So.

[DJ Premier]

A year has gone by... I drive past it from time to time and I sometimes walk around near Battery Park (a few blocks away). I remember that day very clearly. I was trapped across the bridge while my family and friends were on the other side. Cell phones were down, phone lines were down. We couldn't talk to anyone, didn't know if our friends and family were ok. To witness something like this is pretty scary. To witness a few buddies from your buddy list log off of AIM a few moments after the collapse.

 

I guess am lucky since I didn't go to work that day (I dont work in the WTC). But anyways, I still havent went down there to see it. It's pretty hard to do so. I've walked near it a hundred times but never went to see it.

 

I hear these days that the shops around there are still open. Some haven't cleared the debris at all, but rather just encased it. Some have lost their entire customer base but yet stay open to defy the terrorists of anything extra. I haven't visited those shops either. A friend of mine lives 4 blocks away from there and I haven't went to visit him in quite some time.

I was there yesterday, 2 blocks away, having a few drinks with friends. But I purposely drove the other way on my way out of the area.

 

But a year has gone by. I'm going to go see it this weekend. I'll say my farewells to a few friends. Maybe I'll buy something from a store or two. Eat at a diner that I used to go to a while back. I guess that's what I'll do.

 

What will you?

[Barto]

i try not to let the events surrounding 9/11 affect me to much. I am fortunate, the tragedy is not my own. I did not experience it first hand. None of my loved ones were hurt or killed or threatened. The only time in which 9/11 was MY disaster was for 4 hours in school when I was completely unsure of the nature of the attacks, or the status of my older sister (attending school at NYU) Once I learned that all my loved ones were safe and sound, I was no longer distressed or saddened. For me to act devastated at this seems to me like an insult to those who were actually effected directly by the tragedy.

 

So for me, today was a day of peace and solace. I spent today talking to many old friends and relatives who I do not communicate with nearly as much as I wish I did. I spent today feeling fortunate to live in such a fantastic country, surrounded by beacons of bravery and nobility in a turbulent world. But most of all, I spent today hoping that those who were impacted by 9/11 feel comfortable, safe, and at peace on the anniversary of a day when THEIR lives changed.

 

9/11 is not my tragedy. I do not pretend that it is. It will forever belong to the people who lived it first hand

[Gond]

Nice posts...thanks

[DJ Premier]

I dont think about it all that often. Maybe that's the problem...it hasn't been on my mind enough to go and do those things I said I will do this weekend. I am fortunate as well. My family is safe and my close friends are safe. I'm just kinda reelin from the overload of today. One can't escape it at all today. You see it on everyone's face. It's everywhere....streets, office, bathroom, watercooler, tv, Bush in town, GF being extra nice today...etc. So one can't help but reflect.

 

But you are wrong in one sense, the tragedy IS your own. Each American should feel this way.

[Fatty]

I feel it, in my heart. As an American I claim sorrow for my brothers and sisters. I can't even bring myself to go back and watch that video. It's like I start to feel bad for not feeling bad enough. I grieve for the lost, the left, and the hurt, and I give my family an extra long hug. But at the same time, I rejoice watching our nation come together.

[ConGregation]

I as Barto was not directly affected by the tragedy. I have never been to New York. I didnt lose any friends or family. The impact HAS to be so much greater for those who live there like DJ. But I grieve for those who were hurt.

 

Fat is right. The attack didnt affect me but it was aimed at what I stand for. Barto is right also because I dont presume to say I suffer when other's lives were drastically changed forever. But I feel a part of the whole tragedy in this sense... We all came together to help the hurting. To show them that we cared. To try and lift this unbearable burden maybe just a little bit by any means possible. Maybe it might only be taking a scrap piece of OSB and paiting a flag on it to hang at work. Or putting a flag in my window. To show them that we can come together to show our support and cry our tears to show our love. I also know that whatever we did would never be enough and pales in comparison to what others gave. And even if our help really actually didnt help at all, we need to do it to live with ourselves.

[Guest Agnt.Smith]

my 2 cents:

 

 

"DO NOT FORGET"

I sat in a movie theater watching "Schindler's List,"

asked myself, "Why didn't the Jews fight back?"

