I didn't post this to make anyone feel bad. Or to get after people for being unpatriotic. You see, I did forget. I woke up this morning. I cut up a pineapple for breakfast. I went to the library to get some stuff done. I started feeling bad, so I called into work to take a sick day. I started feeling better again, so I went to Subway and got something to eat. I listened to The Count of Monte Cristo on my ipod. I'm not the kind of person to get upset about things that happened years ago to people I don't know, but I was very disturbed when I came across a thread on the internet mentioning 9/11. I moused over the clock in the lower right hand corner of my desktop and sure enough "Friday, Septemer 11, 2009." I haven't talked to very many people today, but I haven't heard anyone around me mention it at all. Neither has anyone mentioned in my hearing that it was coming up in the next few days. I blame myself for not remembering, but at the same time I can't help but ask, "If we don't talk about it, how can I be expected to remember it?" I tend to forget important things, so I'm conscious of the process. Something happens. We obsess over it. The buzz dies down but we make special effort to remember. We start doing other things and moving on with our lives. We stop talking about it. We forget all about it unless something startles our memory. Then we just don't remember it at all. I didn't post to call anybody out, but to call attention to the fact that this process is happening, and faster than you might think. The thing that disturbs me most is the fact that even though I'm the one with the unreliable memory, I'm still the first one here to bring up the subject. Pretty soon, it'll become something we only remember for history tests. Eventually people will remember the day about the same as we remember what happened to Carthage.
I remember where I was too. My teacher went out of the room and came back in sobbing; I thought it was something the class had done wrong (I had just turned ten years old), but she explained that there'd been a bombing, because at the time everyone thought it was still a bomb, in New York. We werent allowed to see coverage on the news, but we didnt do anything for the rest of the day. Our teacher kept us updated on the news online though. Even then, everyone understood the horrors this had. I remember that very morning too. Dad was walking with me to school because he had the day off, and I remember him picking me up and putting me on his shoulders and singing, "It's a Beautiful Day." We were talking about this in Spanish class today. American citizens have this sense of patriotism that not every country has --the United States and the United Kingdom citizens have a pretty strong sense of patriotism about their country, but there was a German exchange student who was in our course last year, and he never did grasp the meaning or the feeling of being proud of where you come from. --You would never hear a German say he was proud to be from Germany. So when the terrorist attacks occurred, and terrorists thought it would bring America to its knees; instead people drew within themselves and the importance of family, belongingness, and being an American citizen was magnified. Everyone had a flag flying on their front yard for at least a year after the attacks. Today, as I was walking to school, I saw a group of people who were hanging giant flags over every overpass (and every cross street in my city is an overpass). It was powerful. I dont think that we need a thread to talk about it, although I have no protest against it either. Remembrance is important, and regardless of how people remember it, the only problem I've ever had with the date in past years has been that many movies and albums are released on this day. We can move on, and we will never forget, but to use the day no one will forget as a marketing tactic has always made me want to scream. xxx PS: Banzai, I think almost everyone knows about the 7/7 attack. I know that in England, people make fun of America as being silly and less cultured and proper (You know, the whole thing about having a British accent must make you smarter, for example), but Americans are not as ignorant as you seem to think we are.
The thing that disturbs me most is the fact that even though I'm the one with the unreliable memory, I'm still the first one here to bring up the subject. Speaking for myself, there are some pains that are too private to share on a public forum.
April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Definitely qualifies as a terrorist attack. 168 killed, I think, is "major." Just because the perpetrator was an American, doesn't mean it doesn't count. There were others... before and after 1995, and before and after 2001... including the 1993 WTC bombing, and the Anthrax attacks after 9-11, but none with quite as large an impact.
My teacher put the idea in my head that the tower would be hit. Scared the hell out of me because my father worked at the dome for part of the year and I didnt know if he was there.
