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9/11 memorial thread

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by dachuda86, Sep 11, 2019.

  1. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Contributing Member
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    I'm sure I've posted it here before. I was home waiting for the cable guy rather than being in Manhattan where I normally would be. I wasn't watching TV because I needed the cable guy to be there. I got a call from brother. I said, "Hey, what's up?" He said, "That's what I was going to ask you. Are you watching TV? You should turn on the TV or radio."

    This was after the first building was hit. I went outside and walked to the water and saw the flames and smoking building. There was a small crowd at the water watching it. Then we saw the building collapse. It went totally silent. I remember a couple of people were saying were glad because of whatever reason. I didn't get as mad as I might have because it sounded like the kind of thing stupid elementary kids (usually boys) do when they are forced to deal with some strong emotions and rather than give in to those emotions, they act tough, or laugh.

    Then some people started crying, some walked home. Some of us just watched or started making calls to family and friends to let them know that we are alright. I had to get in touch with my fiance who was in Manhattan. We tried to figure out how to connect up since transportation was a problem. It wasn't yet completely shut down. Before too long people who had been in the city started arriving. I remember seeing one man in a business suit completely covered in ash. He carried his briefcase and his eyes were vacant. He walked slowly and looked like a zombie. He would turn to look at us or other things, but nothing appeared to register with him. The rest of the day continued like that.

    The thing that isn't really talked about is what happened afterward. The smoke lingered for close to a week, ashes still fell, there was a smell throughout most of Manhattan where I ended up going to stay with my fiance. That smell lasted for days. Crowds of people went down as close as they could to the site and passed out water, sandwiches, or whatever they could to the police, firefighters, and rescue personnel. Somehow only two days later Chinatown had stalls that were selling t-shirts that had pictures of the twin towers with an American flag behind it. The words "I survive the attack" (complete with grammatical error) were printed at the bottom.

    Everywhere people went there would be pictures of missing loved ones all over the place. They were stuck on all the walls and space in the subway stations, bus stops, etc.

    I remember going into a store I frequented that was run by a middle-Eastern Muslim. Tons of the people who went in there took the time to let the guy know that they didn't feel like he was responsible and they would still support him. He seemed really touched by that but also freaked out.

    It was a crazy time. It might have been the proudest I had been of living in New York the whole time I was there. From what I witnessed the city really responded in a fantastic way to the tragedy.
     
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  2. BigDog63

    BigDog63 Member

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    I recall seeing the live feed of the tower, and hearing them say that, and thinking 'no way that was a prop plane, way bigger than that'. There have been prop planes that hit apartment buildings, and didn't damage those buildings much. This clearly wasn't that. Not sure if it was disbelief, or what, they led to people saying that, when so clearly it wasn't the case.
     
  3. juicystream

    juicystream Contributing Member

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    I went to the 9/11 tribute museum my first time in NYC, it was pretty tough. Hope to visit the other next time.

    I remember walking past the TV in the main lobby of my high school seeing smoke from the tower (the TV was always set to the news, either CNN or Channel One, but don't recall which). Just assumed it was a special on the previous bombing of the WTC.
     
  4. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

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    YouTube video incoming.
     
  5. Buck Turgidson

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    Uh, yeah, you're gonna have to expound on this, assuming your transmissions can reach us from the other side of the flat earth.
     
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  6. Buck Turgidson

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    How many of the Afghanis (and Pakistanis and Saudis, and Yemenis, and etc...) that died were "innocent"?

    Of course many, many did, and civilian deaths are horrible. But to say that the war against the Taliban was some sort of Quixote knight-errand is total bullshit.
     
    #26 Buck Turgidson, Sep 12, 2019
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2019
    Nook likes this.
  7. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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    @TimCast
     
  8. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
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    I posted this yesterday mainly for people to young to remember 9/11 and what it was like. This is an experience that happened 3 weeks after 9/11 but I don't think seeing the video of the pile actually can ever convey what it was like. It made me really appreciate both the heroism of the first responders and also those who worked on cleanup after.

    I just wanted to share my experience over the weekend at New York.

    I got back Monday morning from New York after being there for two days for a friend's wedding. I was up all last night when two friends and I visited the Memorial at Union Square and walked down to the area that is known as ground zero where the Trade Center once stood. It is incredible the level of devestation and I can honestly describe it as getting glimpse of hell.

