The date

[Cal_kashi]

Shit, I remember lazily waking up in my dorm room going to msn.com and looking at this funny picture of a plane hitting a building. I was like, WTF? what movie is this? I clicked on the link and just said holy shit, then cruised down to the common room in the dorm and watching the news all day like the rest of my dorm. No one went to classes. Everyone was fascinated and horrified, it was a scary day.

What specific memories do all of you have of the WTC terrorist attacks..


p.s. I absolutely hate when its simply referred to as "nine-eleven" it just pisses me off. Fuck our PC culture.

[ES]

It was around 4 am or so in the Philippines and insomnia hit again. There was justs omething in my gut that bothers me and I always end up grabbing the remote to watch the tellie while my parents were asleep beside the room next door. Surfing thru channels, I believe I saww CNN saying showing the twin towers in flames and smoke. It caught my attention pretty much and was shocked of what I saw. I had mixed feelings...was shocked, confused and curious of what happened. But of all that I should have felt was sorrow, thousands lives was lost and I was just lying in my bed thinkin of what happened. Next day.....only a few poeple were talkin about it as if nothing happened.


There, that was my "9/11" story....It's a little bit sad...I live in Vancouver now, and when I go to work only a few poeple will talk about it...

[Cal_kashi]

edit: unfounded comment.... I checked more sources.

[SK]

Katrina killed over 10,000 people?

~1~

[Ryllharu]

They're estimating the Katrina toll at a lot less since they made the 10,000 call. They haven't been finding the number of bodies they thought they would. But its still too soon to tell for sure. Though it was a natural disaster and New Orleans has been in danger for decades, its a lot worse of a disaster than the towers were, but I digress.

As for 9/11, I was in English class in high school when we heard about the first one. The rest of the day was pretty much everyone watching the TV's as it went on. I saw the second plane hit over the Live feed and saw both the towers fall down live too. Kinda disturbing.

I know its a big deal and all, but honestly I'm pretty tired of hearing about it. Everyone (here in America and esp. the gov't) is harping on it every year and using it for all kinds of politcal purposes. Yeah its sad, yeah it sucked, but I swear naming the replacement "Freedom Tower" really drives me nuts. Its so freaking stupid! Do we (Americans) really need to memorialize everything? Wars and battles I understand, I've been to the Vietnam wall, very touching. Its a very simple, understated memorial that really serves its purpose as you walk up and read or touch the names engraved on it. But lately it's starting to seem like we need a stupid statue and structures for everything these days. Sorry for the rant and sorry if you're offended by some of it, but I get really pissed off this time of year because I'm sick of hearing about it. Sometimes you just need to move on.

[Cal_kashi]

I apologize profusely If i am wrong I am citing a site and interview I saw which said...


"Jack Burkman in Damage Control: Wanker

On Connected today, Jack defended the president with this logic. You have to listen to him to hear the shear "deadness in his heart" which is at the core of all apologists in a tragedy of this magnitude.

Jack: "I understand there are 10,000 people dead. It's terrible. It's tragic. But in a democracy of 300 million people, over years and years and years, these things happen."

"

http://politicalhumor.about.co...2F09%2F06.html%23a4820 (http://politicalhumor.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=politicalhumor&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crooksan dliars.com%2F2005%2F09%2F06.html%23a4820)


... ie its at about.com

reading other sites it may in fact be as low as under 300 and I am sorry..

[Board of Command]

My thoughts? I just can't believe it has been 4 years already. Time really flies...

[010577]

Originally posted by: BOARD_of_command
My thoughts? I just can't believe it has been 4 years already. Time really flies...

that's what govt. wants u to think... that's why large events usually don't have a year suffix in their names because you lose track of when it happened... e.g. 6 4 incident (Tiananmen incident where students get run over by tanks and machine guns)

[woofcat]

What i did that day, Went to school came home at lunch my mom was watching CNN and told me they hit the Twin Towers, I ate some Chili, went back to school and they annouced it there. Then continued on the days lessons and went home. I think i played some Diablo 2. For me it was not a big deal.

