September 11, 2006

[gumboot]

It has ticked over to September 11 down here at the bottom of the world.

Over the next 48 hours, the nations of the world will, one by one, pass through this important day.

I just want to take a moment to reflect on the fundamental importance of this day. Nearly 3,000 people died, in a matter of a few hours. At 8am, they were all going about their daily lives. By 1003 their lives had been extinguished.

Truth has become a flexible and subjective thing in this modern age of sound-byte news and "alternative thinking". We owe it to the victims of this day to ensure that a more substantial and unyielding understanding of "truth" is restored. In ancient times, a poor understanding of the world around us understandably produced mythological versions of events. There is no excuse in this day and age.

The truth is there, hidden amongst the detrius of conspiracy theories and bad journalism. Your mission, JREF Ninjas, is to continue to assemble the evidence and the facts, and to spread this knowledge.

Why?

1) The victims of this day deserve to have their story told truthfully, for all time.
2) The perpetrators of these crimes, and their supporters, must never be allowed to asway or deny guilt for what they did based on myth and false truth.

My heart goes out to my American friends.

:NEWZEALAND: :USA:

May we never forget.

-Andrew

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

It has ticked over to September 11 down here at the bottom of the world.

Over the next 48 hours, the nations of the world will, one by one, pass through this important day.

I just want to take a moment to reflect on the fundamental importance of this day. Nearly 3,000 people died, in a matter of a few hours. At 8am, they were all going about their daily lives. By 1003 their lives had been extinguished.

Truth has become a flexible and subjective thing in this modern age of sound-byte news and "alternative thinking". We owe it to the victims of this day to ensure that a more substantial and unyielding understanding of "truth" is restored. In ancient times, a poor understanding of the world around us understandably produced mythological versions of events. There is no excuse in this day and age.

The truth is there, hidden amongst the detrius of conspiracy theories and bad journalism. Your mission, JREF Ninjas, is to continue to assemble the evidence and the facts, and to spread this knowledge.

Why?

1) The victims of this day deserve to have their story told truthfully, for all time.
2) The perpetrators of these crimes, and their supporters, must never be allowed to asway or deny guilt for what they did based on myth and false truth.

My heart goes out to my American friends.

:NEWZEALAND: :USA:

May we never forget.

-Andrew

I can only speak for myself, but I say thank you Andrew. That day affected a lot of people, across the globe. Though most of the lives lost were American, it was truly an international tragedy. JREF is an international community, and our combined efforts on this forum contribute, at least in some small part, to making the world a less divided, but still individual place.

[Graham2001]

At the time I sent messages to various webgroups that I was a part of offering my sympathy.

That sympathy goes out again.

It's now September 11 2006 in Western Australia.

May those who were truly responsible for what happened five years get the punisment that they deserved. May those who deny that responsibility also get shown up for what they are.

[60hzxtl]

2) The perpetrators of these crimes, and their supporters, must never be allowed to asway or deny guilt for what they did based on myth and false truth.

My heart goes out to my American friends.

:NEWZEALAND: :USA:

May we never forget.

-Andrew


Thank you my friend.

As the denizens of Guantanamo have been afforded the rights of civilization and will be coming before trial or tribunal, it is vital that the CT nonsense never be used or legitimized; it might cause a weak minded juror to have reasonable doubt, allowing genuine evil to prosper.

[The_Fire]

It just turned 9-11-2006 over here (8 minutes ago according to my watch as I start this post).

I can still acutely remember trying to figure out how many of my american and canadian friends, few as they were, whom might have been in Manhattan. I still remember when I realised that it was not an accident, but a deliberate attack. I remember trying to focus on keep working because I knew there was nothing I could do. I remember. Probably always will.

I remember the relief when one by one my friends mailed me back and told me that they were ok. I remember the small laugh I had amidst the horror when I realised that I had managed to write a guy in LA and one in Vancouver as well as my friends in New York.

I remember the determination of not allowing the terrorists to wreck my first holiday in years. I remember the relief I felt when I arrived at Vancouver Airport on 9/20 2001 and saw machingun armed RCMPs in the arrival terminal, having just landed with the first flight from Denmark to Canada after the attack.

I remember the rising fears though these past 5 years. I remember governments cashing in on that fear in regards to their politics and to staying in power.

But most freshly I remember the outrage when I realised that certain ******** were trying to profit off the tragedy by belittling the victims and twisting facts so much out of proportions that it was no longer fun nor truthfull. I remember how I saw people rise to the challenge and take them on.

These memories will also stay with me for life. And so will the determination of not allowing the real truth, the evidence based truth, to be forgotten in favour of mediahype.

[GlennB]

Truth has become a flexible and subjective thing in this modern age of sound-byte news and "alternative thinking". We owe it to the victims of this day to ensure that a more substantial and unyielding understanding of "truth" is restored. In ancient times, a poor understanding of the world around us understandably produced mythological versions of events. There is no excuse in this day and age.


Amen

[TobiasTheViking]

i'm 58 minutes late. My thought still goes out to all the families that were broken and all the lives that were wasted and spilled on the ground 5 years ago.

I wanna write something deep and all.. but... It was a tragedy and a travesty, and sadly, it doesn't look like we have even learned anything from it.

[stateofgrace]

It is now 911 in the UK. It is just after midnight.

Five years ago the most horrific terrorist attack ever took 3000 innocent lives away. The lives of men, women and children.

Today the vast majority will reflect in a somber and extremely respectful manner. Across the world people will remember where they were the moment they heard about this and saw for the first time the horrific images.