And precisely when did he imply that? And as an English girl (That stereotype only really applies to those who speak with a standard English "Posh" accent, so it's not really a 'British' stereotype) I can quite honestly say that I don't know of anyone that believes they're smarter just because they have that accent. That's ignorance on the other partie's part that you're speaking of, whoever that may be. Matt wasn't accusing anybody of being ignorant. He was just making a point that every country has these terrible events that changed their worlds as they knew it, and that just because you might not recall it straight away doesn't mean you care. Also, he wasn't saying that Americans wouldn't know what 7/7 was, he meant that most people aren't aware that it's referred to as 7/7. We always call it 'The london bombings'. Mercy, i know you come across in the wrong way alot of the time without meaning to - but there was no need for that. So, I hope I cleared up what you mistook to be an insult to America. It wasn't
I teach school. I have a short video clip hosted by Walter Cronkite that I play to the students each year. Although in their last two years of High School (so 16-19 years in age), they were mostly in 3rd and 4th grade when 9/11 occurred. The point is that it is a different memory for many youth, and for some a bit younger than my students, it is truly history as it's an event they cannot recall--kind of like the assassination of President Kennedy. It was huge for so many, but as the years passed, it became 'history' for youth, although like 9/11 its impact reverbates through the years nevertheless. Terry
I didn't forget it. I just kept my thoughts to myself until I saw this thread. On Monday, September 10, 2001, I took a flight from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, for a four day training session for my company. I landed at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, AZ about 10PM local time. I remember being shocked that the outside temperature was over eighty degrees that late at night. The next morning, I woke early to get ready for class, and turned on the TV to the Today Show. There was a news item that a small plane had just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. As they were playing back the footage of the damaged, smoking building, they interrupted to say that a second plane appeared to be about to collide with the towers as well. I immediately thought, "Sh*t, this is no accident." I was in shock and disbelief as I drove to the facility where te class was being held. I was one of the first people in. I set up my laptop to follow the news as it developed. The rest of the class arrived over the next hour, along with the instructors. They asked us what we wanted to do, continue with the class or call it off. Nearly everyone was stuck there, because the airports were already shut down nationwide, so we decided to go ahead with the class. We worked hard and finished a day early, on Thursday, 9/13. Some people took rental cars to drive back to where they came from, but I didn't see the point. I spent Friday in the desert with a camera. I didn't know if Logan would be open when the rest of the airports reopened, because its role in the terrorsts', so wnen they announced that they would resume flights on Saturday, 9/15, I rebooked my return flight to TF Green Airport in Providence, RI. After a lengthy stopover in Chicago O'Hare Airport, I landed in Providence after midnight, and finally reachedhome on Sunday, 9/16, shortly before dawn. One of the eerie things about that week was the silence of the sky. There were no aircraft aloft other than the occasional mlitary craft -- fighter planes and helicopters. You don't notice the sounds of commercial flights until they are gone.
I'm going to toss this out ignore me if you want but someone needs to say it. We have here an international community of friends, acquaintances, tolerated members, and strangers. Even amongst the closest of people, raw wounds has a way of making people testy and jump out at each other. As the relationships forged in this unique community is done through written words it is all too often, too easy to allow such hurts to boil over and hurt another person. The world is full of tragedies and no one is trying to minimize any of them, however, no one needs to hurt (inadvertently or otherwise) the feelings of another. Words can hurt, that is especially true here - where they are all we have.
I did not forget. At 11AM precisely today I stopped in my tracks and stayed silent, as did the entire group of friends I was with. Same thing with 7/7. Quoted for truth.
