Huzzah! We remember!

[silpheedpilot]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="SlateGray"]I'd like to create this topic as a way of remembering 9/11. The day those stampeding moms knocked down America's LEGO towers.

We'll do it like this for the topic; What were you doing when disaster struck 6 years ago?

I was in, wtf, 7th grade? Something like that. Home-Ec class. We didn't do anything for the remainder of the class because as we came in it had already happened. It was appalling to watch the planes just plow right into the side of the buildings and it actually hurt watching them collapse moments later. I remember feeling really angry but there wasn't anything I could do. Not to mention hearing about them bringing a plane down on the Pentagon. What a day.
I know it's a day I won't forget.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Skye]

I know I don't like Bush much - no, wait, at all - but this was a hard time for everyone, and I think he handled it very well. The actual falling of the buildings anyway. Those rescuers who survived and those who didn't, thank you.

I remember, I was in 5th grade - the only way I know this is because where I went to school, only 5th graders were allowed to help with the morning announcements. We always did our broadcast on television, and it was a few minutes before start time so we turned on the TV. We watched the whole thing happen, staring at it like idiots. We just thought there was some strange movie on. It felt kind of...surreal. Like it wasn't really happening.

[PWNED]

All I remember was that I was 11 years old at the time and had just woken up to watch my cartoons which I was allowed to do because I was walking to school at this point. I switch on the Television and all I see are news reports about a terrorist attack; I was incredibly ticked off but it was about not being able to see my cartoons, my brain kind of zoned out as I watched it because at eleven years old, you really don't know what to think when something like that happens.

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=#9933ff][font=lucida calligraphy] Hey silpheedpilot nice way to set up the tone, I liked the comparison... but what about the Pentagon and flight 93?

Heh, get ready for a long winded post, because when I remember something it stays remembered.

Anyways, September 11th 2001 is a day that I won't forget (I think it's like our generation's Kennedy assasination or fall of Saigon) I was home from work waiting for my mom to come get me so I could get to my doctor's appointment- I had some kind of virus and the doctor wanted to make sure I was healthy before I went back to work. My mom burst in the door at 8:50AM EST and wanted to know if I had the TV on because something bad had happened.

Being my half sober (medication) self I thought that she meant there had been a major earthquake in California and turned on the TV just in time to see a lot of people crying and such. I found out the four minutes prior to my mom coming in the door some morons with a skewed sense of Islam hijacked a plane and sent it crashing into tower one (We found out later that the nephew of some family friends was in that tower and died)

Well anyways, a national tradgedy isn't any reason to skip my doctor's appointment so my mom and I hop in her car and headed downtown to the doctor's office- we'd just driven over the upper falls of the Genessee River (see I told you I had a good memory) when the second tower was hit. it was a mess, the radio announcers were crying, no music, just a lot of yelling and updates. My mom and I started worrying about a cousin of mine who lived in Brooklyn- she worked at a daycare center two blocks from Ground Zero.

Then while I was in the doctor's office getting some blood drawn for whatever else the Pentagon was hit. Then of course that flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania. My ex called later from Korea (he's just gotten settled in there with the US Army a week prior and wanted me to know how he was.)

My parents wouldn't even let me leave the house for the rest of the day, my brother was crying and the entire mood was really subdued.

That night was really eerie too. I live about a five minute drive from the local airport so there's usually a lot of planes flying overhead, some of them are low enough where you can make out the windows and the company. But that night it was really quiet, there was hardly any traffic on the expressway, or on the main roads and of course no air traffic.

Before I finish, I just want to say that on 9/11/02 I gave the terrorists the collective finger with thousands of other airline passengers and crew and flew down to Texas. Because if you continue to live in fear, you let them win.[/color][/font]

[silpheedpilot]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="SlateGray"]Silly me. I do remember Flight 93. Brave souls, really. True heroes.
And while I did mention the Pentagon, I should reiterate how truly jacked up the whole situation was.
If you wanna instill fear in the hearts of many I guess all it takes is a plane full of fuel and an idea.

And like you, I too flew about a year later and I was ready for some dude or dudette to try and mess with my flight and my country.

