I remember where I was...seared into our memories of that morning. I was to attend a meeting that a.m. at the WTC and I blew it off. Fortunately all attendees were at breakfast on the 1st floor and made it out safely...physically that is. Mentally, the scars are still there of course.

I knew many people who were lost that day, and I have so many friends who lost relatives. One of the saddest was the son of a teacher at our local high school, who had just graduated from college, and it was his second day at work at Cantor Fitzgerald. My next-door neighbor's sister died at Shanksville, on her way home to LA after attending her grandmother's funeral. And then some people dodged the bullet. My best friend's husband called in a bogus sick day to go play golf on such a beautiful morning. My cousin, an electrician for the company that managed the building, had just finished working on the 93rd floor a few days before. I think it is absolutely heartbreaking to know two things. First, that there are 1,100 people whose remains have not been found. And second, that an equal number of people have died of related illnesses since then. I am crying just typing this.

A sad day forever...lesson learned? I hope so, but not sure. I worked for the

Government then, and those in the office were at first stunned...and completely

silent when we heard the news. Then we rushed around in our minds of who

may have been in the planes...did we know them...did we love them? Who

was at their jobs that we knew and loved? The Trade Center...well, that's

not possible!!!!! surely!!!!!!! must be an error in reporting!!!!!!! Hardest

day to get through and days after....and every anniversary since I feel a moment

of physical pain in my heart. It should never, never, never be forgotten!!!!!!! Knew

2 in a plane..but not personally, Nephews of a fellow worker. RIP forever.

Yes so many near misses...a co-worker's wife worked at the transit office in the WTC and, because they had co. the night before, she went in later than usual. Came up out of the subway to witness the 1st plane. Many of her co-workers didn't make it.

IMO...if you forget them, you erase all value of their years of life while they were well

and safe on this earth. If you don't have that kind of empathy...well, it seems a lot of others

do. Thank you so much for your deep caring heart.

(I’ve deleted my posts, realizing my cynicism doesn’t belong on this thread. Sorry.)

I missed that FOAS, but thank you for your kind thoughts I can see currently.

I always like to take the broader views on things and my great hope for this terrible event in our lives is that it will make us as Americans more mindful of what our actions mean for people in other countries and their losses as well. I am always hoping for a greater peace.

I feel the same, Patriciae.

The worst memory for me is seeing the firefighters marching into a tower...to their nearly certain deaths. Media today says nearly the same number of men as died that day have died since then from the toxic pollutants from the fires.

" my great hope for this terrible event in our lives is that it will make us as Americans more mindful of what our actions mean for people in other countries "

A worthy but perhaps unattainable goal. Another wrinkle is that we seem to remain oblivious to understanding that our actions affect geopolitics, how people in other countries view our country and our fellow citizens. Before even considering any direct effect our actions have on others.

The first year when we moved to PA, we took a mini road trip and included the Flight 93 Memorial. It was a moving experience, and well worth the trip. I highly recommend it.

https://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm

too bad too many people haven't learned about this. they did an interview with younger folks, and most did not know or were surprised to learn about the attacks ... I really get rankled when people try to call 9-11 'patriots day'

I was on a site earlier today where people were commenting, and I was stunned at how many said that they believed the attacks were staged by the US government.

I remember - it was my day off, and I was watching the Today Show as I had another cup of tea and saw the news- I spent the rest of the day glued to the television in disbelief. The brother of one of my colleagues was among the lost.

Yesterday I watched an interview (from some time back, I think) with the first 2 F-16 pilots who scrambled to get into the air to head off any other attacks on Washington. Being National Guard, and not tasked with emergency response (not part of NORAD), their jets weren't armed. They went up ready to sacrifice their lives if needed to protect the Capitol.

bragu and rae, I suspect the people you refer to are among the shockingly high number lacking basic knowledge we'd all assume everyone has when graduating high school.

A series of videos that are at the same time funny, sad, and obvious explanations why our politics are in the state they are, take a look on YouTube at Jay Leno's series called Jay Walking. He goes to public places and asks relatively easy questions that seemingly few can answer. It's pretty shocking.

I can't believe it's been 22 years. All the little kids of the 1000s killed that day are in their 20s. When I look at my grandson, I realize he has no idea of the horror of that day since he was a baby. His father called me when it happened and we watched in horror thinking that the last plane might crash near us. Those on that plane were such heroes, and they deserve our thoughts and thanks every day because that plane definitely would have hit the white house or Capitol. It's always such a sad day and I shed tears every year like it just happened.

It certainly does seem that the memory of that horrific day is fading. Like so many on this thread, I'll never forget the feeling deep in my soul. Terror, shock, awe (in a bad way, of course), holding on to hope (senselessly), and emptiness. And, of course, devastation for the people involved. And now for those who are still suffering.

HU-787167202, WHO in the administration said that? I have googled and Bing'ed and used AI to search, and find no such quotes.

I spent that day going back and forth between talking to grieving neighbors who kept finding themselves together in the lane in back, and the television. DH was off road in the woods and hadn't heard.

