Where were you on September 11, 2001?

[dalekphalm]

17 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

there isnt really an annual event except maybe in new york at the site. people just take a moment to remember but other than that yesterday was a normal day i went to work and did everything i normally do. a few people talked about what they were doing when they heard the news during our lunch break like what this thread is about but nothing else other than that

Yeah New York City does an annual memorial event each year to remember and honour the victims of the attack, but everywhere else usually just takes a few minutes to honour the victims, perhaps talk about it a bit, but otherwise outside of NYC, it's a normal day for everyone.

[Crunchy Dragon]

On 9/11/2019 at 1:12 PM, StarsMars said:

"Yea but wasn't it like good for airport security?"

If it didn't happen, I doubt airport security would be as extensive as it is today.

 

Heck, we all have to remove our shoes just because of some shmuck who stuck a bomb down there.

[Windows95]

watching tv with my parents

 

im from spain and it was on the news, it was insanity

 

i said look, another plane crashed, but parents wouldnt believe me, cos they didnt see on tv

 

i was a kid back then

 

i also saw wtc7 fall and it looked like a total fucking demolition to me and i was like 10

 

still they cant brainwashme that it wasnt a demolition

[Psittac]

I was living with my parent's and woke up to my mom telling me there was some kind of attack or explosion, I didn't pay any attention to it and went to community college.  When I got there a CRT TV was sitting on a cart in the middle of the entry way and that's where I saw the second plane hit.

[StarsMars]

20 hours ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

If it didn't happen, I doubt airport security would be as extensive as it is today.

 

Heck, we all have to remove our shoes just because of some shmuck who stuck a bomb down there.

The point is that his thought process was that it was a good thing For airport security not a tragedy. 

That was his take away

 

 

[wasab]

I was 5 year old at that time so I guess kindergarten? I don't fcking remeber. 

 

My dad told me the entire country was like in lockdown afterwards. It was impossible to travel for sometime. 

[TheLaserCucumber]

I was in hospital, born September 9th.

My mom told me she was scared that something similar would happen in germany

[TheRandomness]

A small baby in a bed at home, probably sleeping considering the time difference.

[Yeroh]

23 hours ago, cluelessgenius said:

given that i was 9 years old and non-american i really dont remember anymore nor do i care. terror attacks happen all over the planet but somehow this one gets way more attention. yall need to get over it its been 18 years. why dont you remember the day lincoln got murdered while youre at it. 

I think you're being very insensitive, but I agree with the core of your message.

 

People need to move on. It was a terrible tragedy, but by continuously treating it in such a special way you're only supporting the spread of terror and fear in people, which is exactly what the terror attack was meant to do in the first place.

It's tough, no doubt about it. When German christmas markets were attacked in 2016 I definitely had that in the back of my mind, but the truth of the matter is: Worrying won't change anything. But giving special attention to terrorists has the potential to motivate other mentally-ill people to follow suit. So grieve, cry, be angry, don't hide your emotions and support people who have directly been affected by an attack like this. But then move on.

[dalekphalm]

24 minutes ago, Yeroh said:

I think you're being very insensitive, but I agree with the core of your message.

 

People need to move on. It was a terrible tragedy, but by continuously treating it in such a special way you're only supporting the spread of terror and fear in people, which is exactly what the terror attack was meant to do in the first place.

It's tough, no doubt about it. When German christmas markets were attacked in 2016 I definitely had that in the back of my mind, but the truth of the matter is: Worrying won't change anything. But giving special attention to terrorists has the potential to motivate other mentally-ill people to follow suit. So grieve, cry, be angry, don't hide your emotions and support people who have directly been affected by an attack like this. But then move on.

One thing you have to consider is that, especially in NYC, 9/11 memorials are not about the attacks or the terrorists. They're for remembering the victims, and to celebrate the thousands and thousands of first responders who united to help a city in crisis. The Fire department, the police, paramedics, random civilians, doctors and nurses, etc. People that stepped up above and beyond and did what needed to be done - even when many of them lost their own lives, or were critically injured with lifelong ailments.

[Yeroh]

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

One thing you have to consider is that, especially in NYC, 9/11 memorials are not about the attacks or the terrorists. They're for remembering the victims, and to celebrate the thousands and thousands of first responders who united to help a city in crisis. The Fire department, the police, paramedics, random civilians, doctors and nurses, etc. People that stepped up above and beyond and did what needed to be done - even when many of them lost their own lives, or were critically injured with lifelong ailments.

Which is a great way to honor these people, but memorials are not what I am talking about.

 

What I'm talking about is the wide-spread annual discussions that keep referencing the event. That's what needs to stop. Unless you've literally lost a loved one in the attack, I think 9/11 shouldn't mean anything to you. Your mind should jump to the emergency services. Perhaps to a great sports car. But not to a terrorist attack.

 

Please don't mistake this as being disrespectful, because I that's not what I'm trying to be. I just think that you're ultimately giving the attackers exactly what they wanted by still making it such a special day every year.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, Yeroh said:

Which is a great way to honor these people, but memorials are not what I am talking about.

