We will never forget 9/11

[Torps]

May all the innocent who lost there lives, rest in peace and the men and women who fought there attackers on United Flight 93 be remembered for the hero's they are.

http://www.wtc.com/media/images/s/wt...overview?sid=1


THIS IS WHY

Watch Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West

[bookworm_020]

I still remember waking up and seeing it on TV here in Australia (it happened just before midnight) It seemed like something out of the war of the worlds broadcast.

The sight of people buying and reading newspapers while waiting for the train to work is etched in my mind (everyone was getting one, wanting to know what was happening)

[nikimcbee]

Gee, this is deja vu, I was laid off when it happened.

[nikimcbee]

This stuff still makes my blood boil


This stuff is too depressing to watch.

[Stealth Hunter]

Though we WILL forget it if we contract Alzheimer's...

But besides trying to break the tension with a joke, I wonder how the world will look back on 9/11 in 2041 (which will mark the 100th anniversary of the Imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor)... IF we're even around in 2041; too much crap going on in the world... hope it will pass soon.

[LiveGoat]

I flew into NYC the night before and my last sight of the WTC was of it all lit up. A little boy was sitting next to me and looked out the window and was all "WOW!" I told him they were the trade center towers. The next morning my roomate woke me up and told me the news. I wish they'd just build them back. I still can't watch video footage from then.

[Konovalov]

Originally Posted by bookworm_020

I still remember waking up and seeing it on TV here in Australia (it happened just before midnight) It seemed like something out of the war of the worlds broadcast.

The sight of people buying and reading newspapers while waiting for the train to work is etched in my mind (everyone was getting one, wanting to know what was happening)

Yep I remember it well when I was back home. I remember sitting onhe cuch watching the Channel Ten late night news with Sandra Sully who at the time I had a bit of a soft spot for. I wound up sitting watching this horrible event unfold into the wee hours of the morning. Many people in the office the next morning including myself looked like they had't slept at all. Just one of those horrible days in your life that you will never forget where you were and what you were doing.

[sharkbit]

My memories:

My wife and I went to the Monday Night Football game between the Broncos and New York Giants the night before and didn't get to bed until midnight. I was in no mood to go to work the next day and called in sick early that morning and stayed in bed.
Next thing I know, my wife, who had gotten up with my daughter who was 4 1/2 months old at the time, comes running in screaming that airplanes had hit the WTC and the Pentagon and that the buildings had collapsed.

Turned on the tv and watched as our world changed. My wife and I stayed glued to the tv all day, watching those images over and over. They were almost surreal. They are still burned into our brain.

I had a slight moment of panic when I realized that my sister, her husband, and some friends were supposed to fly out of Boston that morning. I called my mom and she had talked to my sister and they were driving their rental van back to Denver. (My sister hated flying before 9/11 but would do it if she had to, and now we will never get her on an airplane again ).

One last thing.
I work for an aircraft charter company. A few days after the attack, we were given authorization to fly some FEMA personnel, blood, and other emergency supplies to New York with one of our aircraft. Our aircraft was the only non-military aircraft in the skies over the US. I talked to the flight crew later. They said it was unreal to not hear any other aircraft on the radios. They said they could see the smoke from ground zero from about 200 miles out.

Yesterday, I was hoping to make it thru the day without watching anything about it...to no avail.
Got the kids to bed, turned on the tv and came upon a show on the History Channel called "102 Minutes That Changed America" and that sucked me in. All it showed was video of that day. No narration, no music, no commercials. The images spoke for themselves. It is still an amazing and heartbreaking thing to watch.

[Digital_Trucker]

I heard while on the way to the company terminal in Searcy, AR from Oklahoma. I didn't have a TV in the truck, so all my wife and I could do was listen to the radio reports and the chatter on the CB. We delivered a load a few days later in New Jersey close enough to see the huge hole in the skyline and the smoke and haze. Just listening to the reports and talking to one of our drivers that was up there when it happened was enough for me to want to avoid the video. To this day, I'm still seeing video that I hadn't seen before and it still brings back the anger and frustration we felt at the time.

[ReallyDedPoet]

I was in NYC recently, being at Ground Zero ( first place the group I was with went )
it was a very moving experience, one that I really don't have words for and one that
I will never forget. I'll leave it at that.