My SIL and I had a large dinner party planned for two days later. No party mood and we'd decided to cancel last minute, then didn't. It began to feel like an opportunity to spend time with friends and respectfully talk, so that's what we did. We needed each other, I was glad we hadn't cancelled but instead shared some food, a prayer and many hugs.

We'd do well to remember WHY we were attacked before we send Americans to attack people halfway around the world...over oil.

chisue. I know many would agree with you but I'm not sure I do. I'm not certain how it has changed over the years but the US produces as much of the world's crude these days as it consumes. Imports aren't essential and if they were, there are plenty of non-Middle East sources to choose from. Oil is an undistinguishable commodity - other than sulfur content differences (which can be handled in refining, a barrel from here is the same is a barrel from there. Much of the animosity toward the US has geopolitical roots based on our actions and affiliations, separate and apart from oil.

I hopefully can say this without getting in trouble here but our government has always operated to protect US business interests elsewhere and the general consensus is that our interference in the middle east was in protection of business interests in reference to oil so I think Chisue's statement is accurate. What other reason would we have to interest ourselves in the countries there. A shortage of oil for us has nothing to do with it. Business profits yes. This drifts into territory we cant cover here I think. Nothing we did after that attack has changed my mind about why it happened. More grief for more people solved nothing.

Elmer, I could make my case but wont because we are talking our loss here and how we as a people think about and deal with it. I do not think a squabble achieves anything. I just would like us to remember that as we hurt so do the people whose families we have broken and maybe we will try some other method to affect change. But having said that we have families and citizens here for whom this is still a raw loss.

102 minutes

I still remember it vividly. I can't believe how much the terrorists have affected me, even after 23 years. Shame on me for letting them win.

I remember. It was horrible. The flag at our lodge is half mast.

September 11, 2024

I remember every bit of that day twenty-two years ago. I was driving to a doctor’s office to get a rose thorn removed from an inected thumb. I could have turned around and gone home, or called my husband (at work) to tell him and connect. I did neither. I did not want to see the details unfold on TV, I did not want to use the phone (which I knew so many others would need to do). DH would hear of it soon and why not let him have a few more minutes of happily working on his project for his work? He and his colleagues were surrounded by PCs and technology.

I continued driving into the city and knew that other drivers must be hearing of the events — I felt some sort of shared grieving with them. Drivers were being civilized, calm.

After the thorn was removed, medicine given, I was still in this numb state of wanting to ignore the horror of what was happening. I went to a garden center to escape. I probably tried to pretend that nothing was any different than any other glorious, cloudless September day. But it was very different.

I bought a rose a beautiful rose plant. I needed it. I left the garden center and took a long time to return home because I didn’t want to see the horrible reality or hear more details.

This morning, when I woke, I turned on the television and it was just around the time of the moment of silence, and then when the New York Police Department bagpipes began to play that wistful song, one tear, followed by another, then another rolled down my cheeks.

There were so many brave and selfless people that day and after. Such unimaginable loss. I will never be able to wrap my mind around that horror and pain. I’m not a particularly sentimental person, but here I am with tears as I’m try to compose this post using speech to text. It’s very hard to use speech to text when you are choked up. (Siri, please switch to sob-voice mode.)

People should never forget and they should also, as others have expressed today., think about why — beyond the scope of our country. And we also have to be realistic at the same time — if that is possible — because there is, unfortunately, a component of human nature that is greedy and shortsighted.

Autumn is often a difficult time for me if I’m not well rested and psychologically prepared, because so many losses have taken place in autumn. And I think that grief is a lot like a bowl of long, tangled noodles. With one strand, comes all the others.

Let there be as much peace on earth with as much joy, kindness, love, beauty, forgiveness and compassion as we can make possible. An ambitious goal.

I would like to know the name of the music played by the bagpipes just after the moment of silence. Anyone? (I cannot recall the name of it.) Thanks.

I don't think old threads should be bumped - it's always better to start with a fresh screen. But I will say that seeing the old thread was an instructive example for everyone of how people can exchange divergent views without becoming impolite.

All of the events of that day were tragic and terrible. They never should have happened. Was it avoidable? Maybe, maybe not. Hundreds of millions of lives changed as a result, for the better for some and much worse for others, and too many lost their lives. (One death would have been too many). Without losing respect or dignity for what happened, it has been many years now and I think we can remember it thoughtfully while allowing more intense painful memories to fade a bit, to move back from being front of mind. That's probably a healthy thing.

This is always a bad day for me. My next-door neighbor's sister was a passenger on the plane that went down in Pennsylvania. She was going home to LA from her grandmother's funeral. One of the teachers at my kids' high school lost his 22 year-old son, who was at the second day of his dream first job at Cantor Fitzgerald. Watching the reading of the names this morning was a difficult thing.

I watched that day from a few minutes after the first plane hit till early in the next AM and I watched every documentary since that time. I did not know anyone who died but grieved for them all. I remember the fear we had watching the unknown plane heading to DC but crashing in PA, We owe those brave passengers so much.

It’s not too much to keep in mind that sometimes old threads (a whopping year old) of import get responded to by a few who might not realize the ‘original’ thread was a whole whoppin’ year old. After all, it was a monumental event.

Faftris, that is very sad.