[Terracosmo]

I haven't given it much of a thought that it's this date. As for memories... well, my scenario is a usual one I'm quite sure, put on the TV and wondered what movie it was. Then when I understood it was real I first was like "okaaaay". Then 10 minutes after that it felt unreal. And then after an hour I didn't think much more about it, since I was already convinced that humanity are a bunch of idiots at that point.

[kooshi]

While eating breakfast before going to school, I was flipping through the channels. When I saw the live report, I was just a little surprised of what happened, but then I didn't really care for it. The worst part was how everyone at school was talking about it. It was quite annoying at that time.

[Phoenix20578]

I remember, I was in bio class that day. We saw the smoke and wondered what the hell it was coming from. After I found out, I kinda went on with my life. I cared about what had happened and the people that were affected, but I just don't get phased that much when stuff like this happens.

[Xollence]

I remember my roommate waking me up and telling me the Arabs have taken over.

[Mae]

When I heard about it I was on my way to class, and it was so wierd because I was listening to one of those goofy morning shows and they suddenly got very serious and told people to turn to CNN, but they wouldn't say why... Once I got to class I soon found out, and I didn't stay long because it was canceled.

I wasn't all that shocked, but I remember being pissed off about how some selfish, worthless bastard could think that any cause could be worth that kind of sacrifice. There are a LOT of political and religious causes out there, and if we all start going around killing and destroying for the cause than pretty soon there's noone and nothing left TO kill or destroy any more. I remember hoping I could find out what their goals were, so that I could vehemently oppose them just on general priniciples.

This is a decent thread so far, and I just ask that anyone who wants to give some crazy conspiracy theory or anti-US rhetoric or whatever at least wait til tomorrow, k?

[Xollence]

There was documentary about the hijackers today. A lot of them had no real future so I guess that played a part in their suicide attack. I don't get how people can be so stupid in believing some of the shit they preach.

[Y]

I remember being out on the practice field for high school band. We didn't have TV access, so all we heard was rumors for a few hours. The first time I heard it was at about 9:30 my time, and the guy relating the story thought that the White House had been hit too. We found out the full situation next period, and the enormity really set in.

[SK]

I was in English class and the teacher left then came back in and told us there had been an attack on the U.S., we didn't really think she was serious until we turned the T.V. on. All we were seeing was the 1st tower being hit but we weren't really sure what was going on, some kid said a missile hit it so we were all kind of freaked out. Then like Y said they were saying D.C. had been hit too. We watched the second tower get hit, and we didn't see the first collapse but one of the anchors said they had news one of the towers had collapsed. When I went home I found out the entire story.

~1~

[Mut]

Originally posted by: Y
I remember being out on the practice field for high school band.
Hahahahaha, you were in the school band.

[Y]

Originally posted by: Mut@chi

Hahahahaha, you were in the school band.

Burn from the THREAD FLAMER.

Who gave you that shit anyway? Laffotastic.

The 9/11 response following in the days after was a massive outpouring of support and donations from everyone around here. It's really rather pitiful that it takes massive disasters like 9/11 and the hurricane devastation that kills thousands to get people to start contributing to humanity, but at least they do respond.

[Turkish-S]

i was at a friend and we were playing medal of honour AA. and his sis said that amerika was under attack or something. and i didn't really care at that moment. until i got home and saw the bignes of the attack.

and would do the same if i was the terrorist. if i was brainwashed, if i would believe that i get an eternity of happiness, and if i in this live don't even have the money to feed my children than i would do it.

and i also think many of you would do the same if you were in that situation.

[Y]

I'm a pretty big cynic, but to blame the suicidal rage of the 9/11 hijackers on their situation is kind of odd, considering millions of other people live in the same kind of situation daily and don't orchestrate enormous attacks against the U.S. It takes a kind of malice that isn't born out of situational angst, but deep psychological problems too. 99% of people put in a situation of total abject poverty do not strike out at a government across the world in an attack to murder innocent citizens and destablize the world economy. It takes a special brand.

