On September 11, 2001, 3,000 people lost their lives in deplorable acts of terror.
Fifteen years later, the world has become a very different place. We've seen great advances in technology, enabling us to be constantly connected to our friends and peers. A Republican President left office after two terms, and a Democratic President took his place -- only to be replaced again this November. The population of the USA has surpassed 300 million people, and that of the world has reached 7 billion. A new World Trade Center complex dominates the New York City skyline once more.
So many changes have occurred since that fateful Autumn day. But in the decade-and-a-half since then, we have never forgotten. We have never forgotten the heroes of Flight 93, and the heroes in the New York Police and Fire departments on the scene at Ground Zero, and the countless volunteers providing aid in the wake of such devastation. We have never forgotten these people, and we never will.
As a Canadian, I reach out to my American family and friends, and all Americans in the 50 states, on this day of remembrance. 3,000 people lost their lives that day. They will never be forgotten.
__________________
Need a great deal on a new or pre-owned car? Come see me at Platinum Mitsubishi 2720 Barlow Trail NE
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to TheScorpion For This Useful Post:
As an American who sees how 9/11 is used as a method to divide rather than unite, I say let's forget. Let's move on. Let's stop holding a grudge. The world is a much worse place because of this stupid "never forget" crap. This is why the Middle East continues to be a cesspool of hatred - they just refuse to let the past be the past and live in the moment. So on this 15th anniversary of a horrible day that set this new millennia in a direction of hopeless hatred I say, "Get over it." Stop the hating because of what happened 15 years ago. Hatred will never defeat hatred. Live by these words instead.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
- Dr. Martin Luther King
The Following 21 Users Say Thank You to Lanny_McDonald For This Useful Post:
The people that died in that tragedy that day deserve not to be forgotten.
The first responders and other people who ran into danger to try to save lives do not deserve to be forgotten.
We can talk about the American reaction and its effects due to this, that also should not be forgotten but should be used as a cautionary tale of policy gone awry.
And shouldn't be forgotten.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
The Following 23 Users Say Thank You to CaptainCrunch For This Useful Post:
The people that died in that tragedy that day deserve not to be forgotten.
You know Captain, they aren't. There are memorials built to honor them. 700 (!) across the country in fact. What we don't need is this yearly reminder of something done by a select few. Every time we bring up 9/11, and reminisce about the horrors of that day, the terrorists re-achieve their goals. The hate and a fear builds again, and that is the best weapon we provide those that wish to do us harm; foreign and domestic in nature.
Quote:
The first responders and other people who ran into danger to try to save lives do not deserve to be forgotten.
Yet those same first responders are looked down on every single day and dishonored for doing their job, a job not many are willing to do. If you truly want to honor those first responders, then do so every single day of the year by supporting the efforts of their brothers still in arms, and respecting their authority, not by making some empty post every year on anniversary of 9/11. If you truly want to honor those first responders, then support the ones who live on with debilitating injuries and diseases from working the pile. Throw your support behind the efforts to get them the financial commitments from the government to make them whole again. And if you really want to honor them, commit your own fiscal resources to help them continue that fight.
Quote:
We can talk about the American reaction and its effects due to this, that also should not be forgotten but should be used as a cautionary tale of policy gone awry.
Do the quarter million dead Iraqis receive the same reverence in your memory? How about the Afghanis? 370,000 innocent lives snuffed out as a result of our unwillingness to forget (a 112:1 ratio). 7,600,000 innocents displaced because of direct response to the events of 9/11. $4.8 trillion is the cost of the response, and that number grows each day. You want to remember? Remember those numbers as well. I also urge you to remember the countries of origins of the terrorists. 14 Saudi Arabians. Two from the United Emirates. One each from Lebanon and Egypt. Not one Iraqi or Afghani. Foreign Policy gone awry, or a blood vengeance with a poor moral compass?
Quote:
And shouldn't be forgotten.
They will not be forgotten. They will never be forgotten. What we don't need is the incessant reminders that 9/11 happened, and have it trotted out as some badge of honor to wear on our coat sleeves. I look forward to the day when the date, September 11th, is nothing more than another day on the calendar for most people; like April 4th, May 7th, or June 6th, or August 6th, or August 9th, or November 22nd, or December 7th, and so on. Because as it currently is remembered, it is counterproductive to this country healing and the world becoming a better place.
The Following User Says Thank You to Lanny_McDonald For This Useful Post:
What we don't need is this yearly reminder of something done by a select few. Every time we bring up 9/11, and reminisce about the horrors of that day, the terrorists re-achieve their goals.