 

What I'm talking about is the wide-spread annual discussions that keep referencing the event. That's what needs to stop. Unless you've literally lost a loved one in the attack, I think 9/11 shouldn't mean anything to you. Your mind should jump to the emergency services. Perhaps to a great sports car. But not to a terrorist attack.

 

Please don't mistake this as being disrespectful, because I that's not what I'm trying to be. I just think that you're ultimately giving the attackers exactly what they wanted by still making it such a special day every year.

While I agree excessive coverage can encourage copy cat attacks, at the same time, completely forgetting about major events that have happened can allow history to repeat itself.

 

While not as bad as a certain someone in this thread was (and has since recanted to a degree, you also are showing some insensitivity to the feelings of others. I love my country (despite hating the stupidity and hatefulness of the current government) and I take it pretty damned personally when someone attacks it, especially physically. This is my home and the terrorists that participated in the 9/11 attacks attacked my home so don't think I'm ever going to forget it! More importantly, I'm never going to forget the thousands of victims in the attack and the thousands of people risked their lives (and often lost them) rising up after the attacks to do what needed to be done. Those are the people we are memorializing, not the scum that attacked us!

[spartaman64]

1 hour ago, Yeroh said:

Which is a great way to honor these people, but memorials are not what I am talking about.

 

What I'm talking about is the wide-spread annual discussions that keep referencing the event. That's what needs to stop. Unless you've literally lost a loved one in the attack, I think 9/11 shouldn't mean anything to you. Your mind should jump to the emergency services. Perhaps to a great sports car. But not to a terrorist attack.

 

Please don't mistake this as being disrespectful, because I that's not what I'm trying to be. I just think that you're ultimately giving the attackers exactly what they wanted by still making it such a special day every year.

why?

im not german or jewish but the holocaust means something to me

im not rwandan but the rwanda genocide means something to me

im not american (yet) but the 9/11 attacks means something to me

i believe the world needs less apathy not more

[Andreas Lilja]

What excessive coverage btw, outside of anniversaries it's like 2-3 minutes in foreign newscasts. Event is also not even 20 years old yet.

[Yeroh]

3 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

While not as bad as a certain someone in this thread was (and has since recanted to a degree, you also are showing some insensitivity to the feelings of others.

3 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

why?

im not german or jewish but the holocaust means something to me

im not rwandan but the rwanda genocide means something to me

im not american (yet) but the 9/11 attacks means something to me

i believe the world needs less apathy not more

I don't think we should ever forget about tragedies like the one we're discussing here, quite the opposite. We should cover it in history lessons and make sure future generations learn from the mistakes that have been made in the past. And of course, everyone should be aware of these major events, regardless of their nationality.

 

I just don't think they should have the prevalence that they seem to have in some people's lifes. It's my belief, and maybe you disagree, that part of fully coming to terms with an event like this is being able to let go. Ideally, the 11th passes and you'll only realize a week later that the anniversary day of the attack has gone by. I think that's a healthy way of handling it. Not forgetting about it, but making it less of a religiously annual event, at least for people who weren't directly affected.

 

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm being disrespectful, that's not my intention. I think the helpers should be honored, the victims should be remembered, and we shouldn't ever forget about tragedies like this. But I think we should do so in a way that is sensible given the fact that it's been nearly 20 years.

[dalekphalm]

44 minutes ago, Yeroh said:

I don't think we should ever forget about tragedies like the one we're discussing here, quite the opposite. We should cover it in history lessons and make sure future generations learn from the mistakes that have been made in the past. And of course, everyone should be aware of these major events, regardless of their nationality.

 

I just don't think they should have the prevalence that they seem to have in some people's lifes. It's my belief, and maybe you disagree, that part of fully coming to terms with an event like this is being able to let go. Ideally, the 11th passes and you'll only realize a week later that the anniversary day of the attack has gone by. I think that's a healthy way of handling it. Not forgetting about it, but making it less of a religiously annual event, at least for people who weren't directly affected.

 

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm being disrespectful, that's not my intention. I think the helpers should be honored, the victims should be remembered, and we shouldn't ever forget about tragedies like this. But I think we should do so in a way that is sensible given the fact that it's been nearly 20 years.

How do you feel about things like holidays that commemorate the end of the Great War -

or the anniversary of D-Day?

 

I just think you’re overblowing what actually happens regarding 9/11 anniversary. 

[Yeroh]

20 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

How do you feel about things like holidays that commemorate the end of the Great War -

or the anniversary of D-Day?

 

I just think you’re overblowing what actually happens regarding 9/11 anniversary. 

Well, I don't see threads asking what people did on D-Day. Joking aside, I do think 9/11 gets special treatment, and I don't particularly get it.

[Andreas Lilja]

34 minutes ago, Yeroh said:

Well, I don't see threads asking what people did on D-Day. Joking aside, I do think 9/11 gets special treatment, and I don't particularly get it.

Biggest attack on U.S. soil ever, and ~100 % civilians. Hell deadliest terror attack ever, and in a place supposed to be safe.

 

Also barely 18 years ago too. 

[AngryBeaver]

Think I was in my sophmore or junior year of HS.

