17th anniversary of 9/11

[CaptainCrunch]

Sometimes it doesn't feel like its nearly 20 years ago. I woke up that day, and was having my usual coffee watching the news and getting ready for work. They went to a special news report and talked about a plane flying into the World Trade Center, at that time I didn't link it to terrorism, I thought, what a terrible accident and went to work.



It was strange because every single station that I was listening too was covering it, because it was a large plane that hit the building. I got to work and started doing my usual morning stuff when one of my coworkers asked me if I'd heard what happened, and I said yeah a plane crash in New York, and she shook his head and said its two.



Right then I knew the world changed and we had just seen a massive terrorist attack. I dragged a TV into the bullpen (Remember 17 years ago). And we sat there and watched as another plane hit the pentagon and another plane crashed. I remember hearing local news about people leaving down town Calgary. We heard the jets screaming over head and landing at the airport.


No work got done that day, frankly no one was calling in or answering the phone. I remember I got one call from a friend/client who was in tears because she thought that it was the end of the world because the US would nuke whoever was responsible. I had another friend who is a duel citizen who was just enraged, he wanted to kill em all, to which I asked who?


We all left work and went home and I remember staying up almost all night watching the news and being horrified and saying a bit of a prayer for the people in the Planes and the People in the buildings.


But the world did change that day and not for the better.


It was the start of the more militant right gaining a spotlight


The argument of security vs freedom was endlessly debated


The boogey man of global terrorism and while not the rise of extremism, it certainly gained a spotlight it hadn't really had before.


The war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, Gitmo, Mission (not) accomplished, The death of Bin Laden, the rise of the conspiracy theory, paranoia and rage.


https://www.businessinsider.com/sept...adlines-2018-9

[dobbles]

The world changed that day indeed. Bin Laden won. He changed America. And not for the better. The act itself, while deplorable, was not what broke America. We have recovered from much worse. But our response as a country and as a people has been frightening. At first it was the erosion of freedoms and the increase in the police state due to the Patriot Act. More recently, the continued use of fear in politics has allowed the polarization of this country to really take hold. We have turned on not only those that are different, but even on each other.

I honestly think what we all need is some perspective. I think back to my 9/11 story; I had just started a new job the day before. It was 2nd shift at a warehouse. So I was sleeping in. I got up, watched with horror, but then I went to work. We had a short moment of silence, but then we did our jobs. The world continued to spin. It was just another day for many people.

Don't get me wrong, I feel immense sadness for those that lost loved ones. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But people lose loved ones every day. We have to gain back our perspective and realize that nothing we could have done would bring those people back. Nothing was going to put those buildings back up. So while we try and honor the dead with vigils and internet memes, we are really showing they died in vain because we let the terrorists get to us. George W Bush received a lot of flak for his quip about Americans needing to go shopping, but he was kind of right. For 17 years we have been stuck at step 2 of the grieving process. We can't be angry forever.

[HockeyIlliterate]

Originally Posted by dobbles

At first it was the erosion of freedoms and the increase in the police state due to the Patriot Act. More recently, the continued use of fear in politics has allowed the polarization of this country to really take hold. We have turned on not only those that are different, but even on each other.

Largely agree.

We've spent a whole lot of money and thousands of soldiers have died (and who knows how many Afghan and Iraqi civilians), and we don't have much to show for it.

Sure, Bin Laden is dead, and many "No. 2" Al Qaeda leaders are too, but has the cost been worth it?

I say no.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate

Largely agree.

We've spent a whole lot of money and thousands of soldiers have died (and who knows how many Afghan and Iraqi civilians), and we don't have much to show for it.

Sure, Bin Laden is dead, and many "No. 2" Al Qaeda leaders are too, but has the cost been worth it?

I say no.

Yeah, you bring up another point that I missed in my 'feelings dump'.

In avenging this attack we have started 2 wars and caused much more death and destruction as a result. I think someone could reasonably argue that our middle easy policy since 9/11 has probably made us more of a target for extremists. I will not be the one arguing that though as I am lazy and relying on nothing more than my anecdotally based opinion!

[Muta]

Can't believe it's already been 17 years. That was my first day at the U of C, and I skipped it to watch the CNN coverage. Seeing the 2nd plane hit on live TV was surreal. I had stood on top of those towers only a short time before that. It's amazing that there's a generation that now exists that never experienced or remember the horror of that day. I always make sure to reflect and remember on September 11, even if just for a brief moment.

I remember a Korean Air flight being diverted to Whitehorse that day, as people thought that was an incoming hijacked plane.

Also, I can't remember, but where there military jets in the sky around Calgary that day? I remember hearing the city could be a target because of the oil wealth, however remote that possibility would have been.

[habernac]

There was nothing in the sky that day, it was eerily quiet.

[Cube Inmate]

Remember the first few anniversaries of this event? And how we came to expect another attack on that day just because it was the anniversary?

When did that stop?

[troutman]

Death Toll 9/11 = 2,996

Death Toll Puerto Rico (Hurricane Maria) = 2,975

Both terrible events, but we talk about them quite differently.

[Lubicon]

hard to believe it has been 17 years already. We were on our way home from vacation (camping) and were at Radium that day/night. In the three campsites surrounding us were an English couple, a German couple, and an American who was cycling across western North America. He had asked if he could store his food in our truck overnight (bears) and his daughter was a lawyer in Manhattan. Of course no TV or anything so news was slow to trickle in but it was definately an odd feeling being the only Canadians and it was remarkable to see how the American guy handled it. No cell phone and he would not have been able to contact her anyway that morning with how things were going. He had no idea of whether she was okay and no way of finding out, and was literally trapped in a foreign country for the foreseeable future (no vehicle other than his bike). We decided to head home that day, it just didn't feel right staying out when the world was being turned upside down. All we had was the radio to listen to (when we were in service) for most of the day, we did not see anything on TV until we got home later that afternoon.