[woofcat]

IMO the USA asked for it. I myself hate the USA but guess what shit happens. The USA is far worse than any terrorist.

[ChaosK]

my mom ran out of the fucking building. fuck you woofcat (damn canadian)

but yeeah its a day everybody knows about, and if anyone lost somebody, sorry.

[SK]

Originally posted by: woofcat
IMO the USA asked for it. I myself hate the USA but guess what shit happens. The USA is far worse than any terrorist.

Have some respect you dumb piece of shit. Saying innocent people asked to be killed is ignorant. They didn't attack the U.S., it wasn't like Japan attacking a naval base, they attacked a defenseless building filled with innocent people.

~1~

[Nai]

I was at home, half-asleep as usual with the TV on in the background as I gave it a glance and saw the burning towers. With my interest somewhat perked, I got up and raised the volume. Then, after listening to the incessant rantings of various reporters I simply turned it off.

Apathy tends to be bliss.

[Xollence]

Originally posted by: woofcat
IMO the USA asked for it. I myself hate the USA but guess what shit happens. The USA is far worse than any terrorist.

You're an idiot.

[Assertn]

woofcat, you seem to be confused. the anti-american sentiment wasnt supposed to start until AFTER bush's retaliation. before that, america was no different than that frozen tundra you call a country, idiot.



Originally posted by: Turkish-S
i was at a friend and we were playing medal of honour AA. and his sis said that amerika was under attack or something. and i didn't really care at that moment. until i got home and saw the bignes of the attack.

and would do the same if i was the terrorist. if i was brainwashed, if i would believe that i get an eternity of happiness, and if i in this live don't even have the money to feed my children than i would do it.

and i also think many of you would do the same if you were in that situation.

thanks TS, that was touching

[Y]

Originally posted by: SK


Have some respect you dumb piece of shit. Saying innocent people asked to be killed is ignorant. They didn't attack the U.S., it wasn't like Japan attacking a naval base, they attacked a defenseless building filled with innocent people.

~1~

Laffeaux. Military targets are defenseless and innocent? In whose rules of war? 9/11 is only analogous to Pearl Harbor in that both times the U.S. government was warned of the impending attack and did not fortify its defenses. Of course, the U.S. didn't have the SPECIFICS of 9/11, just that terrorists were likely to attack using hijacked airliners, whereas Pearl Harbor was literally telegraphed in advance.

EDIT:


IMO the USA asked for it. I myself hate the USA but guess what shit happens. The USA is far worse than any terrorist.

You are a fucking idiot.

[ES]

Originally posted by:
It takes a kind of malice that isn't born out of situational angst, but deep psychological problems too. 99% of people put in a situation of total abject poverty do not strike out at a government across the world in an attack to murder innocent citizens and destablize the world economy. It takes a special brand.


not to mention a brand of brain washing to boot...

[Turkish-S]

stfu assertn i was trying to be serious.

[Assertn]

thats awesome
i'm totally aware of what it takes to make a person want to hijack a plane to crash it into a building

but its not exactly the most appropriate contribution for a memorial thread

[Deblas]

I was at school. First I just heard that the U.S was being attacked but not much detail because the teachers and faculty didn't allow the students to watch it on T.V in the library. Also they didn't answer our question of what happened either. I really don't know why. I had to wait till I got home to find out more about it.

[Kezren]

I was just walking into 2nd period. I was in tenth grade at the time. My teacher was watching the burning building from the first plane on the tv, I walked in moments before the second one struck. it seemed like it was happening in some place far away. It was announced on the intercoms later the whole situation for those that hadnt seen it.

[SK]

Originally posted by: Y


Originally posted by: SK


Have some respect you dumb piece of shit. Saying innocent people asked to be killed is ignorant. They didn't attack the U.S., it wasn't like Japan attacking a naval base, they attacked a defenseless building filled with innocent people.