Thanks for sharing everyone.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Panda]

I remember I was going about my morning routine. My hubby had already left for work and I got out of the shower, turned the radio on and the DJ was saying the first tower was hit. I thought it was some kind of stupid morning "shock jock" joke. So I threw on my scrubs and turned on the tv. That's when I saw the smoking tower. It was crazy! I called my hubby and then my mom.

I had to get ready for work so I did that while I was watching the news. While on the drive to the clinic I was listening to the radio and the first tower fell. At work we were all listening to the radio. One my my friends was working at DFW as a Delta gate agent and he called me to tell me what was going on at his airport. My dad then called to tell me what was going on at his work, he works for Japan Airlines. Since the planes were grounded they pretty much were just sitting around the office watching the news.

My two uncles who worked for United ended up having to take early retirements after 9/11. Going to visit my dad at work is now a pain since you have to get through so much security. I love flying and my family has been tied to the airlines industry for many years.

I do agree that not flying is telling the terrorist that their plans to scare us worked. My hubby and I got on a plane and flew to Florida on 9/22. Our flight was really empty but there was no way I was going to let those crazy extremist scare me off of a plane.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who lost loved ones in the attacks as well as a huge thank you to all those protecting us.

[eleanor]

[font="trebuchet ms"] 9/11 has always been sort of removed from me in terms of emotion.

I was in sixth grade, and I had no idea what had happened but an announcement came on telling students not to panic or leave school (because middle schoolers have cars, lol). It was later that I found out that a plane had crashed into the Twin Towers.

I hate to sound like a douche bag, but it didn't affect me much. I think it's because I believed at the time that this sort of stuff happened all over the world. And I still do, to some extent. Not in terms of planes crashing into buildings, but there are countries that go through things like this every day. And I don't want to compare the US with the rest of the world in terms of pity points, but what I thought about the issue affected how I reacted to 9/11.

To this day, I'm not very emotionally concerned about it when compared to other people at my school. The idea of crying over it did not ever occur to me, and while I deeply respect our observance of 9/11 and recognize the impact it has had, it has always been just another catastrophe to me. [/font]

[Panache]

[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]Yea September 11th sucked. I hope I don't sound like an *** by saying this but well I was in 5th grade. We were about to take a test I didn't study for...and I got to go home. I was like 10 years old so I was like "w00t no school!" Then I turned on the TV. I saw nothing but planes hitting buildings. I asked my mom why they were playing action movies on every channel(we didn't have cable). She said it wasn't a movie and it really happened...I remember almost crapping my pants then going hysterical. I thought we were all gonna die.

I didn't really care about politics until after this event. I liked Bush until just recently. He is a good person(and a helluva lot better than Clinton) but he can't keep the people working for him in check. Also liking him makes you basically an outcast to any group of people I try to hang out with. Not that any of the new candidates look worthwhile.

Since then I have grown older and seen a lot of the ******** that happens in this country and throughout the world. This was probably the big eye opening event that lead to that. This is just what happened to me personally. I am sure it was and still is very tough for all the victims and you have my condolences and prayers. I have no idea how you people feel and I certainly hope me nor anyone else has to feel like you guys do.[/COLOR]

[Rachmaninoff]

I was visiting friends in California at the time and wasn't doing anything really other than getting ready to go back home. I remember 9/11 for the simple reason I was suppose to fly home from Southern California to Utah on the 12th and naturally my flight along with everyone else's was grounded until a little while later. I just remember feeling really surprised. Not that such things happen, but it was the first time something like this had affected my life in any manner. Being delayed a little in getting home didn't really affect me in the long run.

I finally got home a little later once flights were allowed again, and fortunately I have no relatives or friends living in that part of the US. Still I feel bad for those who did lose loved ones to the tragedy. And it's something I know I'll probably never forget either.

[Claire]

[FONT="Arial"]Like Lunox, I'm pretty detached from everything about 9/11.

I was in fifth grade when it happened, which, for me, was too young to realize what exactly had happened. All I remember is that I was sitting in math class when the science teacher ran in and turned on the TV, and for the rest of the class we watched the news. Back in my regular class, students were getting signed out every minute. I went home later that afternoon, miffed with my parents that they hadn't signed ME out.