[CroFlames]

I was in Jr High school that day. I remember being stunned, but I definitely did not grasp the gravity of the situation until much later.



I wonder if America would have been much different if there was a Dem administration in power, or even a Rep like Romney or Ron Paul.



I will say the memorial was tastefully done, and the sheer size of it commemorates the magnitude of the tragedy. It's huge, but not obnoxious. It's an interesting experience going there knowing what happened at that spot and what has been happening since then because of that attack.

[Puppet Guy]

I was working at a pub in Halifax that morning - we were going through the daily morning prep and one of the delivery drivers told us about it (by this point both towers had been hit and the Pentagon as well - we turned on the TV just in time to see the first tower fall). Safe to say nobody cared about the consistency of the soup from that point on.

Halifax did itself proud that day - 40 planes landed with 8000 passengers on board, and they were all looked after.

Looking back from 17 years, if destabilizing the US was Bin Laden's goal that day, he definitely succeeded.

[manwiches]

I remember so clearly that day. I was 16, just in Grade 11, and had come upstairs from getting ready in the morning to my mom having the news on. The first plane had hit the towers, and I was thinking it was just a terrible accident. Then all of a sudden, just before my mom drove me to school, I saw the second plane hit. That was borderline surreal. I thought I was watching a movie. I got in the car shortly after, and my mom and I were transfixed to the radio. Once i got dropped off, the whole school was buzzing, and every class pretty much stopped that day, so we could all listen to the radio, or if a teacher could, wheel a tv into the room so we could watch.

Crazy how it's been so long...

My wife is in New York this past week, and is there til tomorrow. We both agree, she's going to take today to really take in the memorial and city.

[GordonBlue]

this is a good as place for this as any. I had no idea
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/t...tion-1.4817321

A striking memorial art installation that lights up the night sky in New York City every Sept. 11 temporarily messes with the migrations of hundreds of thousands of songbirds each year.

the lights are shut off for 20 minutes whenever volunteers count more than 1,000 birds in the beams — under an agreement between the local conservation group New York City Audubon and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, which runs the installation.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I was in Jr High school that day. I remember being stunned, but I definitely did not grasp the gravity of the situation until much later.



I wonder if America would have been much different if there was a Dem administration in power, or even a Rep like Romney or Ron Paul.



I will say the memorial was tastefully done, and the sheer size of it commemorates the magnitude of the tragedy. It's huge, but not obnoxious. It's an interesting experience going there knowing what happened at that spot and what has been happening since then because of that attack.

Doubtful, the pressure to react strongly and the desire to react strongly would have been overwhelming and at that point if a President had merely fired a couple of cruise missiles into Afghanistan and left it at that he would have been crucified by both sides of the aisle, the media and the citizen base.


Sometimes people forget that the transition from fear to outright anger and rage and revenge was pretty close to overnight.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Doubtful, the pressure to react strongly and the desire to react strongly would have been overwhelming and at that point if a President had merely fired a couple of cruise missiles into Afghanistan and left it at that he would have been crucified by both sides of the aisle, the media and the citizen base.


Sometimes people forget that the transition from fear to outright anger and rage and revenge was pretty close to overnight.

I don't think any government other than Bush Jr et al would have invaded Iraq. That was completely made up by that administration. Afghanistan for sure. Saudi still goes untouched.

[Dion]

My brother was flying from Minneapolis to Boston when the planes hit the Twin Towers. His flight was diverted to Chicago where everyone scrambled to get a rental car. You had guys in suits standing in the rental lot with their thumbs out looking for anyone who had space and would give them a ride. My brother ended up sharing a van with 5 other guys as they made their way back to Minneapolis.

When the planes started flying again he commented on the quiet uneasiness as passengers boarded planes. There was still this lingering fear and anxiety about flying but at the same time they knew that if they didn't board those planes the Terrorists would win.

Along with that came the racial profiling. If someone looked like a Muslim someone would alert a flight attendant and ask why he was allowed on board. It got ugly sometimes he would say.

[robbie111]

Always felt bad for the families and friends of all who died in the 3 towers that collapsed on that day. Hopefully nothing like that happens again in our time.

[mikephoen]

I was in New York on September 10th and I flew back to Calgary that evening. Technically we landed after midnight so I was 'in the air' on September 11th on a flight from NYC.

I've never been back to NYC since. Not for any real reason, but I have joked that the last time I was there terrorists tried to kill me.

It was incredible surreal to be woken up early on the 11th after arriving home only a few hours earlier. The person who called me wasn't a close friend, but they did know I had been in NY. They were just calling to make sure I was ok. I was half asleep and was like 'why wouldn't I be ok?' and they said, 'You should turn on your TV'. I did and then sat there in stunned silence just watching for a long time. The second plane hit just after I turned the TV on. Surreal is about the only work that I can think of for the feeling and experiences that day.

[CaptainCrunch]

I went to New York a couple of years after 9/11 and was amazed at the bounce back of the people of the city. I talked to one veteran New Yorker who basically told me that the personality of the city had changed and people seemed to be more willing to talk to each other.


I remember going to the site of the WTC which was still walled up, and it was just a big hole in the ground, but because of the way that the walls around the site were built it was quiet, and haunting to look at it.

[Matata]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

I don't think any government other than Bush Jr et al would have invaded Iraq. That was completely made up by that administration. Afghanistan for sure. Saudi still goes untouched.

Perpetual war in the middle east was inevitable, no politician could have turned those tides.