[Donut417]

9 minutes ago, Andreas Lilja said:

Biggest attack on U.S. soil ever, and ~100 % civilians. Hell deadliest terror attack ever, and in a place supposed to be safe.

 

Also barely 18 years ago too. 

Yeh, up till then Pearl Harbor was the worst attack in history. 

[atxcyclist]

I went to pick my friends up at one of their houses to go to high school senior year. Walked in the front door and everyone was glued to the TV, the plane had hit the first tower. Not wanting to be late, we all got in my car and drove the couple miles to school. Parked, walked in the front door and a buddy of mine was freaking out saying a plane hit a tower in NYC. I said that we saw it on the news a little while ago, but then he told us the second tower got hit. It was a rough day, someone in one of my classes had a relative that worked in one of the towers and she was too upset to stay. I never definitively heard whether or not they made it but she missed a few days so I'm guessing not. Some other people and I left for lunch and got approached by a local news channel, gave a 15 second blurb on our viewpoints of the incident, but we were just high school kids so I'm sure we sounded oblivious. We were in shock and wondering what other events would happen, then we heard about the other plane going towards the Pentagon later in the day.

 

The days after as the initial shock wore off, people I knew started to realize that we were all turning 18, fresh meat for a draft if it were to happen. Was this going to turn into another Vietnam? Were some of us going to get swept away to die in a desert somewhere far away? I remember there being a lot of hate, lots of people had disdain for those in the Middle East, even though we were not informed enough to even know who to be mad at. I also remember a lot of scared high school students that didn't know what was going to happen. 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

I was waiting for an English class to start, after spending the morning at the university. A classmate came in and said "a plane hit the twin towers", and I pictured something like a Cessna crashing against it by accident. Then other people came in with conflicting information and scarce sources, and eventually we had our class without knowing the full picture. On my way home after that, I stopped at a shopwindow where TVs on sale were tuned to news stations. Saw the building on fire and the headlines, and started to get the sense that it was a bigger thing. I arrived home and my brother, who would have been at work but was ill, told me the full story, and by then the second plane had already hit its target as well. Information on the remaining planes was much scarcer, often taken back shortly after released, and I believe it took a day or more for the Pentagon's plane to be confirmed.

I think everyone I knew understood at the time that this was a relevant event, some at least in a sense of mere salience (like, say, Notre Dame's fire), some in a sense of world politics shakeup. Looking back, when I think of what changes in our world I would say were brought about /largely influence by this attack, I tend to think the ones behind it can sadly be very proud of the outcome 

 

 

On 9/12/2019 at 1:48 PM, steelo said:

Pride can be a positive and a negative.

For example, in your case, it's a negative.

 

On 9/12/2019 at 1:59 PM, dalekphalm said:

. It was a tragedy on a scale that hasn’t been seen since WW2. 

 While I don't disagree with most you said, a lot has happened since WW2, including the end of the Chinese civil war, Vietnam and the napalm bombing, the khmer rouge, Rwanda's genocide, Srebrenica... and that's just counting man-made ones.

I find it only natural to get a stronger impression from those closer to us in one way or another, though. I tend to quickly forget the details of a >100 victims attack in some place maybe I can't pronounce, yet a 25-year old attack that took 85 lives is still remembered in my home country to this day.

[handymanshandle]

I was 1 so uh idk what I was doing lol

[handymanshandle]

On 9/12/2019 at 11:59 AM, Plutosaurus said:

Neither the USA nor Japan was innocent in that war.

 

Everyone lost.

 

The Japanese killed a lot of non combatants (mainly Chinese in the hundreds of thousands) in the most cruel and horrifying ways, and these are NEVER taught in schools. (Maybe because we pardoned them in exchange for their research)

 

Unit 731 for reference.

 

The a bombs were devastating, no doubt.

 

The bigger lesson is war in general hurts humanity. 

oh yeah, well I think the use of the A bombs was justified because the casualties on both sides would've been tremendous it sucks that Japan wouldn't give up but they were big about that tradition of the Samurai and not giving up or whatever
It's interesting how the atrocities committed by the Germans/Nazis is taught so heavily but the Japs are ignored largely, they just talk about the internment of them.

I think that's what distinguishes Nagasaki and Hiroshima from 9/11. We were in a time of peace.

On 9/12/2019 at 12:29 PM, Dan Castellaneta said:

Now that I think about it, I think 9/11 had an indirect effect on me personally, and that would have to do with my relationship with my dad. He did some time in both the Iraq and the Afghanistan Wars when I was younger. I honestly think it wrecked my relationship with my dad hard, as I was way more attached to my mom because of that.

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who's had something like this to a parent who serves in the military.

From what I've gathered from you talking to you, I think that's very possible.

I mean, your dad really wasn't present in those early years of your life so I'm sure that had a huge impact.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

On 9/12/2019 at 12:52 PM, Silentprototipe said:

Not born, Sadly these days there are legit kids who do not believe 9/11 happened and that its a meme 

 

On 9/12/2019 at 12:54 PM, spartaman64 said:

i never heard of anyone who thinks it didnt happen but some people think bush did it

Not surprising. There are still people who do not believe the Holocaust didn't happen and that the SSA didn't put men on the moon.