~1~

Laffeaux. Military targets are defenseless and innocent? In whose rules of war? 9/11 is only analogous to Pearl Harbor in that both times the U.S. government was warned of the impending attack and did not fortify its defenses. Of course, the U.S. didn't have the SPECIFICS of 9/11, just that terrorists were likely to attack using hijacked airliners, whereas Pearl Harbor was literally telegraphed in advance.

EDIT:


IMO the USA asked for it. I myself hate the USA but guess what shit happens. The USA is far worse than any terrorist.

You are a fucking idiot.

You misunderstood what I said, I meant the towers were defenseless and innocent. If you notice, I said it WASN'T like Japan attacking a naval base. Laffeaux @ your crap reading comprehension.

~1~

[ChaosK]

Originally posted by: Deblas
I was at school. First I just heard that the U.S was being attacked but not much detail because the teachers and faculty didn't allow the students to watch it on T.V in the library. Also they didn't answer our question of what happened either. I really don't know why. I had to wait till I got home to find out more about it.


same here, half our faculty were trying to sheild us from it (like the teachers) but then the principal went on and made an announcement and that kinda voided the whole faculty secrecy thing... we got out of school like 5 hours early and i went home and saw like everybody home (besides my mom) who appeared like 1 hr later.

[Y]

Originally posted by: SK
\

You misunderstood what I said, I meant the towers were defenseless and innocent. If you notice, I said it WASN'T like Japan attacking a naval base. Laffeaux @ your crap reading comprehension.

~1~

You're right. Fair enough. I'd seen way too many comparisons to Pearl Harbor both on the internet and real life yesterday.

[Lefty]

Originally posted by: Chaoskiddo


Originally posted by: Deblas
I was at school. First I just heard that the U.S was being attacked but not much detail because the teachers and faculty didn't allow the students to watch it on T.V in the library. Also they didn't answer our question of what happened either. I really don't know why. I had to wait till I got home to find out more about it.


same here, half our faculty were trying to sheild us from it (like the teachers) but then the principal went on and made an announcement and that kinda voided the whole faculty secrecy thing... we got out of school like 5 hours early and i went home and saw like everybody home (besides my mom) who appeared like 1 hr later.

I remember that my school shut down all cable lines and internet connections after the towers fell. But thankfully the video class I TA'd had a seperate cable line and internet line. We had half the school coming in and out of the room all day trying to find out about what had happened. I think the students took the news of the attacks beter then the teachers and administration.

[ChaosK]

well, it seemed that at least like 5 teachers in every school knew somebody in there. (my mom was just there for that day and barely got into the tower when the plane crashed so she was like the first 1 to escape (thats how she got home, she left before it got to be a big deal) for some reason, like a bunch of teachers knew somebody in one of the towers. (call it coincidental but i think your school must've had some too or else they wouldn't have taken it so badly.

[Lefty]

No my school had one or two kids with relatives in the towers and I think one teacher knew someone who worked there. The main reason behind that was they thought the students couldn't handle teh relization that our counrty was under attack. They really tried to shelter us from what was going on that day. But I never left the video class in the event we had to shut everything down if the Admins came around snooping to seer if the teachers we keeping to the lesson plan. I think i had to shut down the feed about twice.

[Turkish-S]

assertn for your knollage i was replying to what xollence and mae said. they said the same exept from another view.

[Jaredster]

I remeber I did a huge report on the arcitecture of the world trade center 3 months before they collapsed.

[masamuneehs]

I was in school, suburbia NY. During my second period break I heard someone say that s plane had hit the WTC. I didn't know what to think, I had no idea what was really going on. A couple minutes later someone said another plane had hit the WTC. I remember laughing and saying, "What the hell kind of retarded pilots are they?"

Halfway through third period everyone in the school was out of classes, everyone was talking, saying it wasn't a small thing, that it was a massive attack, that the Pentagon had also been hit, that it was terrorists. The administration rolled out TVs under the covered breezeways connecting the buildings. I watched both towers collapse.

