Remembering 911 - 8 years and counting
To the brave firemen of FDNY.
To the courageous police officers of NYPD.
To the undaunted passengers on the doomed flights.
To the selfless unnamed heroes.
To the friends and families who lost someone to the attacks.
To the soldiers and comrades, pawns of the ignorant, selfish and cowardly government but yet still continue to fight on.
To every American out there.
My heart goes out for you and my prayers are up for you.
Personal notes
Just like every other year since the day, I took time to read articles off the Internet. Boston Big Picture ran an excellent photo gallery, featuring a collection of photos during and after the attack.
9-11 was one event that changed the world – even to a kid back then who was blithely unaware of global issues, it was one the most deep-reaching, impactful and saddening one I’ve ever came across.
Newspaper snippets of the attack and the subsequent collapse of the towers; the twisted metal of the plane wrecks; the mournful look of New Yorkers days after the events, and the tears in their eyes – I kept many of them in a booklet that was since lost, but memories of them are forever etched in my heart.
Today I stumbled upon this photo.
Photos of 911 victims
I cried.
Seeing the picture also made me cry as well. It was a stupid thing that happened and I hope will never ever happen again. When it happened 8 years ago, I was just a child of merely 10 years of age and all I knew were people were dying. Familiy members told others that they were on a plane and a hijacker was there and they knew that they wouldn’t survive. That day itself I cried because so many innocent lives were lost because they were caught in-between in the wars of politics and governments.
I felt that the world had changed after the September 11 attacks – or perhaps it’s because the attack was so devastating and shocking to many that it brought the issue of terrorism on a global level to me (who was initially unaware that there’s something called terrorism, let alone terrorists).
I wouldn’t comment on whether the attack could be avoided or not because I’m not familiar with American politics in the 1990s, but what I can say is that it is most probably a deadly by-product of what the government and military had done in the Sudan War.
Afterall, it all boils down to oil. The other currency that makes everything work.
Every time when I remember of the attack, the photo of the falling man comes to mind.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/The_Falling_Man.jpg[/img]
When details of what happened on the hijacked planes were elucidated, I had a mixed feeling – part of me were proud of the heroes who stood up firmly against the terrorists in the planes, while the other part of me mourn the death of innocent civilians and their chaotic last moments.
Rest in peace.
I remember today so clearly 8 years ago too… it’s been EIGHT years too… seems so long ago yet feels like it was just yesterday. I was 14 years old yet I was glued to the TV and CNN for days afterwards. I even have a copy of the newspaper with that jumper photo above that was published on Sept.12. I wanted a copy on the exact date but I was in school and my mom said they were all sold out!
I’m fascinated with events like these even if it was so tragic. I can’t even begin to imagine what those people went through and what their families went through afterwards. This is just the beginning though… humans never learn from things like this and I think our world will just get worse afterwards. At least we know hope and unity will always live on. ;)
The images of the attack still lives vividly in my mind. Perhaps it was the greater media coverage on the collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers that it wasn’t until years later I discovered the other plane crahses elsewhere.
It still feels like yesterday. I remembered I was vacationing with my family (I was around 12 that time) and I called my mom over when I saw it on the news. We taught that it was part of a movie but later the angry red screaming news ticker at the bottom reminded us that it was for real.
Panicked, we called our grandaunt who lives in the US. We know that she lives too far away from New York to be affected but we weren’t taking any chances. Dad let out a heavy sigh of relief when grandaunt reported back fine (the phone was so clogged that day we couldn’t get through her phone until the next morning).
My interest in the collapse of the towers made me read up quite a few papers and reports on the possible causes. I also listened to a 911 tape recording of a guy trapped in the higher floors of the WTC, and the recording lasted till the tower collapse (you could hear him scream “oh god!” in the back, followed by dead, silent static).
I’m sad that many of us still never learn. War, terrorism and violence is not the way to deal with things. They draw the attention, money, resources away from other things that can possibly make the world a better place to live. Here is a set of MTV ads that, although controversial in nature, made me think twice of the relative importance of the 911 attack and other world issues.
[img]http://www.teddy-o-ted.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/911_09_ads_mtv.jpg[/img]
The ads try to highlight that despite the large number of fatalities in the September 11 attacks, there are more prominent social problems that were left unchecked, and a lot more Americans are suffering from them – such as hungry and lack of a proper shelter.