In five short years, a small vocal fringe movement has tried it’s hardest to hijack this dreadful event to further themselves. They have failed, they will never succeed, because sanity, rationality and above morality can never be defeated.

All the best on this most painful day, especially to those directly involved. To all those that have fought these stupid conspiracies over these years, you have my respect and best wishes for today.

To those that promote these theories, maybe today is a good day to reflect on your nonsense, grow up and finally show some respect for this day.


Best wishes America, on this sad day.

[Pardalis]

Very nice words Gumboot.

This crime was a crime against all of us, all of what is good and free.

Monday, we will all remember.

[NickUK]

September 11th has just started here in the UK.

I remember so vividly the events 5 years ago, sat at home on my day off from the hospital where I worked, watching with utter, stunned, silent horror at what was happening.

My country lost 67 of it's people that day. Like Portgual, New Zealand, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Korea and the other nations of the world who also lost citizens, you'll forgive us if we too share today's pain.

New York is, perhaps more than anywhere else on earth, is a true melting pot of humanity and I believe that this is one of the reasons that the fascists who fatuously ally themselves with Islam chose this place to murder and maim that day.

What sticks with me now are the victims: people who paid mortgages, brown, white and black people, straight and gay people, millionaire bankers and poor cleaners. Muslims and Jews. God, I find this so hard to deal with, but the chance aspect...just being on a plane, just being in an office...and you're gone. It's so hard to fathom, and it literally could be any of us. All those years saving, having kids, loving and being loved...and you're gone. It's so random, almost pathetically so. Maybe this is where the conspiracy theorists are coming from. Maybe it's the fact that, ultimately, we can control our lives only so much.

I don't post on here as often as I would like, because people I have a genuine admiration for - Abby, Gravy, Markyx et al - know more than I do and express it so well. But, I would say that I am proud to be a member here. Your dedication to rebutting the lies, rumour and innuendo and doing so with the respect and humour you do is inspiring.

Your glorious, dirty, loud and vivacious city will one day heal the wounds of that day, but today, 5 years on we are with you.

We're all New Yorkers. Be there for us at Ground Zero. All of us.

Very Sincerely,

Nick Draper
A Nurse, from Manchester, UK

[Class]

It has been 9/11 for 17 minutes here on the East Coast and 5 years later I can still remember the phone call from my dad telling me to turn on the news. I can still remember the images of the towers burning and collapsing. I still remember the fear, the anxiety, and the uncertainty of what was to come. I still remember the feeling I had when I remembered my mom was flying to Texas for business that morning and not knowing if she was alive or not. These memories will never be forgotten by me, nor anyone who witnessed the events of September 11, 2001.

My heart goes out to those who were affected in anyway by 9/11 and I hope to see you guys at Ground Zero tomorrow.

[DarkMagician]

Still 26 minutes until 9/11 here. My heart goes out to those affected, and may we punish the people responsible.

We will never forget.

[LashL]

Truth has become a flexible and subjective thing in this modern age of sound-byte news and "alternative thinking". We owe it to the victims of this day to ensure that a more substantial and unyielding understanding of "truth" is restored. In ancient times, a poor understanding of the world around us understandably produced mythological versions of events. There is no excuse in this day and age.



Indeed.

Your entire post is very touching and poignant, Andrew.

Let us not ever forget that the truth should not be a malleable plaything in the hands of people who mock the victims while unabashedly distorting the truth in order to fool the gullible and/or the grieving and gain celebrity for themselves.

The truth is there, hidden amongst the detrius of conspiracy theories and bad journalism. Your mission, JREF Ninjas, is to continue to assemble the evidence and the facts, and to spread this knowledge.

Mission accepted.

[Brainache]

On Sepember 11 2001 I was at home with a friend. She had come over to watch Voyager. The West Wing was on the telly and it was interrupted with a news break saying that the WTC had been hit by two planes.
WTF???
We watched the end of The West Wing and then the news coverage started.
We sat there transfixed as the live feed showed us unbelievable images one after another for hours on end. There was a lot of confusing stuff coming from reporters on the ground and commentators in the studio. We watched until about four in the morning. I kept thinking this was like a disaster movie, where was the hero? Why didn't the cavalry or Bruce Willis show up to save everyone at the last minute?
Guess what. There was no last minute. It kept going. It is still going.
While ever these CTs keep thinking the world is like Hollywood where all the bad guys are easy to catch with just a bit of good ol' American know how and apple pie there never will be an end to it.
Life is an ongoing process. If some new investigation happens and someone gets scapegoated it still won't be over.
Catch Osama? someone else will take his place.
Indict Bush? Proves nothing.
The world got scarier for me on 9/11, but that's because I didn't know it already was that scary.
I won't forget that night(Sydney time) and I hope we can find a way to one day stop fundamentalists from destroying the planet completely.

[R.Mackey]

Good thread. Let's keep it respectful.

I was in Seattle on the morning of September 11th, there to meet with folks in Boeing commercial aircraft division. My drive to the meeting coincided with the chaos in New York and other places. As the day unfolded, we felt terrible for people suffering, helpless to do anything, and at the same time in a small way responsible. Those were our aircraft. In a very (very) small way, my aircraft.

The chaos was palpable. At one point, a rumour was going around that Camp David had been hit. Another said the Space Needle was at risk. We even considered that the aircraft assembly areas at Everett might be a target. Thankfully, there were only four hijacked aircraft.

This all happened only one week after I returned from the longest backpacking trip I'd ever been on, a solid week in the Sierras with my now-wife and without any other significant contact with the world outside. I was bewildered, this time more than any other in my life wondering if, perhaps, civilization as we know it was actually a bad idea.