I feel like the objective of terrorists is to terrorize. Reminiscing about the horrors of the day is a choice; can instead simply take a moment to remember the lives of those lost, and uniting with others is the opposite of what terrorists want.
This video I saw recently was one that I hadn't seen in all the years of "second tower impact" videos. Second plane comes in starting around 1:50 and, unlike a lot of the other videos, the sound in this one really drives home the force of the impact. The roar of the engines and the incredible boom of the plane slamming into the building. Near the end it shows the collapse of tower 2 with an angle I'd never seen before either, you can actually see the top section tilting away.
CNN had a documentary last night, 9/11 15 years later, and it was really cool. I believe they were saying that the documentary showed video within the towers that had never been showed before. The camera guy was doing a documentary on firehouse 1, I think that is the right number, and he was with them when they responded to the attack.
I saw this video about 6 years ago and despite watching countless videos prior to this, the woman's reaction really got to me. Haven't really watched anything 9/11 related since then. NSFW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyqo4oh-AzU
Both of those hand-held recorded live footage videos are just surreal. Even 15 years later, it's still difficult to comprehend the sheer horror that went on that day.
Can't imagine what it must have been like to witness 9/11 in person or be a first responder.
As an American who sees how 9/11 is used as a method to divide rather than unite, I say let's forget. Let's move on. Let's stop holding a grudge. The world is a much worse place because of this stupid "never forget" crap. This is why the Middle East continues to be a cesspool of hatred - they just refuse to let the past be the past and live in the moment. So on this 15th anniversary of a horrible day that set this new millennia in a direction of hopeless hatred I say, "Get over it." Stop the hating because of what happened 15 years ago. Hatred will never defeat hatred. Live by these words instead.
Are you suggesting that 9/11 is the only event in recent memory feeding this cesspool of hatred? I think more recent and current events might be contributing to this as well and 9/11 isn't the only thing the resentful need to hold onto. A "just let it go" or "get over it" might be a reasonable suggestion for a one and done type event, but the problem of terrorism, with roots in the Middle East, is more relevant now than ever. The players have changed and the solution will always be up for update, but America "never forgetting" keeps funding, resources, and minds focused on the problem of international terrorism, hopefully preventing it from occurring on such a scale again.
Are you suggesting that 9/11 is the only event in recent memory feeding this cesspool of hatred? I think more recent and current events might be contributing to this as well and 9/11 isn't the only thing the resentful need to hold onto. A "just let it go" or "get over it" might be a reasonable suggestion for a one and done type event, but the problem of terrorism, with roots in the Middle East, is more relevant now than ever. The players have changed and the solution will always be up for update, but America "never forgetting" keeps funding, resources, and minds focused on the problem of international terrorism, hopefully preventing it from occurring on such a scale again.
Not at all. 9/11 is a blip on their radar. They've been going at each other for longer than anyone can remember. This is a blood feud that puts the Hatfields and McCoys to shame. But should we strive to be like them, and harbor a hatred for something the vast majority of those people found appalling? Are we going to end up like the Hatfields, where a couple generations from now we are still hating the McCoys, but really don't understand why except for the anniversary of a date? If we are supposedly he more advanced people, and are supposedly the ones who hold the moral high ground, shouldn't we be the ones to move on and put the past behind us? After all that has happened since that terrible day, all the loss for all peoples, can't we just acknowledge that the event happened and move on? I mean, there is a 9/11 memorial on Mars. How obsessed is that?
The Following User Says Thank You to Lanny_McDonald For This Useful Post:
I don't get in on these conversations, ultimately they are futile, everyone is entrenched, everyone is an expert...
Personally, I know one thing. My friend Doug was in Tower 1 in his office. He was chatting with another friend, one minute he was there, the next he wasn't. Today his name is on panel N-10 of the monument.
One day a year I think about Douglas Jon Farnum, my friend.
The rest of it is America being America.
__________________ TC
The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to -TC- For This Useful Post:
As an FBI agent who specialized in counter-terrorism, John P. O’Neill investigated the bombing of the American embassies in Africa, the USS Cole in Yemen, the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, and the first attack on the World Trade Center. O’Neill came to believe America should kill Osama bin Laden before Al Qaeda launched a devastating attack, but his was often a lonely voice. A controversial figure inside the buttoned-down world of the FBI, he was forced out of the job he loved and entered the private sector – as director of security for the World Trade Center.
15 years later... never forget.