Of course, creative designers from Lego and WWF (the latter denied running the ad, but it appear in an obscure Brazilian publication):
[img]http://www.teddy-o-ted.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/911_09_ads_lego.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.teddy-o-ted.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/911_09_ads_wwf.jpg[/img]
My heart goes out to the family and friends of those who have perished in the attacks :( must be a really sad day for them. Just like you, I pray that hope and unity will always live on.
Now I’m reminded of Michael Jackson’s song, Heal the World :’(
I knew that you would have some sort of tribute for all those who lost their lives on 9/11. I am lost of words to express how I feel when it comes to 9/11. I think it’s stupid.. I will never be able to wrap my mind around why or HOW anyone could do such a thing. I’m just baffled. And my heart aches for all those innocent people who are no longer with us.. as well as the families that have been affected.
I remember the day so well when I first heard of the news. I was at school, sitting in the large study hall, when all of a sudden a teacher came in to turn on the television. I knew something was up because the tv was never used. I was so confused at the time.. as well as the rest of the students. I remember seeing all those images & news broadcasts.. I didn’t even know much about the twin towers before then. The term “terrorism” was definitely knew to me as well. That day forever changed my outlook on politics and what not.
..I can not believe it’s already been 8 years. :( And yet we’re still stuck in some mindless stupid war.. bleh.
I actually had a video made for this year’s tribute but unfortunately, I lost it in a hard disk crash a few months ago. However, I ported the opening image design over to the poster (the WTC towers replacing ’11′) so it’s more or less the same idea.
Terrorism is despicable for a very simple reason – by holding innocent members of the public as hostage against the government. In a sense, it’s blackmailing but in a very brutal, bloodied manner.
I feel that profound sadness every time the anniversary for the September 11 attacks comes around. For those who have lost their loved ones, friends and families in the attacks, they would most probably spend the day remembering those who have passed on.
I hope it wasn’t a traumatizing experience to you, when you viewed the news clips on TV. I wasn’t very disturbed when I only watched the news because I failed to grasp the extend of the damage and loss of human life – it was until the papers the next day (the local paper even printed an extra ‘subpaper’ to cover the 911 event) showed me the real damage behind. The twisted steel, mangled concrete blocks; the weeping people, grim-faced public servants working 24/7 at Ground Zero.
Since that day onwards, my views of the world had changed – most probably because it introduced me to terrorism, something that I had never heard of until September 11th, 2009.
If I’m going to the US next summer, I will definitely visit NYC, as well as the WTC Memorial Site.
I think it took me a few days before the incident settled in to my mind. I fully didn’t understand what was going on at the time. I remember all the news feeds and papers as well. It went on for so long.. each and every day. There wasn’t a moment one wasn’t thinking about it. :|
I remember all the fear us Americans felt after wards too. We were scared to go any where any more! The families of pilots were worried. I remember my mom was so anxious for me to take the bus to visit Chris even. It was rough — all the fear. :(
I, too, have been changed ever since. My outlook has totally changed since the day.
Do you have plans to visit America someday??
Same here. I didn’t know what was going on, and only knew that a war was just about to begin. Years after the 9/11 attacks, I started to read up extensively on the incident and its repercussions to get a better understanding of how the world has changed.
Terrorism was already a problem back then but other global issues such as the economic crisis and social problems have overshadowed small skirmishes between radical religious groups and innocent people of the world. However, 9/11, being one of the largest terrorist attacks ever, caught everyone’s attention and that attention has never much waned since then.
I’m not sure whether I’ll be visiting the US in the coming summer – I might be signing up for a work and travel programme where I’ll get attached to a certain company or agency and then spent the last month of summer touring the country :)
Hi! Stumbled on your blog thru Dayna’s! Such wonderful pics!! 9-11 is really a day to be commemorated… gosh… I remember watching it live… my aunt calling my mom to turn the television to the news and there it was… my 11 year old self couldn’t imagine the horrors the people were witnessing.
Nice post!!
:)
nice design,,,very meaningful
ppl easily forget…somehow we need to be reminded of our past mistakes…in the hope that we shall not see it being repeated
Terry ,
911 is a sad day – especially so in Boston as 2 of the flights originated here. The picure you showed reminded me of the NY Times series about each of the people killed – short biographies written by family members or friends and published over several months. Reading them really emphasized the horror of the events more than anything else.
Peace!