And my experience utterly pales in the face of those who saw it up close, still bear the scars, or perished.

Since then I've lost several friends to the wars that followed. I've watched Americans make some good choices, some bad ones, and some that are still too early to evaluate. I've written letters to my congressman, I've protested a few times, I've helped produce benefits for 9-11 victims and veterans returning from the front lines. I've conversed with many, many people over the 'Net. I've been able to educate a few, and learned much myself. I still feel I should do much, much more.

It's important to me to keep a brave outlook, and continue to better myself and my country. I believe the victims would have wanted that. Still, we must never forget.

All of you heading to Ground Zero, stay safe.

[Peephole]

Check the CNN site. They've got a guy walking around ground zero with a camera. It's pretty neat. So far see only two trooothers and no OMGF911INSIDEJOBWTFBBQ signs.

Edit: In a half hour they also start airing footage of their coverage of 9/11 on the day.

[Sword_Of_Truth]

Edit: In a half hour they also start airing footage of their coverage of 9/11 on the day.

I heard about CNN webcasting thier original coverage as it happened.

Expect thousands of loosers to stay at home today happily quote mining as though anything said within the first hours after the attacks were the proclamations of a god-like omniscience.

[NDBoston]

I was at 7WTC on the 43rd floor when the first plane hit.

There's not a day goes by that I don't think about what happened and saw and I mourn the loss of my friends.

I won't ever forget and won't rest until people like Dylan Avery and Alex Jones stop profiting from the death of my friends.

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

I was at work. Usual day of helping end lusers that couldn't remember the instructions on how to do something, even if they had been told 20 times before. It was busy enough I hadn't been on the web much that morning yet. The shop floor manager came in to the MIS room and said that someone had flown a plane into one of the WTC towers. My initial thought was that it was a small prop job, or some similar small 1 or 2 engine aircraft and I said something to the effect of "WTF? How damn stupid do you have to be to not see a big ass building in front of you?" But, my curiosity was piqued so I hit the 'net. Then I became the Dan Rather of the office as it sunk it that it had been an airliner and there was serious damage.

Everyone knows how the day progressed.

I can still remember the ******** that ran the company, not letting anyone go early, even given the magnitude of the events. I can also remember being the first person to suggest dropping the flag to half staff.

I'm too young for Challenger to be a big memory, I was only in 4th grade at the time, it's just a vague memory to me. Same for the attempt on President Reagan's life. Now, I have my own, "Where were you when..." memory. I wish I didn't, but I know that it is just a part of life.

I think I'll do like many of the others here on the forums and take a 24-hr break from dealing with the CTists.

[kevin]

5 years ago I was flying every monday to Denver Colorado and back to KC for an hour meeting. I took 9/11 off to get my house assessed to re-finance it. I slept in late, getting up at 8am central time. There was something on the radio about a bombing, at first I thought it was an Oklahoma City retrospective. Then the WTC came up and I thought it was a retrospective on the original WTC bombing. Finally it dawned on me that it was live. I turned on the TV just in time to see the 2nd airplane go into the tower.

I spent the rest of the day watching the news, trying to call my 2 brothers that live in NYC, and calling my dad to see if they had checked in. Eventually they were able to get through and were all OK.

[rikzilla]

I work in a telecom technical control center in DC. We always have a big screen tv on CNN as world events do tend to explain certain outages on the network. (The SF earthquake comes to mind)

I remember seeing the first images of the damage to the north tower and right away I knew that no pilot could blunder into such a disasterous crash on such a pristine and clear day. Although I'd visited the WTC towers I still thought it looked like a commuter plane sized hole. (scale is hard to properly invision...the towers were massive...as was the plane)

As we stood there puzzling over the improbability of such a thing we saw the South Tower just explode. I never saw the plane...just the fireball. Soon thereafter came a report that the Pentagon was burning. We went up to the roof of our building on M street NW in DC and watched. All around us other somber people gathered on other rooftops...just watching the sky as a fighter plane circled overhead and the smoke smeared the otherwise cloudless sky.

Back down in the tech control we had work to do. The Pentagon needed some of their circuits placed on emergency re-routes. When the towers fell we lost a rather large chunk of circuits which transited Manhattan...us morning guys stayed until midnight helping to find re-route paths for government international circuits. It was just as well...I remember looking out a window at absolute gridlock on the streets outside my building...we weren't going anywhere.

I remember all day long hearing reports that there were fires burning at the Smithsonian...the Capitol...and White House...all false reports which were spread by various media outlets. It was chaos....and the CTers...don't they love to hang their hats upon the earliest reports. Morons!

Every day when I'd ride into the city we'd pass the Pentagon after coming off the HOV lanes of 395. I always noticed one window full of trophies close to the helipad. I always wondered who owned them and what they were for. It was a lazy thought I had had every day for at least two years after first noticing that window. But after 9/11's smoke cleared that window and all it contained was simply gone. I still hope that Mr. or Ms. Trophy guy was off that day; but a person that energetic and competative likely wasn't off slacking.

-z

[Regnad Kcin]

It is the sadness that still lingers for me. A sometimes near-debilitating sadness.

[TobiasTheViking]

I heard about CNN webcasting thier original coverage as it happened.

Expect thousands of loosers to stay at home today happily quote mining as though anything said within the first hours after the attacks were the proclamations of a god-like omniscience.

Well, i ain't a looser, but besides for that(and the quote mining) it sorta fits me. Though i lost 20min of the webcast. For instance, the second plane. Hope i can get the missing pieces from somewhere else.

Already heard a lot of good stuff, like "it was a propellar plane". I'm sure the 9/11 deniers will LOVE that.

