Eight years ago, on September 11. 2001, I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing at about 5:50 in the morning, Arizona time.
As I followed the advice of a friend who was calling to tell me to turn on the television, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
I will never forget how quickly I awoke - truly wide awake, like a feeling I don't believe I had ever experienced...
We all felt that feeling, and while it was humanly unique to each of us, I know subconsciously we felt a common bond.
Fear, anguish, amazement, shock, astonishment, despair, concern... the emotions just ran through me as I watched the first tower smolder, and listened to the confused reporters talk to callers who witnessed what had happened just minutes before.
In an instant, the scene became extremely surreal. As United Flight 175 plowed into the side of the South Tower, it became overwhelmingly clear that America was under attack.
My first thoughts went to my parents. I called their house, they were both at work. My brother, my sister... "My God, what the Hell is happening?" I asked myself. I spoke with my sister, she was fine. Scared, but fine.
I left my brother a voicemail. Little did I know that about one hour later, he would hear United Flight 93 screaming overhead, followed by the sound of sirens in the distance. He was mountain biking in the hills of Pennsylvania and was within an incredibly short distance of the crash site.
To this day, he doesn't like to talk about it.
I spent the entire morning watching the most horrific events I had ever seen unfold right before my eyes. The fact that they hit The Pentagon... they actually caught us so off guard that they flew a jet plane into the side of our Military Headquarters...
I can not - I will not... ever understand the mindset that brings a person to act as those 19 evil persons did that day.
I went to work that evening. I was a manager of a Wendy's and it was business as usual, if having your clientele - each and every last one of them - thank you for being there. Just for making their hamburger and filling their drink... yet there was so much more to the words "thank you" that evening.
I spent the better part of my evening explaining to my young staff (two young ladies of Mexican descent and a high school boy) what I understood of what happened that morning. For the two young ladies, there was an extreme lack of ability to understand such hate. By nature these girls were both such kind people. The teenage boy seemed to have a better understanding; perhaps he had come from a military family, or maybe he just got it.
That is my recollection of September 11th, 2001.
About a week ago, I was searching YouTube for something generally unrelated, when I changed my search topic, and then ran across this video.
As intense as I know my feelings were that day, I sat with tears running down my face as I watched this homemade video, shot from just a handful of blocks away from Ground Zero. I can't begin to imagine witnessing those moments, literally within walking distance...
If you have the time, and the strength...
This year feels different. For the first time since that fateful day, I do not feel we are as safe as we were under the Presidency of George W. Bush.
That is a tragic feeling, one that I hope I am able to overcome.
God Bless The United States of America. Never Forget.
10 comments:
a perspective i have never before seen.
thank you.
i will never forget.
and i get why we were & are in afgansitan, iraq and how iran ties into the whole mess.
i get it and it amazes me how others do not.
no, we absolutely, are NOT as safe today, as we were under George W. Bush.
OMGosh, Soloman. This video. Heartbreaking. And eerie. The children's programming music during the beginning. And I remember reading reports about the cricket/chirpy sound of the emergency locators afterwards. Those went off to help people find emergency responders who were motionless? There were a lot of them going off all at once.
I do not feel as safe as I did under George W. Bush. Our CIA is under attack by our own government and justice department. This is no way to fight the war on terror.
Great post Soloman.
It's heartbreaking to watch it over again. I hope I never stop crying when I see the footage.
I'm with you, definitely missing President Bush.
And sadly, The Obamessiah would rather see us just go do a service project today to serve him & his agenda, rather than to have the act of selflessness reflect upon the memory of their loss.
Thank you for posting the video, Soloman.
Like you, I cried as I watched the horror.
I remember watching the news stations that day, feeling totally lost and confused.
President Bush joined all of us in our sorrow and anger over the senseless attack. He gave us a sense of purpose, a sense of sticking together and help anyway you can.
For all the military, firefighters, policemen, hospital personnel and citizens, all I can say is thank you for all you did and all you do each and every day.
President Bush made us safer. With the current administration, I feel that we are pawns, being sold to the highest bidder. If we can't do anything before, then we definitely must do something in 2012.
I haven't been able to really watch these videos today - just too rough, and I'm at work. Anyone remember that documentary on CBS a month or so after 9/11? Anyway, thank you for sharing your experiences that day. Mine were spent in isolation. I had worked unexpectedly the night before (I'm in computers). So I slept in and was going to go in that morning - then my wife called and said "turn on the TV". I did, and it was like the blood drained out of my head, hands, etc. Then I got more angry than I'd ever been in my life. I spent that day just watching the footage, just being angry. The real liberal in me died that day... I'm still angry, but much of it has simply morphed into "determined".
I hadn't seen this video before. Very heartwrenching.
You said something interesting that sadly, I agree with. I feel less safe today, 8 years later, than I ever did with the previous administration.
That is a scary feeling indeed.
I will never forget 9/11 as long as I live. I watched it live from New Jersey. It was like watching a movie. I remember waking up the next morning desperately hoping that it was all a bad dream and that when I stepped outside my door I would still see the towers across the river.
I remember going into Manhattan on 9/12. I was on a subway car that should have been jammed pack but instead contain only myself and another fellow. We both looked up from our newspapers and simply shared that frightened look. No word needed to be said.
I will never ever ever forget that smell that blew in from Manhattan for months. It is undescribable and completely unforgettable.
I fear too many of us are forgetting. Watching the Tribute In Light tonight there were so few people. Sadly they get less and less every year. We all need to remember.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
All - I'm glad I was able to share this video with you all, just as I'm grateful to the people who filmed it that they made the decision to publish it. If any situation related to that fateful day can be called lucky, I consider myself lucky to have found this clip and have been able to share it.
I hope you had a peaceful day today (Friday), and as the sun rises upon us tomorrow we must remain vigilant in our quest to bring the truth to the forefront of the American discussion, and to make sure we do all we can to promote and communicate America's greatness.
Sol:
I came across that video when I was doing my 9/11 post. Thanks for posting. I don't feel safer now either. Instead of concentrating on the job of the Federal Govt. (keeping us safe), Obama is concentrating on taking over our health care system, while trying to destroy the CIA.
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