Actually, that wasn't my point at all. 7/7 is, as Ashleigh mentioned, not usually called that. There are also a lot of different nationalities on these forums. Even to a lot of British people, the attacks aren't remembered as much as they perhaps should be. True they weren't on the scale of 9/11, but I also think it's quite a bit to do with the British people being accustomed to acts of terrorism, from the campaigns of the IRA. For US citizens, 9/11 is something quite different. I accept that CharlieVer is correct about the Oklahoma bombing, but I think (though I may be wrong) that 9/11 was the first external/I] attack on the US since WWII. I don't think Americans are ignorant. I think that there are ignorant people in America, the same as any other country. I have problems and issues with the US government and their policies, and some of the ideals of the US, but this isn't the place for that, and the American people, are only people, the same as any other nationality. And as for a British accent making one seem cleverer, I think you should listen to some Brummie, Geordie, Glasweigian, or even (closer to home for me) Scouse accents
I think this must have been my misreading to your comment; I have picked up on several comments you've made toward our government (which I am not so quiet in complaining about either) over time, and so I think I more naturally picked that up as mildly insulting at first. As you and Ashleigh have explained your meaning, I guess I was wrong in my assumption then. My apologies. --I myself have not left America, but a lot of our foreign relatives will visit infrequently, and the disdain they have for my family simply for being American is a little tick and trigger for me. Yes, I think the fact that England being more accustomed to the idea than America is simply because of our respective locations made it a lot more shocking to us; the sense of shock, confusion, and vulnerability was overwhelming, reaching everyone, even the ones younger than I had been (ten years) at the time.
I have never really shared my day on September 11, 2001. But I just feel like I need to. On September 10, my mother in law flew in from North Carolina to visit with us for a few weeks. That night we were up late playing cards, laughing about some funny memories, it was late when we turned into bed. The next morning I got my children up and off to school. I was in the kitchen making coffee, when the phone rang. My Ex husband was on the other end yelling at me to turn on the news, he explained a plane flew into one of the towers. I ran down stairs and just as I turned it on, I saw the second plane explode into the other tower. I remember just standing there, I couldn't move. My mom called me, and she was crying and yelling the towers are going to fall, I was trying to calm her and just as I was saying, "They might not", the first tower fell, I dropped my coffee cup and cried. Then, when the second one came down I went into shock. My mom had hung up and I didn't even realize it. For two days I felt empty and completely void. For several weeks I couldn't sleep, and I couldn't listen to music, I couldn't write either. Save two poems. The first time we went out to eat I can remember nothing but silence. Eyes met with eyes, eyes desperate for some kind of hope. It was as if we wanted an explanation, sadly, we were lost together. Two very close friends of my husband and I lost their daughter that day. I have never felt anything like it before then or since. I still remember.
I don't have a strong memory of that day. I didn't even know what day of the week it was, but I was asleep when it happened. Maybe I only had afternoon class. Anyway, I went out to the living room all sleepy and the coverage was on tv. The towers had fallen. I spent the day watching the coverage. I felt numb. Never really reacted much. For months after that, I saw lots of houses with flags and cars with flags trailing behind them (not proper flag etiquette). I was annoyed. Where was patriotism before? Where was the feeling of unity and national identity before? I was angry that it takes something like that to unite us, to make us proud to be Americans. A year later, I was traveling abroad (meaning I was visiting Matt, Ash, and Xeno's country). I was in Bath on Sept 11, 2002. I felt kinda bad for being out of my own country on that date. But, when I visited the Cathedral in Bath, I was very moved. I had kinda thought of 9/11 as our thing, our loss, America's. I never really gave much though to whether any other country gave a crap. But in this church across an ocean, there was a shrine set up. It had a large stained glass version of that famous picture of the firefighters. There were candles, flowers, cards. Near the door, there was a book for people to write prayer requests. Many people had written something in honor of 9/11 and the great loss of life across the sea. I was very moved that people not directly affected would care. I wrote in the book a thank you, and how much it meant to me that my country's loss was recognized. I signed it "An American Tourist." I felt more the impact of that day a year later than I did on that day. Or, maybe it just took that long for me to let myself feel anything. I am not sure. I just know that seeing that shrine was one of the most moving experiences of my life.