* TobiasTheViking fumes

[TobiasTheViking]

I was at 7WTC on the 43rd floor when the first plane hit.

There's not a day goes by that I don't think about what happened and saw and I mourn the loss of my friends.

I won't ever forget and won't rest until people like Dylan Avery and Alex Jones stop profiting from the death of my friends.

:hug2:

[Stellafane]

My local newspaper, the Brattleboro (VT) Reformer, proved once and for all that they're a pandering bunch of journalistic whores by publishing this front page article ( www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_4317648 ), today -- on the farking anniversary of 9/11, no less.

I just dashed off the following letter. I'll let you know if they publish it:


Editor of the Reformer:

How dare you?

How dare you, on the fifth anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11, print a completely uncritical, front-page story about a local band of 9/11 deniers? How dare you call them the "9/11 truth group" (note the uncapitalized "t" in "truth," as if you're simply stating a fact). How dare you headline the continuation of this story on page 6 as "Truth"? Is this an attempt by the reporter (and by extension, the Reformer) to telegraph his support for the 9/11 deniers? Doesn't the Reformer have any sense of occasion, or even shame?

Had your reporter been even remotely interested in a balanced story, a simple web search would have quickly revealed that every one of the 9/11 deniers claims -- *every one of them* -- has been utterly debunked many times over (for example, see www.loosechangeguide.com/LooseChangeGuide.html). Why didn't he mention that no qualified structural engineer or demolitions expert has endorsed the 9/11 deniers theory that the Twin Towers were brought down by a controlled demolition? Why didn't he mention that the leaders of this so-called "movement" lack any qualifications whatsoever to give an informed opinion of what happened that day? Why didn't he offer even a single skeptical word in the entire article?

Perhaps even more interesting is what your reporter chose to leave out. Why didn't he mention just a few of the insane theories the 9/11 deniers are promoting? Among other things, some of them believe that when the Twin Towers were constructed in the early 1970's, they were *built with explosives mixed into their concrete*, for the day when they could be blown up. Many believe that no planes crashed into the Twin Towers or the Pentagon -- instead, these buildings were hit by missiles, with holographic images of airliners projected onto them. Most believe that no passengers called their relatives from the doomed Flight 93; instead these calls were placed by government agents using voice morphing technology. And that's just the tip of the iceberg to their craziness. It's also interesting that the article doesn't mention the very strong streak of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial that permeates the 9/11 denier community. Worst of all, 9/11 deniers have accused thousands of people of premeditated murder with no evidence whatsoever, including members of the government, a father who put his own son on the plan, and most despicable and cowardly of all, members of the New York Fire Department who saw many of their brethren die that horrible day. But I suppose mentioning such inconvenient facts would have made it harder to show the 9/11 deniers in such a sympathetic light, wouldn't it?

There's no good way of saying this: The timing, placement, and content of your article was a ringing insult to the memory of all those who lost their lives that day. It was a despicable article about a despicable group of people, and the Reformer should be thoroughly ashamed for even considering running it.


I couldn't even bring myself to conclude with "Sincerely" above my name -- screw them.

[Peephole]

I heard about CNN webcasting thier original coverage as it happened.

Expect thousands of loosers to stay at home today happily quote mining as though anything said within the first hours after the attacks were the proclamations of a god-like omniscience.
Interesting, the first tower collapsed a few minutes ago and the reporter is constantly referring to the collapse (which he isn't yet aware of) as "the second explosion". Isn't that wat CT's often refer to?

Edit: Oh and the explosion reported near the capitol was actually the part of Pentagon collapsing.

[Darth Rotor]

I was at 7WTC on the 43rd floor when the first plane hit.

There's not a day goes by that I don't think about what happened and saw and I mourn the loss of my friends.

I won't ever forget and won't rest until people like Dylan Avery and Alex Jones stop profiting from the death of my friends.
Salutes.

Gumboot, thanks very much. *raises a glass*

DR

[Lisa Simpson]

I woke up and turned on the TV for my dose of news just moments before the second tower was hit. Through my sleep addled brain, I thought it must be an accident, like when the Empire State Building was hit because of thick fog. But then my brain cleared up a bit and I realized, there was no fog. It was a perfectly clear day. My mother-in-law called later and was angry that I sent the kids to school. I thought living their normal lives would be better for them, rather than to sit around watching the news all day (most cable channels stopped broadcasting their regular programs). She felt that after attacking big city New York and Washington DC, the terrorists were going to come after sleepy suburban Huntington Beach.

Anyway, I remember feeling physically ill all that day and the next couple as well. And very jumpy whenever a plane flew by.

[Hutch]

I was living in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates on 9-11 and had gotten home from a day at work when my friend Eddie called and said to turn on my TV, that a plane had hit the WTC. I admit that I thought it had been a small plane and waited a few minutes before going to my TV room and turning it on, sitting on the couch and turning the remote to CNN.

I didn't move off that couch for at least six hours.

It was very quite the next day at work. I had Arab, Egyptian, Indian, and Somali colleagues all come up to express their shock and condolences over the events. For that short time, all differences were forgotten.

Now I am back in the US, politics and life seem to be going on as normal, and yet...and yet..

[ranson]

I was broke, out of work, and driving from pawnshop to pawnshop trying to unload an old video game system when I heard about the first on the radio. I got home just in time to watch the second plane hit.

I cried, just staring in horror.

I was just at the age to watch Challenger on closed circuit in elementary school. I thought that would be the defining tragedy of my generation. I'm so, so sorry that I was wrong.

[dissonance]

I heard about CNN webcasting thier original coverage as it happened.