Even with my parents in a panic, I didn't understand the gravity of the situation. The only thing that affected me then was that Cartoon Network was showing the same episodes of DBZ and Pokemon that they did the day before, and I was frustrated because of it.

Now it's six years later and I suppose I won't ever be very affected by that day. It's kind of like losing a relative when you're too young to understand that they're dead, and by the time you can grasp that concept it's been far too long for their death to impact you anymore. It's something that I just can't help.

Not much happened today, in any case. It started like every other morning, with the pledge and a moment of silence. I thought that everyone had forgotten it was 9/11, until someone came over the PA with a brief reminder and conducted another short moment of silence at 8:46. Then school went on as it usually does and no one mentioned it again.[/FONT]

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]9/11 did affect you if you are an American. The ramifications of the event are not singular to the casualties and fatalities within the World Trade Center. It reaches out to the government's response and decisions made since then. I cannot imagine a situation where neither the Patriot Act, the War on Terrorism/War in Iraq, economic conditions since then or otherwise do not affect you if the tragedy itself doesn't.

On a personal level I realize that this event will keep coming back in my life. My children will ask me about it and what it was like watching over a thousand people die on television in a live setting thanks to the wonders of the American media. It is hard to be attached to an image that you know is real when your mind is quite unable to wrap around the scope of what you are seeing.

My mom woke me up and I turned on CNN. I pretty much just watched events unfold. I was thirteen and just witnessed it, the entire day of it. I can't say I particularly cried or really understood that I was watching something that would one of the most important events to occur in this country.

I hope that the people who lost loved ones have come to some kind of closure by now and have a good handle on their lives.[/color]

[pooperson]

[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"][SIZE="1"]I'm part of the middle school crew, apparantly.
I was in 6th grade when it happened. I remember [I]everything.[/I] Even the dream I was having at the moment right before I answered the phone after 5 rings. I was homeschooled at the time, and my dad had left to get groceries. He called and told me to turn on the news. I woke up my brother & called my mom, who, at work, still didn't know about it. It was the first time I had ever heard her swear.
Anyway, my assignment for the rest of the day was to watch the news & write a report about everything that happened. I watched, literally, all day long. I didn't cry, but I got really upset when I heard the word "war".
The only thing that [I]really[/I] stood out was that they spelled Osama's name three different ways, and that made the paper a b**** to write.
This year it actually means something to me though. Today marks my brother's 8th week in US Air Force basic training. I can't imagine what it's like there right now.

Yep.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Justin]

I was in ninth grade, in Algebra 1. Like most, my teacher (who's now commanding a battalion in Iraq) turned on the TV shortly after the first plane hit, and we watched live as the second plane hit, and as both towers fell.

I've never been one to panic, and true to myself, I thought all the panic surrounding the time following was silly and selfish in light of the lives broken and lost in the actual event.

It was then, though, that I understood one thing: Evil men prevail, only when good men fail to act. The many should never have to fear the few. Terrorism is a real threat in this world, posed by a few. As is totalitarianism. Having said that, the largest threat to this country at this point is wholly domestic.

-Justin

[Andy]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="2"]I believe I was in the 5th or 6th grade during this time. And I remember being in class when we heard about it, and the teacher turned on the television to CNN, and we watched the new's all day. The only thing I can remember about that day other than that is that we didn't have any work all day, lol. So, yeah, I was actually pretty happy.:animeswea[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Minako]

I remember, I was in 8th grade, and running out the door to catch the bus while I saw the news saying a plane had hit one of the towers. At that point they were dismissing it as an accident, and that's what I believed (being what, 13?). When I got to school I heard talk of terrorists amongst my classmates, I hated them anyway, and I didn't understand. Our first class was religion class (I went to a Lutheran school) and our pastor who taught it said we should go into our pseudo-science-lab (it was for 7th and 8th graders, sheesh) and watch CNN. By that time, the first tower had been destroyed. My friend (who was there not 2 days before that! she has a picture of her and her sister in front of the towers on September 9th) was in tears, and I was shocked to see the second tower be destroyed live on tv. It was shortly thereafter that we resumed classes, and during break, our class was worried that our school would be targeted, but we were young and scared, and it would have been highly irrational since it was a tiny school, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of Wisconsin. heh.