Now I know why.

 

I sat in

a movie theater, watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why weren't we

prepared?"

 

Now I know why.

 

Civilized people cannot fathom, much less

predict, the actions of evil people.

 

On September 11, dozens of capable

airplane passengers allowed themselves to be overpowered by a handful of

poorly armed terrorists because they did not comprehend the depth of hatred

that motivated their captors.

 

On September 11, thousands of innocent

people were murdered because too many Americans naively reject the reality

that some nations are dedicated to the dominance of others. Many political

pundits, pacifists and media personnel want us to forget the carnage. They

say we must focus on the bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice

of the killers. They implore us to understand the motivation of the

perpetrators. Major television stations have announced they will assist the

healing process by not replaying devastating footage of the planes crashing

into the Twin Towers.

 

I will not be manipulated.

 

I will not pretend to

understand.

 

I will not forget.

 

I will not forget the liberal media who

abused freedom of the press to kick our country when it was vulnerable and

hurting.

 

I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President

Bush's address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel

about him, he is still our president."

 

I will not forget that ABC TV

anchor Peter Jennings questioned President Bush's motives for not returning

immediately to Washington, DC and commented, "We're all pretty skeptical

and cynical about Washington."

 

And I will not forget that ABC's Mark

Halperin warned if reporters weren't informed of every little detail of

this war, they aren't "likely -- nor should they be expected -- to show

deference."

 

I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by

pretending an attack on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on the

United States of America.

 

I will not forget the Clinton administration

equipped Islamic terrorists and their supporters with the world's most

sophisticated telecommunications equipment and encryption technology,

thereby compromising America's ability to trace terrorist radio, cell

phone, land lines, faxes and modem communications.

 

I will not be appeased

with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like those perfected by the

previous administration.

 

I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do

nothing" regulations like the silly "Have your bags been under your

control?" question at the airport.

 

I will not be influenced by so

called,"antiwar demonstrators" who exploit the right of expression to chant

anti-American obscenities.

 

I will not forget the moral victory handed the

North Vietnamese by American war protesters who reviled and spat upon the

returning soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines.

 

I will not be softened

by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose reassurance over reality.

 

 

I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told Labor

Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the

innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone

doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it?

 

There is no compromise

possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding

with such terror. Just a choice: defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat

it we must!"

 

I will force myself to:

 

-hear the weeping

-feel the

helplessness

-imagine the terror

-sense the panic

-smell the burning

flesh

- experience the loss

- remember the hatred.

 

I sat in a movie

theater, watching "Private Ryan" and asked myself, "Where did they find the

courage?"

 

Now I know.

 

We have no choice. Living without liberty is not

living.

 

-- Ed Evans, MGySgt., USMC (Ret.)

Not as lean, Not as mean, But

still a Marine.

[Gond]

Well put Smith!!!

[Barto]

well summarized smith. you hit a lot of broad topics right on the head. I think the greatest story of heroism of 9/11 is the passengers of the 4th hijacked airplane, the ones that stormed the cabin with full intention of bringing about their own deaths for the sole purpose of protecting washington D.C... thats a heartwrenching and inspirational tale if i ever heard one.

[Zeabos]

wow well done! Its true we just can't understand

[gOOters]

WOW, Gunny Evans. I loved that. I was like ditto ditto ditto.

 

Well put.

[Guest alias]

well put Top!

 

-semper fi

[Guest Counterstriker]

Oops I didnt have anything to add here, sorry!

[Guest [DOH]TaPe]

What is wrong with spreading wise words? If nobody ever quoted anybody else, the world would be missing MUCH wisdom.

[Xterminator]

i can't say much. I wasn't affected, a friend of mine works a block away from WTC. He was pretty messed up when i saw him (not physically, he's fine, pshychologically) all he remembers is running away from the debris while it spread, seeing a lady crying, taking her by the hand and running with her so that she wouldn't be hurt.

 

I think to myself smith made a good point. the terrorists had knives for christs sake. they could have been overpowered. I for one would not have sat there and accepted death, if i was going to die i would have taken some of those donkey burrows with me. Y did no one move? were they that affraid?