Fourth period came and my math teacher rounded up all the kids he could for that class. He said, "I know there's lots of other things going on in the world today, but we should just set it aside for the next 45 minutes and focus on Derivatives and calculus." A girl in the back row behind me was crying all class because her mom worked at the WTC. Her mom had escaped. One kid right in the middle worked all period, asked questions about calculus, paid rapt attention to Derivatives. Next period he found out his dad had died.

Me and a bunch of my friends didn't really feel like going to school past 5th period. We ditched out, along with more than half the school. I still couldn't get in touch with my mom, who works on the 43rd Floor of a skyscraper right across from the UN. The cell phones circuits were all busy.

We watched TV. I saw the towers collapse again, and again, and again. I saw the explosions for the first times and all the other footage. We ordered pizza because my parents' friends weren't home. We watched Arab people cheer when they heard the news.

I went home. My parents wanted us all to have a family prayer time. I had stopped really believing in all that, but we did it anyway. I didn't do any homework, or watch TV. I went to bed pretty early.

The next day we had an assembly at school. We listened to Bush's speech in my American history class. I remember thinking that he should have stopped it. Then thinking that whoever had done this would have to pay, no matter what the cost. My math teacher marked me off for not having done my Calculus homework.

[Lefty]

I find it insulting of your math teacher wanted teach Cal during all that. What a wanker. I find it inspiring that your school had wheeled out tv's to let everyone watch what was going on while my school had cut most of us off from the out side world.

[SK]

Originally posted by: Jaredster
I remeber I did a huge report on the arcitecture of the world trade center 3 months before they collapsed.

What sucks is me and my sister had gone to Manhatton to hang out and didn't have a chance to see them, we went to the Empire State Building instead.

~1~

[Assertn]

Originally posted by: Turkish-S
assertn for your knollage i was replying to what xollence and mae said. they said the same exept from another view.

mae also said she didn't want to get involved in the conspiracies and the WHYS about the terrorists, and to just dedicate it towards the memory of the event

Anyway...damn masamuneehs....thats pretty crazy

[ChaosK]

Originally posted by: Lefty
I find it insulting of your math teacher wanted teach Cal during all that. What a wanker. I find it inspiring that your school had wheeled out tv's to let everyone watch what was going on while my school had cut most of us off from the out side world.

it IS really stupid that your math teacher expected you all to work that hard, but i see what he's doing, you know teachers arent exactly supposed to share that kind of information with students so he wanted them to not think about it as much. like teh kid who worked all period probably didnt worry until he found out his dad died

but for him to mark you off for the calc HW thats BULLSHIT.

Lefty i know exactly what your saying, the kids in our school had to bulldoze our way into the few working TVs (the ones that werent disabled):
-teachers lounge (i got in here)
-library
-main office (we were all kicked out of here)
and i'm sure there were some other places too.

edit: oh jaredster about you doing an arcitecture reminds me of another ironic thing, the world trade center collapsed 1 week after i went to see it and bought a bunch of souviners which are now apparently worth like $500 but, i think the memory's more important than the money (at least when i dont need it)

[XanBcoo]

Nice retelling Masamuneehs.

When I found out, it was literally just happening. I was going from 1st to 2nd period, and I heard the tv was on as I walked into class. My first reaction (now seems like a common reaction after reading this thread) was "Kick-ass, a movie!"

but as you know, it wasn't a movie.

We watched footage of it for about 3 more periods before we were told we could go home. I spent the rest of the day finishing my homework. Then, after 30 more minutes of footage, I went to bed. Not that I didn't care, I just didn't know what else to do. Pretty heavy stuff.

[ChaosK]

thats exactly what i did too, after i found out my family was alright, i just went to sleep.

[Cal_kashi]

Do all you realize that this is to us what JFK's assination was to our parents and grandparents. We will probably never live through another historically defining event like this.

[Turkish-S]

are your parents and grandparents dead.??

[Cal_kashi]

no, but I would bet that JFK's assination is more burned into their heads than this, at least with regards to what we have been talking about, ie. knowing where you were/what was happining whe it happened.

