On a day like this . . . . .

Brighternow

- My thoughts are with the American people. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to have a tragedy like 9/11 so close to home.

- The past few days, the Danish medias has been literally packed with 9/11 stuff, and today the 2 major TV channels has just about nothing else than documentaries, broadcasts from NYC, "people sharing memories" programs and Oliver Stone's film.
- To a point where it seems exaggerrated (to me at least).

Bad Thoughts

Thanks, BrighterNow.

I lost no friends or family that day, but among the list of victims were people whom I had known. Memorials effect us more directly because my wife works for one of the two targeted airlines.

It might be fair to say that there is too much stuff about 9/11 on TV, but I also don't think it's quite enough. Americans have spent more time raging and not enough time grieving.

mommio

The red, white, and blue ribbon given out that day by the chaplains where I worked is still on the dashboard of my car. I will never forget what I witnessed that day.

Ask the families of those who lost loved ones -- there is no "too much" remembering. The son of doctors who worked at the hospital where I worked, his partner, and their very young adopted child were on one of the planes, headed home after a visit to his parents -- their first meeting with the baby. I can't begin to imagine how they must feel, let alone how they felt that day.

jackedUPjazz

Although the blow was struck in America, this is not just about Americans; the entire world changed that day. This is about everyone.

They are replaying the blow by blow coverage on television and it is a bit surreal since I never really saw most of it. Technology was in the stone ages back then, there was no real time mobile 4G streaming then so most of my access was limited frequent refreshes on static web pages.

Really intense

Daniel, Esq.

i highly encourage people to watch the history-channel special called 120 minutes, or something like that. it's raw footage -- much of which i've never seen before -- about the 09.11 attacks. it's on again at 9PM EST today.

it powerfully reminded me of how sad and horrified i was that morning, and -- rightly or wrongly -- how badly i wanted revenge. such strange times.

BigD-Bluez

It was 102 Minutes That Changed America I believe Daniel is referring to, and was deeply troubling and moving. That day left a scar on the heart and soul of this great city that I'm still afraid that many Americans do not appreciate the enormity of.

kez

A powerful song called 'Ground Zero' was recorded by Elliott Murphy a few years after the awful tragedy. It still brings a lump to my throat every time I hear it - I still play it fairly regularly. You can hear it live on Youtube.

We must never forget.

Daniel, Esq.

that's the one, BDB. "deeply troubling and moving" was right. the footage of that black, violent dustcloud rolling through the streets of new york, while residents furiously scattered to get out of its path, was horrifying, and that's just one of the many -- many -- powerful scenes.

mommio

The unit receptionist came to my office just before 9:00 am, told me a plane had hit the WTC. I said," Is it a terrorist attack? Big plane or small one?" She didn't know. I immediately went across the hall to check the news on TV. I saw the second plane hit. I saw people jumping from the windows, choosing one cause of death over another. I saw the towers collapse. I saw the people running in the streets, colored gray from all the debris. All I could think of was all the people who died. Those immediately incinerated, not even knowing what was coming, what hit them. I thought of all the people who didn't immediately die, but knew they would die. All the families who were watching, just as I was, knowing their loved ones could not have survived. Too much to process in just one day.

That is probably the worst outside event I have witnessed, but I have also been moved to tears by attacks in the London subways, in Spain, in Mumbai, by the horrid attacks by madmen, such as the recent shootings in Norway. I will never understand the depth of the hatred that lies in the hearts of too many, driving them to such atrocities.

Brighternow

there is no "too much" remembering

- No . . . I can see that. Thanks mommio and everyone else for responding.

- As most people, I remember where I was:

I was in a train from Copenhagen to Hamburg (Germany) with a dear friend to go to a show with the American band The Residents.
In the train compartment there was a quite annoying Israelian guy. At some point his mobile phone rang, it was his son telling him that something terrible had happened. This was all he heard before the connection went out. He was ofcourse deeply worried and tried many times to call back with no luck.
When we arrived to Hamburg we noticed that people were standing in big groups in front of TV stores watching TV. We thought that this was strange but were busy to find the venue for the Show (Die Fabrik)
- It was'nt until after the show when we went to a caf

Germanprof

I was teaching. Had two consecutive classes. During the first I had kind of heard that something was going on but had not yet learned the scale of it - I just carried on teaching (and then felt bad afterwards for doing so). Then in between I saw footage. Second class we just prayed. It was a very strange feeling the next few weeks - I had only come to the US a few months before, and suddenly highly visible patriotism was one of the responses. It was complicated wanting to identify with the response of grief and solidarity but not being able to connect very well to its form.

greg

For us it was mid afternoon. I was driving going to lead an after school meeting for teachers about 40 minutes from my university. I put on a music radio station and it was all talk. The first tower had been hit and they were discussing it as though it was an accident. Then the second tower was hit and the whole world knew it was something else. Just so horrific. Yes it has impacted us all in so many ways, the World has changed. Three monhs ago I discovered that a school friend that I hadn't seen for over twenty years died in the south tower. It is one of those days, along with Kennedy, John Lennon, Princess Diana and 7.7 that will remain with me throughout my life, but of all it had by far the most impact.

amclark2

Listen to this.

Daniel, Esq.

yeah, that's the event where william basinski performed the disintegration loops, right? extremely powerful work, which i'll always connect to 09.11, because of this video piece, which basinski created the day of the attacks (from his NYC rooftop).

jonahpwll

We, along with the rest of downtown Chicago, evacuated our office tower. Our building was directly across the street from the Sears Tower, and the concern was that it might be a target. Word just started going around our office, heads popping up over the top of cubicle partitions, to get on the internet and check out the news about a plane hitting the WTC. Right about that time alarms starting going off and we got evacuated and told to leave the downtown area. I got outside and began walking home. It was a surreal scene, seeing all of the Loop pouring out into the mid-morning streets. I walked all the way home. I believe we were told to stay off the trains, but I might be misremembering that; I do know that subways and elevated train systems were considered a target long after 9/11. But I walked from southwest Loop through all of downtown, then cut through Lincoln Park and then the zoo, the walked back into the city a bit and followed either Broadway or Clark to my apartment down the street from Wrigley Field. I watched tv for much of the afternoon, then switched to music and forgetting.

Chicago is a very driven city. It's a type-a-personality mecca. Walking through the city that day, I had never seen so many dazed faces walking with so little purpose. Something I'll never forget.

Germanprof

that's the event where william basinski performed the disintegration loops, right?

It's a performance of the disintegration loops by an orchestra...something that would not have occurred to me as possible, but it remains evocative.