Expect thousands of loosers to stay at home today happily quote mining as though anything said within the first hours after the attacks were the proclamations of a god-like omniscience.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr. I've been watching the CNN footage from that day, and the conspiracy freaks are going to go NUTS with it. Lots of talk of explosions when the first tower collapses, that kind of thing.

It's interesting - the CNN affliate who was on the air when the second plane hit didn't realize for some time that it had been a plane, despite the fact that the camera caught it on tape. He thought it was an explosion. And a number of the eyewitnesses, because of their angle, I guess, didn't see the first plane hit, just saw the explosion. One even outright denied there was a plane.

Expect to see those quotes taken hopelessly out of context any moment now...

[TobiasTheViking]

Agreed. Luckily for the loosers i'm on the other side of the earth.

* TobiasTheViking fumes.

[chracatoa]

I was in the US that time - California, to be more precisely. A friend of mine called me and we turned on the TV. I could not understand what happened at first. My wife told me "there is only one tower! Where is the other tower?". I told her it was certainly behind the one we were seeing. But I was wrong, of course. We had been there 6 months earlier on Spring break. What a sad day. My wife was pregnant and I was thinking what kind of world our child would live...

I also will always remember the day after that. I was out for a walk (my regular exercise) at the exact time the president was going to give a speech (I had an AM radio with me). There was nobody around. And I mean *nobody*. Also, the fact that there were absolutely no airplanes above was kind of eerie. This is what a lone survivor of a nuclear holocaust would feel.

Anyway, it is five years later now... what can I say? We're all new yorkers again.

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

Please let me know if I missed any nations. (http://arkanwolfshade.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!9E151F6EB6C7A35D!303.entry)

Thanks,
Mark H.

[Grundar]

In the middle of the afternoon here now. My deepest sympathy to the people who lost someone that day.

/Hans

[Bandersnatch]

I was in class in high school. It was about 11:30 before I heard anything. By that time, I was sure that it was some kind of joke, so I went online to CNN to find out. The rest explains itself.

[brumsen]

Please let me know if I missed any nations. (http://arkanwolfshade.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!9E151F6EB6C7A35D!303.entry)

There was one Dutch victim: Ingeborg Lariby.

ETA: and let's not forget the much larger numbers of victims (http://icasualties.org/oif/) due to the wars waged in the name of 9/11. In Iraq alone, more than ten times the number of WTC casualties (http://www.iraqbodycount.net/).

I was at work that day, and spent the evening in shock in front of the television. My only son was just one month old, and I was filled with dread about the world he would grow up in.

[TK0001]

I think I'll do like many of the others here on the forums and take a 24-hr break from dealing with the CTists.

I was going to do the same, but then I realized I couldn't live with myself if I gave the Deniers free reign on this, of all days.

[negativ]

I was working an IT job very close to DFW International airport. I'd been listening to the news on the radio while driving in, and like the cliche goes, it was just an ordinary day. I got into the building, and one of my co-workers, whose wife worked for American Airlines, told me that a plane had hit the WTC. I was a bit skeptical, because I'd just been listening to the news and had heard nothing of the sort. It had happened between the time I parked the car and the time I entered the building.

Having worked within spitting distance of the airport for several months, the noise had pretty much become aural wallpaper. But the lack of noise and activity from the airport after they grounded all air traffic was downright creepy.

[AWPrime]

I can still remember where I was when it happened, my college ended early that day, so I went home. Just in time to see the first live reports.


As a side note, I am growing concerned that the loosers are getting more and more backing in my country........

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

There was one Dutch victim: Ingeborg Lariby.


Thank you, I've added the flag of the Netherlands.

[TK0001]

Please let me know if I missed any nations. (http://arkanwolfshade.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!9E151F6EB6C7A35D!303.entry)

Thanks,
Mark H.

Good lord, you're a Mark too? So am I.

What the hell draws Marks to this place? My guess is the computer chip the government implanted in our heads at birth.

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

Good lord, you're a Mark too? So am I.

What the hell draws Marks to this place? My guess is the computer chip the government implanted in our heads at birth.

Did you forget? You, Gravy, MarkyX and myself are all the same person.

[TK0001]

Did you forget? You, Gravy, MarkyX and myself are all the same person.

Problem solved. What makes us so schizo?

My guess is the computer chip the government implanted in our heads at birth.

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

Problem solved. What makes us so schizo?

My guess is the computer chip the government implanted in our heads at birth.

There is no computer. Please report to the center for termination.

[Ketyk]

I had occasion to go to the World Trade Centers site this past Thursday September 7th 2006.

I had all my suitcases, and bags of presents for friends and relatives taped anywhere they would fit. I had to walk about 10 blocks to get there, but it was a beautiful sunny morning, like Sept 11, 2001.

I had no idea what I would see or how I would feel. I tend to be emotional, and often find it hard to control myself. As I approached the site, I hear a man yelling. He is yelling ‘You need to know the truth!’, and other things I couldn’t quite hear. So now I am feeling anger, hoping I can stay in control. Other people were just passing by; I don’t think anyone was listening to him. Me, I made a straight line to confront the man.

He had a bottle around neck, and was apparently soliciting donations. Very strange.

One of the greatest things I have learned here at JREF is debate tactics. Surprisingly, the man had a great deal of knowledge about what lead to 9/11, what happened that day, and what happened after. We engaged it a discussion, him still yelling, me asking questions and making points. A crowd soon gathered, listening now, and giving the guy money. I had to move on, and started to give him some money, but he refused. Instead, he gave me a New York City lanyard.