I can still remember it, it gets me so teary. I was in first grade when it happened, and I can still remember those buildings. It didn't feel real, watching the explosions and the movie-esque straight-down collapse of the towers and building 7 of the WTC. I took a personal, respectful mourning night today and refused to go to the football game and dance being held tonight. I know it may not seem like much, but it was my small way of saying "We'll never forget, we miss you." I'm getting teary just writing this. I actually went and saw the Pentagon this summer. You could see clear as day where the plane had hit, and the memorials to 9/11. Actually seeing it made it hit home all the harder. I don't think we'll ever forget it. There are reminders in NYC, all over the place. It's taught in school, and it won't ever be forgotten. It's one of those things that will live forever. The most inspiring thing about 9/11 was that it brought us all together as Americans. Strangers were hugging on the streets, enemies made up, friends got even closer. And the overwhelming thing was the support from other countries, our allies. Showing that they were there for us in the midst of tragedy warms your heart.
That's lovely. For some reason, I really wanna go to that Cathedral now and ask to see that book, and find your message, hah. They must have kept it - I wonder if people wrote messages back to you? It's great how people can communicate so much better in such times...especially between two nations. But as you said, in ways it's quite bad aswell...surely we should all be able to feel so much for eachother and express those kinds of messages to eachother when there isn't death and destruction involved...
One thing I remember is that for a while, people set aside pettiness and selfishness. Strangers went out of their way to reach out to strangers. Drivers took a break from flipping each other off. People sat in backedc up traffic patiently, without leaning on their horns. There were parasites who preyed on grieving people, but mostly the attacks brought out the best in everyone.
It's that tragedy that taught me how to have pride in my country and what being an American really means.
The lights are on tonight; you can see them online, and probably on the television. I havent been able to find a source for this year yet (surely they're turned on by now?), but I've seen them before. Something fantastic. I was pleasantly surprised to see how the international community responded to the attacks as well, although it took me a few years past age ten to register what exactly that meant. Looking back, it truly is amazing. People are people are people, and it's nice to see that no distance can make anyone care less. Someone mentioned a few posts back that it wasnt necessary to air the phone calls people made when they realized the planes had been hijacked, and I agree. Just like (most) news sources didnt air Princess Diana's on-site photos or at least blacked out her face, just because it is a national event doesnt mean that the people involved, alive or deceased, dont deserve their privacy.
It all depends on semantics. By some ways of defining things, even 9/11 technically doesn't count. They weren't the same type of attack. Pearl Harbor was an official act of war taken by a country as a declaration of war. In contrast, 9/11 wasn't Afghanistan attacking America. (I'm going with the official story, I'm not even going to count the conspiracy theories, which I do not personally find credible.) It was a group of terrorists, most of them Saudi Arabian, lead by a terrorist group that happens to work out of Afghanistan. Really, it was a criminal action -- just like Oklahoma City, which was a very big deal in the U.S., I'm surprised more isn't known about it outside the U.S. Just about everybody here knows Timothy McVeigh's name. There were other outside attacks, before and after, but none with this magnitude, and no attacks by a country (that I know of) as an act of war inside the United States has taken place since Pearl Harbor, including 9/11, because by those standards, 9/11 doesn't count. For example, the World Trade Center was bombed in 1993. A car bomb was detonated in an attempt to cause one tower to topple into the other. The attempt to destroy the buildings failed, but 6 people were killed and 1,042 were injured. The perpetrators were captured and arrested, and like 9-11 it was from the outside. A quick google also found others, some from outside, some from inside: 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. A member of the Ku Klux Klan bombed a Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four girls. 1975 Jan. 24, New York City: bomb set off in historic Fraunces Tavern killed 4 and injured more than 50 people. Puerto Rican nationalist group (FALN) claimed responsibility, and police tied 13 other bombings to the group. 1978-1995 The Unabomber kills three and injures 29 in a string of anti-technology bombings 1997 A terrorist opened fire on tourists at an observation deck atop the Empire State Building in New York City, killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from the United States, Argentina, Switzerland and France before turning the gun on himself. A handwritten note carried by the gunman claimed this was a punishment attack against the "enemies of Palestine". 2001 Anthrax attacks on the offices the United States Congress and New York State Government offices, and on employees of television networks and tabloid. 2002 Beltway sniper attacks There were others, these are just a few... Charlie
