comes up, and you see a little bit more of the story of that day - you are haunted by it more and more, and as you get older at the same time, you understand the impact of it more and more. As a 17 year old in the sixth form it was pretty hard to understand the true scale - it was just so bizarre and incomprehensible to all of us.

[Tricky]

I dont know why and its daft really, but this song always makes me think of 9/11, it was being played a lot on MTV in the months running up to it and listening to it makes me think of how innocent the world seemed to me at that brief time, and how it seemed to change overnight after the attacks, weird
Lf9MKiyIX_g

[LiamLynch]

http://i.minus.com/illUQ2dN6JOcR.jpg

:D Evidently, 9/11 makes eagles cry. :D

[Mike70]

the thing i remember most about 9/11 is that i was on my way out the door to work when my wife yelled out, "a plane just hit the world trade center!" my reply was, "well, a bomber flew into the empire state building during WWII on accident. i'll see you later."

then i get to work and find out that it was no accident.

[acealive1]

u ever wonder why it took 10 years to rebuild and they're not done yet. im sure theres ground to air something or other in that immediate vicinity in case this ever happens again.

[Yojimbo]

http://i.minus.com/illUQ2dN6JOcR.jpg

:D Evidently, 9/11 makes eagles cry. :D Something about that pic disturbs me - but I was reminded of the Budweiser commercial tribute to 9/11 that, in spite of being a corporate attempt to cash in on a tragedy was actually well done - and apparently done by Hack Snyder too! I am torn between hating the commercial for being evil and being moved by it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye89J8hE4vI&feature=related

[blind2d]

Hm. I don't know. It's hard to feel anything. I mean... For me personally, and how old when I was when it happened... It seems like such a long time ago. I... I do feel sad for all the people who died. I do. I'm not a monster.
But... Am I going to watch any specials? Or have a vigil? Or something like that? No. No I won't. Because... then, in maybe just some small way... to me... the terrorists win, since none of my family or friends were killed in the attack.
Just my outlook.

[Kaos]

Hard to believe it's ten years!

Personally, I'm going to put aside Sunday evening, and watch United 93. It's a film I know will upset me, hence me not having watched it yet! But I feel it's my own little way of paying homage to the people who went through that nightmare.

I still can't watch it.

[Yojimbo]

Hm. I don't know. It's hard to feel anything. I mean... For me personally, and how old when I was when it happened... It seems like such a long time ago. I... I do feel sad for all the people who died. I do. I'm not a monster.
But... Am I going to watch any specials? Or have a vigil? Or something like that? No. No I won't. Because... then, in maybe just some small way... to me... the terrorists win, since none of my family or friends were killed in the attack.
Just my outlook.
I hear you, brother blind. Everyone was affected in their own personal way and everyone needs to remember what happened and deal with it in their own personal way. In my book, you need to do what you think should be done. If that means to go about your daily business then that's ok too.

When I was younger, ten years seemed to me to be a mega-long-ass time. But I was married on September 7, 2001 and was on my honeymoon on September 11th and saw the world change from a hotel suite tv in Las Vegas. I went outside with my new wife and found the casinos to be nearly empty, the streets deserted, the televisions in the sports bars all turned to the news, the airports shut down, and everyone grim and angry and sad and confused behind our common mask of a serious looking expression suggestive of both determination and loss. It was a scary time indeed, and my new wife and I knew that everything had changed and nothing would ever be the same as it had been.

Having just celebrated my 10 year wedding anniversary, I am amazed at how quickly the years have rushed past me and flown by. It is as if I got married last month, and I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday.

Let me say though for me, much like you, I won't be watching any specials, attending any vigils, won't be buying into any corporate exploitation of the pain of a nation for petty fiscal gain or partisan political posturing. If others choose to do so, I am sure that it is for their own good personal reasons. And to do so doesn't necessarily mean that the terrorists are winning either in as much as it means that lots of folks wish to show that they haven't forgotten how the terrorists have changed the world for all of us. And by that I mean all of us - me and you included, brother, regardless of how we choose to memorialize or not to memorialize what had happened.

I don't know how old you were when it happened, nor does it matter how old you were. For me, I am old enough to remember a more simple, maybe a much more naive time before this all went down. Though I didn't know it at the time, it was and is a much more naive and simple world that I now dearly miss. Since we all live now in the same state of affairs in this same place where we are all a little less naive now, that is so much less simple than it had been before and has now become ever so much more complex - you, me, our brothers and sisters here on HPTOD, our volunteer armed forces who are risking their lives to defend us, cops & firemen, methodists & atheists, faux hipsters and junkie poets - all of us people everywhere - we are all in this space together.