…Moving on, I saw a Police Officer, and asked him the best place to get a good view. He told me, and I shook his hand, holding it too long, I’m sure. I think he understood.

I got to the site, and took some pictures. I then put my face up against a wall, and started to cry uncontrollably. A few moments passed, and a perfect stranger came over to me, put his arms around me, and said over and over again “You’ll be OK, you’ll be OK.” There are people like that in the world.

He was right. The wound will scar over, but it will always be there.

[SwissSkeptic]

I'm feeling physically sick right now as I'm watching the anniversary ceremonies on the news. Five years ago I wasn't able to understand the magnitude of this horrible event. I'm not quite sure if I am able to understand it now.

My thoughts go out to all Americans and people all over the world who lost dear friends and relatives.

I also want to thank all of you who spend your time and effort debunking the idiotic CTs. I admire not only your detailed research but most of all the incredible restraint you're showing when you deal with those disrespectful (rule 8)ers.

[T.A.M.]

Well it is the middle of the afternoon on September 11th, 2006. Though I am nearly 2000 miles from GZ, the weather here today is just like it was that morning in NYC.

I was at work, so I didnt get much of a chance to watch MSNBC. They were doing a minute by minute replay of the today show broadcast from 9/11/2001. When I got home for lunch I watched...It was around the time just after the two towers collapsed. They cut to a guy 10 blocks from GZ, and they showed the firemen. They showed them crying, hugging each other, most of them just lost in their own world. I got a lump in my throat that I couldn't swallow.

My deepest and most sincere sympathy to all those who lost someone on that day, and to those who lost their innocence.

TAM

[alfaniner]

I took the morning off so I could watch that on MSNBC, since I only saw bits of it the first time. Harrowing.

Kudos to that network for showing that.

[Katana]

On September 11, 2002, my husband and I were in Paris for our honeymoon. That evening, we took a dinner cruise on the Seine. Visible from the river were two intense beams of light shining side-by-side into the sky to symbolize the two towers of the WTC. They were so eerily beautiful.

As we past by the beams in the boat, the captain called for a moment of silence to honor those who lost their lives and to express the country's (France's) sadness and sympathy for its American friends. It was an extraordinarily touching experience.

[boooeee]

Interesting, the first tower collapsed a few minutes ago and the reporter is constantly referring to the collapse (which he isn't yet aware of) as "the second explosion". Isn't that wat CT's often refer to?

Edit: Oh and the explosion reported near the capitol was actually the part of Pentagon collapsing.I watched the first twenty minutes of their coverage of the attacks online. It was a very difficult experience watching the coverage before the second plane hit. You know what's going to happen, and there's nothing you can do about it. It was sickening, almost.

What I did find interesting is how confused everybody was during that chaotic time. The CNN anchors were speculating that the fuselage of the plane must be stuck, intact, inside the North Tower. It sounds silly now, but how many people knew at that time what would happen when a passenger jet crashed into a skyscraper at high speed?

When the second plane hit, the on air reporter thought that the fuselage of the first plane had somehow exploded inside of the North Tower.

I was also amazed that even after the second plane hit, I did not once hear the mention of the word "terrorism". Eventually, they realized that, but in the immediate aftermath they were speculating about navigation system malfunctions.

It goes to show that cherry picked quotes from the day of the event prove nothing about what really happened.

Just to add my own personal recollections of that day: I didn't turn on the TV that morning until probably 20 minutes after the second plane hit. I saw the replay (over and over) of that second plane impact. It was such a bizarre piece of video that my mind didn't know what to make of it. Then I hear Katie Couric report that plane hijackings had been reported. The video I had just watched went from bizarre to sickening. I could envision in my mind the passengers inside the plane as it rammed into the south tower. There were much worse things to come that day, but nothing compared to that first realization.

And brumsen, please take it to another thread. You raise important points, but raise them in another thread.

[patchbunny]

I was driving on my way to work on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge seismic retrofit (I was working as a state construction inspector for the dive crews) when I caught the news about the first plane hit. When the second hit I knew it had to be a terrorist attack. I called my parents and woke them up, as they had a planned flight to Canada to visit relatives and I knew there was no way they were flying anywhere that day.

I spent the first few hours out in the San Francisco Bay with a dive crew, and we had just gotten a diver down when word came back to shut down work and get everyone off the bridge. We didn't have news radios on the boat and were only getting snippits of what was happening from cel phones. I didn't believe the entire towers had collapsed (I thought the tops may have partially collapsed) until I got back into the office and saw CNN. For the next few days police zodiacs cruised underneath the bridges, checking out all the work boats and barges underneath the bridge. I never thought my bridge would be attacked, but I was certain that the Bay Bridge or the Golden Gate would be on a target list, and we all wondered if they would be hit that morning.

One of our dive companies had offices across the street from the WTC. When they fled their building, a person ahead of the company's CEO was crushed by falling debris.

My father is a retired pilot for United. He knew one of the co-pilots that day (can't remembe the flight). I often wonder if he dwelled on how he must have died. He was a captain of a 747 on Pacific routes during the 90's. I'm curious to know if his plane would have been on that original plot to blow up airlines over the Pacific, and what I would have done if it had happened.

[Peephole]

I was also amazed that even after the second plane hit, I did not once hear the mention of the word "terrorism". Eventually, they realized that, but in the immediate aftermath they were speculating about navigation system malfunctions.

I think it took about a half an hour before the first mention of terrorism.

[gumboot]

I suppose, having started this thread, it is only right I provide my own account.

As you know I was half a world away. It was just after midnight here on Sept 12th, when Boston ATC received an odd transmission from one of the thousands of aircraft in Eastern US airspace. "We have some planes".