    We started at Union Square where much of the memorials have been taken down but even at Midnight and with a cold drizzle there still were other people like us who came and paid their respects.
    We started walking down towards ground zero and at Washington Square Park is is when I started to get a sense that something was wrong with the skyline. Even if you had never been to New York it was clear that something was going on because there was an odd bright spot where several floodlights were focussed and every now and then smoke or mist could be seen rising from it. As we walked down every now and then there was an odd burning odor that I can't describe that seemed to come from downtown. Fortunately it was cold wet and windy so the odor was only fleeting. Just past Canal Street we started encountering police, barricades and staging areas. We made it a point to thank these people for the work they were doing and let them know the country was behind them. As we moved a block eastward onto Broadway we started catching glimpses of activity going on and could here the sounds of heavy machinery and crashing and scraping. When we got to City Hall the police were augmented by National Guard in camo. Finally just below City Hall we got a clear view of the site. We were about a block and a half away looking at a flood lit pile of rubble that dwarfed the construction equipment on and around it. Jutting out from the pile were sharp looking spires while in front of the pile was a ten story building that looked like its exterior skin had been blown off by an A-bomb. All that remained where its floor slabs and structural columns along with bits of loose cable and rebar. Even as we watched a wrecking ball was demolishing it. All of the buildings that were standing around the rubble were coated with a fine sheen of gray ash. The window we stood infront of once belonged to a jewelry store. Its cases were empty and everything was covered with the same ash with it piling up to a few inches thick in some spots. One of the buildings right along the rubble had one side covered with a giant sheet of red mesh. What stood out the most from this whole awful sight was that the whole pile was still smouldering seemed to be hissing at spots. We stood there in the cold wind and rain silently awestruck by it. Luckily at that time we were the only ones there along with the recovery workers and could contemplate it without the rush and push of crowds.

    As powerful as it was to see ground zero it is just as sad to think what the loss of life and the towers are to New York as I walked through the city you realize how important and ubiquitous these buildings were. As we headed from ground zero to find a subway station we passed a childrens art school that had a quilt showing a child like rendering of a shore with two towers rising over several smaller buildings into a sky with a happy sun. Right above the towers there was an airplane with smiling people in the windows. This quilt was probably made long before the disaster but after seeing ground zero there was something very unsettling about it.

    Through out the city memories of the disaster were everywhere. One of my most moving experiences was visiting a fire station in Midtown. This station had lost ten of their crew and all around it had been turned into a shrine with flowers, candles,cards, pictures and poems. I couldn't help buying some flowers and adding to the memorial. I also shook hands with the firefighters and admired their sacrifice and sense of duty. Even though it is becoming cliche to talk about these people as heroes you understand their courage when you see ground zero and try to imagine rushing headlong into it.

    New York is recovering and my friends still had there wedding and we went out Saturday night . The bars were as full as when I last came out and the drinks were even pricier. Men and women still dressed fashionably in black even though every now and then you could catch an American Flag pin. Life goes on in the face of disaster and impending war. Even so I don't think as Americans we will every be the same before 9-11-01. I was quickly reminded of that when I was sent through two metal detectors, patted down, and had my luggage searched and swabbed with bomb residue detectors at the airport.
     
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  9. dachuda86

    dachuda86 Member

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    You're a damn fool if you think the official story is anything more solid than a bowl of jello.
     
  10. Buck Turgidson

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    And what do you think "The Real Story" is?
     
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  11. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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    I'm interested in learning more about the real story could you provide some examples? You don't have to go into great detail.
     
  12. dachuda86

    dachuda86 Member

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    You're cancer.
     
  13. Nook

    Nook Member

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    [​IMG]
     
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  14. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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    *Gemini
     
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  15. Buck Turgidson

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    No, that's not the explanation I was hoping for.
     
  16. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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    The 9/11 conspiracy reminds me of the government's covert and successful plan to sink the Titanic with a large bomb hidden in the cargo hold. Think about it -- a state of the art unsinkable ship sinks on its maiden voyage rapidly in calm water splitting completely in half after brushing against a small iceberg. Give me a break. It's important to note that the Titanic's sister ship an exact copy never encountered any problems and had a full service life.

     
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  17. Buck Turgidson

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    Moon landing never happened.
     
  18. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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    I've heard about this do you have any additional info? You don't have to go into detail.
     
  19. Buck Turgidson

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    I've personally never taken a picture of the earth from the moon, no.
     
  20. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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    Okay, I'll do some searching on YouTube and see what pops up.
     

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