My biggest fear is that the younger generations, not being old enough to remember how it was before this shit all went down, will grow up thinking that this is all just a figment of status quo, that the way it is now is the way it always was and always will be, and that the entire business is a mundane part of the normal routine of life. And if that happens, then the terrorists do have alegitimate victory to claim as theirs, however small that may be. And for the sake of all those lives lost, we should strive to make sure that is not the case.

[bassman]

This is a moving 12 minute documentary i've just seen on TV. It's sort of an "untold story" of 9/11. When Manhattan was on lockdown with no way to leave the island, ordinary boaters came to the rescue in what became the largest sea evacuation in history. Narrated by Tom Hanks.

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[Neil]

^^ Wow!

[Purge]

I'd like to give a long overdue thanks to Neil and the other UK members for always aknowledging the attacks on our country on these boards.

[rightwing401]

I second that Purge, a million thanks to our friends from across the pond. It really means a lot, at least to me, that you all haven't forgotten.

As for the rememberance...wow. It really is hard to believe that it has been ten years since that tragic day. For crying out loud, I was still in highschool when it happened. I can still remember that Tuesday morning very vividly, even after all this time. It's so crazy how fast your entire world can turn upside down. I started my Algebra class like any other one I had done countless times, and within ten minutes a football player comes running in shouting to turn on the tv because something got bombed. The shock of watching the twin towers fall on live tv was pretty damn undescribable, as was the mixture of feelings that I'm sure I shared with everyone that day.

A terrible thing that we have to remember, but ultimately I choose to remember the heroism that was born out of that day. From the police and emergency service personel rushing without hesitation to the disaster zone, to president Bush doing his best to display leadership and guidance to our bewildered nation, and especially from the brave souls on flight 93 who sacrificed their lives to stop the fourth plane from hitting its intended target.

May the light of the good that came from this tragic day always outshine the darkness from it.

[bassman]

In the middle of a good documentary right now. It's comprised of only home-made footage with no narration, interviews, or context other than a clock letting you know the time. I believe it's called '102 Minutes That Changed The World'. For a first hand look at the events from people in the area it's very informative, but it's also very disturbing on several levels. It really shows what the people were seeing from the streets.

[Exatreides]

I was in seventh grade..I'm 23 now, it's crazy.

I'm boycotting whatever company tries to me something about 9/11 on their next commercial

[SymphonicX]

Personally I feel every year the slew of documentaries on the tragedy can sometimes feel a little like they're taking advantage.

Last year, around this time, there was a documentary on identifying the bodies and general CSI type stuff - we got to see charred remains, bits of people, people's faces as they jumped from buildings....to be honest with you, I felt last year, that "enough's enough" with the documentaries.

102 Minutes that Changed America/The World (whatever it's called) was my favourite, however. That's a very frank account of just what it was like on the ground as it happened - and they don't need to keep focussing on people's eyes as they cry because that wasn't the focus of the events on the actual day.

Nowdays we get too many talking head documentaries that have people reliving the worst day of their lives, and as usual every edit point hangs and hangs over people's tears...sometimes I feel with these documentaries, that we as people are far more interested in the theatre of it all, the drama, rather than actual rememberance. I know that when I'm watching those documentaries, it's the same feeling inside me as when I'm watching a documentary about a serial killer, or something. To me, it's starting to feel like perverse entertainment based off the worst terrorist atrocity that the world has ever seen. But that's just me.

On the flip side there are a lot of positive stories to emerge from this over the last ten years, and most of the documentaries will focus on those - which is great. But by and large 9/10 of them are about hearing stories of skin burning off and people's last conversations with the departed. That saddens me a little.

[MinionZombie]

I recorded "102 Minutes That Changed The World" yesterday ... I missed it when it was shown last year. They were showing it on the History channel in real time (so it started at 1.46pm here in the UK), so I'll have to catch up with that tonight ... I saw a few snippets of it last year I think (but naturally didn't want to watch it from mid-way-in) and it seemed to be quite a chilling and frank documentary.

[LiamLynch]

Thank fuck the whole 9/11 ordeal is over. How narcissistic is it to ritualize death?