I didn't find out about 9/11 until I woke, 6 hours or so later. I remember the first words as clear as day.

"The twin towers are gone"

Such a strange remark to be woken with. I simply didn't understand. How can two buildings disappear?

"A plane crashed into them"

I instantly thought of a small aircraft, smeared across the face of the building. Fire.

"Oh. They're not gone. They're on fire?"

"No, they're completely gone."

I headed for the TV immediately. They were still playing footage. My mind was struggling to reconcile a small plane hitting the WTC with both towers vanishing.

The first image I saw, when I reached the TV, was one of the towers collapsing. I can't remember which.

The image still haunts me. I remember, oddly, that was first horror was at the destruction of such a monument to human endeavour. It was not loss of life, but loss of buildings that turned my stomach in knots.

But then, of course, the reality dawned on me. I imaged those enormous towers, full of people. I imaged the streets below. In my mind New York was always packed with people and cars. I imaged streets full of people and yellow cabs, with the towers crashing down on them.

At this point they were talking about ten thousand or so dead. I remarked "It'll be more, it'll be 20, 30 thousand" My mind recoiled.

Of course, thankfully, it was not more. The towers had burned for some time, something I was oblivious to at the time (I was still trying to work out how one plane destroyed two towers at that point!). The police had time to seal off the area and evacuate. Many many many thousands survived. The fatally wounded towers themselves managed to hold up just long enough for virtually everyone who was able to get out.

It is a new realisation, reading all your accounts, and I thank you dearly for sharing them. By the time I knew of 9/11, it was all over. We knew it was 4 aircraft, and we knew it was terrorists.

For those who watched events as they unfolded, no such comfort. The confusion must have been terrifying. Are there five hijacked aircraft? Ten? Fifty? Has the Capitol been hit? Air Force One? Are there bombs as well? When will it end? When?

-Andrew

[Bell]

I got home from work early that day, and checked my email (must been around 9:25 EST, 3.25 PM in the Netherlands. A friend mailed about watching TV and seeing a plain crash in the WTC. He attached a screencap. My first thought was that it was another internet joke, and that the photo was badly faked.

I tried to go to CNN.com, but I couldn't. I then realised something was terrible wrong. When I flipped on the TV, every channel had the burning towers. I couldn't believe it!

My first thought was that two planes collided and then the wreckage crashed into the towers. It was absolutely unbelievable at that point that it was an terrorist act.

My father and I visited New York three months before 9/11 (and yes, we stood atop WTC 2) and at no time I felt insecure. We had security checks at the WTC, at the Empire State Building, at the Statue of Liberty, the airport... But it just seemed like some sort of routine. Never could I (and everybody in the US) have imagined something as terrible as 9/11... complacensy (sp) is, I guess, the best word to describe it.

My most vivid memories about the WTC are that you could practicaly see them from wherever in Manhattan you where. They were also the first, and last buildings you'd see when flying into or out of NY. I also remember talking to a firefighter about the '93 bombing, and how it would have been if the tower(s) did fall down then. The firefighter kind of gave me a desperate look.

The most strange memory I have, is of the musquitos I saw flying next to the windows of the lower observation deck (the indoor one, I don't know how to call that). I even thought about them when watching the events unvolve. How weird is that?

The destruction of the WTC still hurts me. Even though I'm not from NY, or the US, the fact that I saw the towers with my own eyes, and stood on top of one of the towers, gives me a personal bond to them. I think of this tragedy almost every day.

My heart is with everybody who suffered, one way or the other, on that day,

[Forty-Two]

My story isn't very interesting. I was eighteen years old and living with my parents, getting ready to start college. I heard about the first attack on the radio, which itself is unusual because I was listening to a classical radio station that rarely mentions breaking news. Like most other people, I figured the first plane was a fluke -- pilot error, one guy with a suicidal/homicidal bent, something that ended right there. After the second attack, we turned on the local NBC station and watched.

It was very scary; we lived near Chicago, and at the time we didn't know when or where these attacks were going to stop. For all we knew, the attacks were moving west, and the Sears Tower was next. I saw the reports of the office buildings being evacuated, and of college campuses on lockdowns and thought of my friends who'd already started school. It seems kind of stupid in retrospect, but I wondered if I was going to be starting school at all. At the time, we just didn't know what was going on. The whole country could have been coming to a screeching halt right then; I thought I might be watching my entire life turn on a dime as Americans faced a destructive war on our own soil.

I did go to work that day; it was my last day working at the violin store. The owner had managed to yell at me and make me cry the day before, so I was happy to be leaving. It was largely uneventful, as no one was thinking about their kid's violin rental that day. I gave blood at the local hospital the next day.

So, my story is dull. The man who eventually became Mr. 42 was on a vacation with his family in Europe at the time. The trip was a pretty big deal; Mr. 42 (a self-sufficient adult at the time) was there with his parents and his aunt, uncle, and cousins, and they'd been planning the trip for a long time. They were in the Chunnel when the attacks happened. As they were leaving the Chunnel, someone came over to them as asked, "Are you Americans?" They answered in the affirmative, and the stranger said, "I'm so sorry about what happened." So, that's how they found out that they needed to check the news. For them, they didn't know when they'd be able to get back to the US, since their flight was cancelled.

Sorry, my account just isn't as heart-wrenching as some others.

[Polaris]

Gumboot, my story of 9/11 was very similar to yours. I had just left music 101 for biology when someone told me that a plane had blown up the towers. I at first thought they meant a military plane, so I asked what kind. I don't remember what they said, except that they were gone.