I didn't (and still don't) know anybody that was there, but 2,977 lives were lost that day, and the economy was almost destroyed by the loss of the towers. It still amazes me that towers that were designed to take a plane crash into them are GONE. There's nothing left, and it feels like an empty crater in America's heart. It didn't affect me as much as some others, but I still feel...sad.

[Domon]

[COLOR=blue]Well let's see... I was in a free-period/study hall like class when I saw the news. I was freshman in high school at the time. Then later that day I was crying because of all those people who died and the fact that there were kids on those flights.

Now six years later I have several friends that have signed up for the army and marines and they are over in Iraq fighting and I worry over them. Especially my best friend who is like my brother. So I remembered the day by keeping my friends in my heart and prayers.

But for all those people that died on that day I think all we can do is grieve for them and remember them. I guess I can put it best by quoting Craig Ferguson. This day [9/11] is like a scar. You get the wound that eventually heals up but you have a scar. After that day there are many things that changed about us. The way we view terrorists, our homeland security, etc. But also Colin Powel said that all of those events should not dictate how we change but we ourselves as Americans dictate how we as a society change. Its not the president, congress, or any elected official. We, the American society dictate our change.[/COLOR]

[vegeta rocker]

I was a sophomore in high school when it happened. I saw it happen when i was in journalism class, we just sat and watched it in class and i remember some dumb *** jock making jokes about it, but he probably works in a grocery store now so there is some justice.

I was shocked about the towers and everything, but the stuff that really got me was the the footage of the people jumping out of the tower.

Some of them held hands as they jumped from the towers, when the camera zoomed out all you could see were these little specks falling.

I will never forget that.

[Guest pixi_heric]

[quote name='Stephanie']I know I don't like Bush much - no, wait, at all - but this was a hard time for everyone, and I think he handled it very well. [/QUOTE]

If I recall correctly at the time he was notified of the attack he was reading a childrens nursery book to a group of 5 year olds. Immediately after being told he sat frozen doing nothing for five minutes before carrying on the little story. If that is how you handle a bad situation very well I'd hate to see you fight a guild of dragon hunters with missing party members!!!

[Vicky]

[quote name='pixi_heric'] If that is how you handle a bad situation very well I'd hate to see you fight a guild of dragon hunters with missing party members!!![/QUOTE]

[SIZE=1][I]...because a guild of Dragon Hunters is far more devastating than the loss of hundreds of lives and sequence of events that caused a lot of crap for a lot of people.[/I]

I think I was in year 5 or so, I'm not entirely sure. I do remember me being mad at the attack because it just seemed plain wrong to me at the time, but I was also mad at my family's ignorance. I think I was off school the day, and they were talking about car insurance. They're kid was watching the news about a terrorist attack, and when someone finally notices it, they all talk so loud I can't hear the news.

To be honest, it did have an effect on the UK, although I can't imagine it was quite as big. Despite all the theories flying around about this 9/11 thing, it was still kind of shocking. I didn't dawn on the attack that much at the time, really, but in a few years when London got attacked and my brother nearly died, I really, really understood the whole 9/11 thing and that it was much more insane than I had originally thought as a kid.[/SIZE]

[SunfallE]

[FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]I remember it clearly because at the time I thought my dad was joking. I had time off from work and I was playing Diablo II and simply taking it easy. My father came upstairs to where I was using the main computer in the house and told me that a plane crashed into one of the towers. I asked him if he was kidding. Naturally he was not so I went and watched the news with him and saw the next plane hit the second building since they were covering it live on the news.

Such a messed up day that was. And though it was horrible, it didn't really affect me since most if not all of my family and friends live on the west coast. Now later it did because of all the economic shifts as a result of that act of terrorism. For example, now, thanks to that event, if you want to have an endorsement on your commercial driver's license in order to carry hazardous materials you have to go through a background check.

So I had to go through the whole deal of filling out tons of forms, being fingerprinted and such if I wanted to continue to be able to transport hazardous materials. The only good thing is my job paid for it. Though since that includes being able to haul explosives, gasoline, etc. I guess it makes sense.

Also, I do feel bad for the families, even if no one I love was affected. I do know what it's like to lose some you care for. So I hope they have found some form of closure. [/COLOR][/FONT]