Listen folks. I'm first generation american. Both parents were born and raised in Ireland before coming to America. My da lived in New York for thirty years. Back in the 70s and 80s, it was the greatest, grittiest, best city on planet Earth. Now it's a fucking joke. 9/11 ruined the city. Now it's like one big prison colony. Guliani and Bloomberg sucked all the fun and life and excitement out of that city, all for the sake of fighting terror. Me, personally, I think it's all about money. All they do now is give out citations for every little infraction. It's ridiculous.

3000 people died. So what? 3000 people die every year from auto-erotic asphyxiation.

Want to memorialize 9/11? Arrest Bush and Cheney and reopen the 9/11 investigation. Bring our boys home from that pointless war, and stop the endless obsession of the big, bad al-qaeda bogeyman.

Ritualized death is NOT healthy for the nation. Folks who think it is need to read The Benality of Evil.

In short, it wasn't Eichmann and Geobbels, and the nazi heirarchy who were responsible for the holocaust. Ultimately, it was the average, rank and file german who carried out the orders.

It's the normalization of evil, if you will.

Ten years later, we have folks locked up in bases all around the world, detained indefinitely without trial. We're bombing innocent people. We're carrying out unlawful incursions into "friendly" nations. We continue to support the criminal state of Israel. I can go on and on, but i'm not. And don't get me started on the water-boarding.

If anything, 9/11 normalized evil for America. To me, it symbolizes death, intolerance and the benality of evil.

9/12, I sure am happy to see you!

[bassman]

It's not ritualizing death. It's remembering the fallen loved ones who left their families that morning thinking they were going to another simple day at work. Or remembering the fire fighters and police that ran into those buildings knowing well that they probably wouldn't come back. The people who stopped to help a complete stranger in a time of need. America coming together and rebuilding. Do you not visit your loved one's graves on their particular birthday or special date? Or perhaps keep an urn of their ashes in your home? Keeping memories alive is all we as humans have.

And the crackpot conspiracy theories are so unfounded. They're tired and done.

[AcesandEights]

Only loose change I could use more of right now.

[MikePizzoff]

I love all the "patriotic" companies (and people that buy/wear their gear) that make 9/11 memorabilia/clothing that essentially is just exploiting the deaths of all those people. That's all I have to say on the matter, as the rest of you have about summed everything else up.

[Mike70]

3000 people died. So what? 3000 people die every year from auto-erotic asphyxiation.


fallacy alert. this comparison is asinine and childish. the people killed on 9/11 were doing nothing except being at/going to work. they weren't engaging in a dangerous solo sexual activity.

[Yojimbo]

It's not ritualizing death. It's remembering the fallen loved ones who left their families that morning thinking they were going to another simple day at work. Or remembering the fire fighters and police that ran into those buildings knowing well that they probably wouldn't come back. The people who stopped to help a complete stranger in a time of need. America coming together and rebuilding. Do you not visit your loved one's graves on their particular birthday or special date? Or perhaps keep an urn of their ashes in your home? Keeping memories alive is all we as humans have.

And the crackpot conspiracy theories are so unfounded. They're tired and done.Thank you Bass. There is a big and clear difference between memorializing loss and ritualization of death. Let us remember our dead with respect and do so without being disrespected. Whatever one's particular political agendas
might be there should be no doubt that a lot of innocent people died on 9/11 and they should be remembered.

[LiamLynch]

Thank you Bass. There is a big and clear difference between memorializing loss and ritualization of death. Let us remember our dead with respect and do so without being disrespected. Whatever one's particular political agendas
might be there should be no doubt that a lot of innocent people died on 9/11 and they should be remembered.

3000 deaths are tragic no doubt, but no more so than the half a million civilians murdered by NATO in the war on Terror. You are aware that other people die too, right? Not just American soldiers.

[Yojimbo]

3000 deaths are tragic no doubt, but no more so than the half a million civilians murdered by NATO in the war on Terror. You are aware that other people die too, right? Not just American soldiers.


Yes I am aware that other people die too - you need not insult my intelligence as I don't believe I insulted yours.

Certainly you are free to think on this issue as you choose. If you choose to memorialize the deaths of those who have been killed due to the conflict by NATO, that is your choice. I honor and respect your right to do so and to think about this in any way you wish. By the same token, you should allow others to mourn the deaths of those killed on 9/11 without calling into question the validity of people's need to memorialize their loss.

It is a normal human trait to feel pain and sorrow at the loss of a family member or a friend and the need to memorialize your loss is understandable. Would it disrespectful if someone came along and said "So what? People die all the time" in your time of mourning.

I get that you have strong political views and I can appreciate that, but do not think for one moment that your political beliefs invalidate the real human pain and suffering brought about by 9/11.