RDP

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Torps

Watch Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West

I have that dvd.


I was in a mine-clearing class when the towers got hit. I was falling asleep, because the idea of clearing mines with a stick didn't appeal to me one bit.
Our company commander showed up in a Humvee, and said that anyone with family in New York needed to come with him immediately.

I briefly considered saying that I had family in New York just to get out of the damn class, but I decided against it.

A couple hours later (yes, I was still in that stupid class) the C.O. came back with the marines who had left with him. All of them were ashen-faced. They told us that the Twin Towers had been hit by airplanes and had collapsed. The C.O. said there might be 40,000 casualties. Then he produced a wireless radio and we listened to Bush's speech about the incident, not believing a word of it.

My platoon came to the consensus that it was all a hoax, designed to make us take our training more seriously. Our suspicions were reinforced by the multitude of lectures we were given in which we were told that we were going to war and we were all going to be conscripted into the infantry.

I remember a conversation with a PFC Dunham. (about 90% sure that was his name, maybe it was Durham.)
He said to me.
"Dude, they are so full of s***."

"Yeah, I know, I'm getting really tired of these mind games. One day it's China, the next day it's Africa. I wish they'd give it up."

Yeah, but they really went over the top on this one. Planes crashing into the twin towers? My a$$. The Air Force would have shot them down."

"I know, it's ridiculous. I wish (can't remember names, platoon members who left with the CO) would stop going on about this crap. I wonder what they got in exchange for spouting this bull****."

"Probably a decent meal and a hot shower with the CO. Faggots "

And we laughed.

That night I was put on ammunition watch. To my great surprise, Sgt. Jurado gave me a loaded, clear, plastic magazine for my rifle.

"Lock and load Devil Dog. Do you remember the challenge and password?"

"Yes, sergeant. Challenge: ice cream. Password: cherries. "

"Good, use it like I taught you."

"I wish I had some cherries to bust."

"Damnit, Maryott, you a$$hole, do it right!"

<sigh>" Want some ice cream?"

"Only if you have cherries."

"You're not getting my cherry"

"Maryott, if you don't do it right I will buttstroke you across the face with your own rifle!"

"Couldn't you just stroke my butt?":rotfl:

At that point he grabbed me by the throat and uttered a string of obscenities.
I decided that enough was enough,and stood my post.

Four hours later, I related the story to the guy who relieved me.
And we laughed.


The next day we hiked back down to the School of Infantry.
I was astonished to see LAV-25s patrolling the streets. Barbed wire was strung everywhere. We had to show our military IDs to use the heads and showers.
Everyone made jokes about how ridiculous it was.

And we laughed.

A couple days later (or one day, I don't remember) we were allowed to go to Oceanside on leave. I didn't go to the beach or to the market center. I bought a phone card at a gas station and called my girlfrend.

I told her that I might have to go to war. I told her that my instuctors had said I would be conscripted into the infantry. Then and there she left me. Verbatim; " I'm not going to wait for you while you go off to war"

She soon married an Air Force officer candidate (AFROTC guy) that flunked out, and became an Air Force officer herself.

We laughed about that as well.

We deployed to Iraq in support of OIF II and III in 2005.
Four of our comrades were wounded over a period of 2 months.
Two were damaged beyond repair.

None of us are laughing now.

[Torps]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

I have that dvd.

That documentary makes you think doesn't it?

I was in the MC aswell 99-03. I had a date with the Republican Guard back in 03 when this whole thing kicked off. Glad I was there in the beginning, and I was happy to be out of there in 6 months and then discharged. Gotta love stop loss btw.

Only regret I have is I was not allowed to have my opportunity for senioritus. For those that never served, Senioritius is what we call the I dont give a two hoots. Example, when you have 6 months left in service, you are usually given less duties, responsibilites unless you plan on reenlisting. Of course unless you do something really dumb or stupid everyone leaves you alone. This really only applies when you become a NCO, otherwise its hard to pull off when your in the bottom 3 of the food chain. =oP

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

None of us are laughing now.

Awesome story. That's how it is in the military. Smokin and jokin one moment, not laughing so much the next.

Congratulations on ditching a worthless girlfriend. You are much better without her.

Thank you for your service to our country.