@tiff: Thanks for the compliments! All I remembered was the endless circuit of the clips showing the collapse of the towers on the television over and over again for the month after the attacks.
@med: Yea. I hope people today will not only commemorate the brave souls who have perished, but also remember that safety, stability and peace are not things that we should take granted of.
@Bob: Wow, the biographies must have a strong impact on those who are reading the papers. It’s a great way to remember those who have unfortunately perished and help the families and friends of the deceased to move on as well :)
oh woah man that’s one insane picture at the end of your entry. I understand why you’d have cried.
september 11 changed the world in a huge way. one of the blogs I read regularly makes a point every year to post a list of all the names of those who died in that incident, including the firefighters and people who lost their lives in the rescue efforts.
when I was studying in the states, on Sept 11 2008, one of my teachers made us recall what we were doing on September 11 2001.. It was shocking for me to note that so many of my classmates experienced direct consequences as a result of the event.. From loss of friends to experiencing smog and poisonous gases in the vicinity, they could all remember the effects clearly..
Great though-provoking post. Thanks for visiting my blog =) Dayna’s entry sure got people looking around. =)
The last photo – my friend didn’t quite understand why would I shed tears when I saw it. Then I explained to her that it wasn’t just the picture alone that shook me – I was watching documentaries and video clips and it dawned on me that these very people are the ones who didn’t emerge from the wrecks of the attacks alive – be it the planes, the WTC or the pentagon. They were forever separated from their friends and family simply because they were innocent people unfortunately targeted by the attacks.
When I watched the interviews with the families of the deceased, I kept asking the question – Why him? Why her? The victims are random people from all walks of life, but all perished in one single disaster.
September 11 taught me not to take things for granted, and taught me the importance of tolerance. It hurts me even more to know that the discrimination against muslims only got worse after the attacks, and even non-muslims were targeted just because they looked like one (like how singhs were attack just because people thought they look like muslims).
Wow, recalling what happened during that day 7 years later must be a rather emotional one. It’s true that 9/11 has affected many more people beyond just the deceased.
9/11 showed the world what human is capable of – the evil, but also the good. People became more united after the attacks, and we all saw how normal civilians could turn into heroes and life-savers during times of emergency. Humanity prevails.
while I agree that a lot of innocent lives were harmed for no reason during the 9/11 incident, I think the response taken by the American government (ahem, Bush) was too much.
It was perhaps justified to attack when the loss was fresh and people were angry and seeking answers (and revenge) but to drag it on for as long as he did and to harm even more innocent people.. That was just selfish.
i don’t like how 9/11 made so many people so angry and how it turned so many people blind in their anger..
Anyhow, there are too many repercussions of such a big incident to track every one down but it is definitely a turning point in the history of the world.
About aligners (from my blog, heh): My entire process will only take 40+ weeks (less than a year) and I will actually see significant difference in about 20weeks (7mths!) so it’s all good for me..
It IS pretty troublesome during mealtimes and hurts like hell when I remove them.. But it deters me from eating and I snack much less… So in other words, forced dieting!!! VERY GOOD! (imho of course. haha) =D
Actualy, I believed that to a certain extent, the 9/11 attack had some government involvement. With spying technologies being so advanced years before 2001, and evidences that there is a certain degree of government pre-knowledge of the attacks, I knew that there must be some political reasons behind the attacks.
After the 9/11 attack, the government and military had something to justify their war against Iraq. And years later it was announched that Iraq harboured no weapons of mass destruction as initally advertised by the Bush management. The war was waged simply for the oil in Iraq, and that 9/11 was simply a reason to justify the war.
More intriguing was what happened before and after the 9/11 attacks.
1. Bush’s brother was the owner of a company responsible for the security systems of Dulles Airport (where one of the hijacked planes were from) and, surprise, WTC.
2. One year before the 9/11 attacks, the WTC was privatized and handed over to Larry Silverstein.
3. WTC7 is the first steel structure in the modern world to actually collapse from a fire.
And of course, many more. If the attacks were intentionally overlooked by the Bush administration to justify the war, those who’re involved in that will definitely be accumulating a lot of bad karma – for the death of thousands of innocent civilians while themselves had the pre-knowledge that it could happen but made no effort to stop it.
Replied to your comment reply on your blog :)
Oh sigh. God bless you for your tender heart, Terry.
Awww, thanks Mingyun! :)