As I went to the student lounge I saw a girl run out crying and I knew it was going to be bad. First thing I saw on TV was the first tower crumbling, but from that particular angle it looked like a large section of the first one had sloughed off.

We were studying Islam in history that night, by a strange quirk. But before I got there, I remember stopping at a complete stranger's car to listen to the news on her radio through the window. I can't imagine being able to do that now.

[schplurg]

I didn't think I'd want to read or participate in a thread like this, but here I am.

I remember staying up super-late on my computer. It was almost 6am (california) and I thought I'd check CNN as I prepared for bed. I saw their coverage from the moment it began.

I remember the confusion, what the hell am I watching? I watched the 2nd plane hit and I literally fell out of my chair onto my knees, yelling at my TV. I remember the commentators not seeing the 2nd plane even as it happened on their own monitors. I'm yelling "You idiots! Look at the damn screen!!!"

I had roommates downstairs at the time. I didn't know if I should awaken them. I thought that maybe my yelling had. Then the first building collapsed. I was in tears, screaming at the TV now. I'd never felt such horror in my life, before or since. I ran downstairs and one of my roomies was just coming out of his room.

He says "Are you watching this *****???!!!". We woke up the rest.

*******

No planes in the sky. Few cars. My neighbors from India didn't come out of their house for a few days. People were looking over their shoulders in the stores, at the fast food joints. People would see a cop or fireman and start to cry, or say "thank you" or "I love you" to them.

I remember trying to be extra friendly to the Iranian man who owned the liquor store I went to. He couldn't hang enough U.S. flags in his store and on his windows. He must have been scared too, though from a very different perspective.

I remember walking to the San Jose Arena to see a Sharks hockey game perhaps a week later. Maybe less. The skies hadn't been open very long. As I walked, a low flying airliner roared overhead on final approach and everyone suddenly looked up.

It scared me. Being in that building during the game worried me a little. When the Star Spangled Banner ended, all 17,000 people started chanting "USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!" It got very loud and it was an extremely emotional experience. Everything was at that time.

I remember staring at a vacant field across from my house and imagining how tall those two towers would look if they were right there. Impossibly huge. Then I tried to picture them coming down...the enormity of it, the life lost, the implications of the event itself. My mind just couldn't quite grasp it.

I guess that's why I typed this up.

[realitybites]

I know it's after the fact, but here's a link (http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/911tribute/index.htm) to one of those tribute pages that was put together by some fans of drum corps. I don't imagine most people are familiar with the activity, but it has some roots within the military establishment.

Make sure your sound is on.

ETA: One more. (http://www.dci.org/news/news.cfm?news_id=9cacbac1-dd93-4276-b5a2-afd26c4479d7)

[nathanmcginty]

I had a job interview that day. The first inkling I got was when my interview called me and left a message like, "Despite what's going on today, we'd still like to do the interview". I had no idea what she was talking about until I turned on the TV. I got there for the interview and all everyone was doing was sitting there watching TV.

I also had an appointment to come in and fill out an application to work at a movie theatre the day the Challenger exploded.

I think someone is trying to tell me something.

[CptColumbo]

I was waiting for my turn in the dance studio at the theatre where I was, at the time, so I could rehearse a scene I was doing that night. I was looking at the notes on the BB, when a friend named Oliver told me two planes had hit the WTC towers. I asked, "TWO?" One could be an accident, but two meant something was up. I went to our small caffeteria, since there was a TV there and watched the coverage on CBS. When the Pentagon was hit I thought of my Brother-in-Law, who is in the Air Force, and knew he was probably going to war. When the towers fell, I cried knowing the lives that were probably lost. After the President gave his second briefing I knew I had to get back to work, but my journal entries that day show it was still affecting me. We held our rehearsal that night, despite the events of the day. Our director felt it was a good to have a break from the tragedy of the day. One of our company was a native New Yorker was excused so she could try to call home (she had been trying most of the day).

[Abbyas]

I know it's after the fact, but here's a link to one of those tribute pages that was put together by some fans of drum corps. I don't imagine most people are familiar with the activity, but it has some roots within the military establishment.

A little weepy over here. Beautiful.

[Brainster]

I generally get up with the sun, so I was awake about 5:45 AM, which would be 8:45 AM Eastern. I remember I showered and then went into my home office and turned on the monitor. I surfed over to a newsgathering site I like and clicked on a political story to see what the comments were. The first comment was, "A plane just hit the World Trade Center!" The second comment was, "Ohmigod, another plane just hit the World Trade Center." Third comment was, "Turn on your TV NOW!"

So I walked down the hall, sure it was some sort of elaborate gag. It was just shortly after the second plane had hit, because I remember the announcers were still saying, "If this is a terrorist attack..." I sat there glued to the TV for about an hour and a half before I realized I have family back East, including a brother who works above Grand Central. Of course, I couldn't get through on the phone because the circuits were jammed, but I quickly dashed off an email to my sister, who must have been online as well, because I got a reply inside of 5 minutes that everybody was okay, but my brother was stranded in the city (he got out by bus later).

A client of mine called and wanted to see if I could stop by his office to discuss some revisions he wanted done. He's a nice guy, but not much on small talk; he's all business. When I got to his office we talked for an hour about the terrorist attacks and didn't get any work done. Then I headed back home and watched TV most of the rest of the day.

[alfaniner]

I'm currently watching the HBO series "The Sopranos" for the first time. Just finished Season 2. It's always a little alarming when in the opening credits he drives home and casually looks up and sees the two towers. I know the show was on both before and after, and I'm interested to see how they will deal with it. No, don't tell me anything!!!