[Assertn]

Originally posted by: Cal_kashi
Do all you realize that this is to us what JFK's assination was to our parents and grandparents. We will probably never live through another historically defining event like this.

unless armageddon hits

[Rhanfahl]

I was at work sanding a car down and paint prepping it while listening to Howard Stern on the radio...I remember hearing whatever useless conversation being turned into Robin blurting out "Oh my God! what is that!" To which Howard made some jackass snide remark about flight traffic control or someshit. Then after the second plane hit, he acutally decided to not be an asshole anymore and turn his show into some sort of news network. I remember thinking "WTF this sick mother fucking asshole better not be pulling an H.G. Wells on us!". I turned the radio off and concentrated on my work the rest of the day constantly thinking about it.

When I got home my mom was crying, telling me all about what I had heard on the TV. So, then I finally thought "So we've finally got what has been coming for us as a nation. All these years of saying how much better we are and how different we are...and now look. We've just been shown that no one is safe anywhere in the entire Universe." I remember everyone asking "how could this happen, we're the United States!" and I kept thinking "its BECAUSE we're the United States, we have grown complacent and arrogant, we have 'foriegn policy' and even tell other countries how to run their own affairs. We send troops all over the world to fight for things that have nothing to do with us. The rest of the ENTIRE WORLD hates the USA"

So yes, while I agree that Katrina has been over100 fold more destructive, it was an act of "God/ Mother Nature". This was an act of a few select individuals who were under the influence that if they did this "God" would reward them with several hundred or thousand virgins in Heaven...sick fucking bastards...

Also, I remember Y saying something about Pearl Harbor. The facts of that are, we were taken by surprise because the Japanese telegraph didn't reach Washington till 37 minutes after the attack actually begun. I think someone commited suicide for the dishonor for it too. So, yes, they Nihons had the intention of informing us then pounding us, but they made a mistake.

I think the only good thing that every came from this incident now 4 years ago was that for a short while...we were all "Americans". We weren't Republican or Democrats, we weren't black or white, we weren't upper or lower class...we were just Americans. The stupid shit bickering over politics STOPPED DEAD in its tracks! Whether you liked Bush or not, everyone supported him.....well, everyone except that fuck Michael Moore (whom I want to strap down and make watch every war real of WWII and what's going over in the east, like in Clockwork Orange. Then afterwards, lock the fat ass fuck up in a room to starve to death).

When my father was a boy the most memorable day of his life was the day Kennedy was assassinated. For us...this is our day that we'll never really forget. We may put it back in our minds, but when our kids ask...we'll know, we'll remember exactly what we were doing when we heard the news...and if we're human, it will rouse our emotions of sadness and anger.

[masamuneehs]

Lol at Rhanfahl
Not at your expirience from that day, but how you say it was a good thing that after 9/11 everyone came out together as "Americans"

What we all saw as "Patriotism" was a simple reaction of solidarity forged by previously unknown fear. The Bush administration no longer needed to worry about divisions amongst factions in America, because the biggest threat was unanimously seen as coming from abroad. With everyone pooling together, afraid to appear unpatriotic, opposition to the administration's policies, slogans and responses were muted. Corrections or suggestions for improving the agenda could also be put on the snide.

While the "stupid shit bickering over poltics" as you put it, stopped dead, so too were all the limitations on the President imprisoned for the cause of "fighting terror". The policies that have come out of the "Patriotic, Proud American Response" to 9/11 are arguably the least humanitarian of our nation's history since the Japanese Interment. Our invasion of Iraq and the heavy political pressure we have put on every nation "in order to thrwart terrorism" has broken the chains on the American behemoth. While we have killed a great deal of our enemies, we have failed to stop the process by which terrorists are nurtured and maintained. The enemies that are still left are hardened, more resolved than ever, and the people whose lives were turned upside down by US foreign policy have understandably been disillusioned with our work.

The question isn't what does 9/11 mean four years after the fact. The question should be, how far have we come since then? Are we heading in the direction where this sort of thing will be prevented in the future? Can we continue to be the world's superpower without garnering foes from every corner of the globe?