Remember the WTC?

[vatoloco]

Well of course you do...but it still grabs your attention.

A couple of summers ago a friend and I took a road trip to the East Coast of the U.S. Amongst a lot of cities on the way we spent most of our time in NYC. We visited the twin towers and took a ride to the top. It was like being on top of the world. If you got any higher, all you could see was horizon... seriously.

When I woke up on Tuesday, September 11th I lit up a smoke started getting ready for my Windows class. I turned on the tv and I notice on the three news channels that one of the towers is emitting smoke out. My first thought was, "holy shit, the World Trade Center's on fire." Then Katie Couric on the Today Show says that a passenger plane has hit the tower. At first I thought it could have been an accident. Then a couple seconds later on live tv I see the second plane hit the second tower. Any thoughts of this being a accident had vanished from my mind.

Even while the towers were flaming there was hope in my mind that the firefighters could put out the blaze. It never even crossed my mind that the two collosal structures would plummet to the ground.

When I got to school, the people there had no clue about what was happening. Each person I told about it thought I was bullshitting them.

A couple of days ago was the six month anniversary of the attack on the twin towers. To top it off, the two terrorist pilots, which are dead, just recieved their student visas.

It's hard to believe I was there so recently. I'm lucky to have had the oppurtunity to visit the WTC, twice...but if/when I have kids...they will never know what it was like...nor will anyone else ever again. It frightens me to think that most of the people I seen that day are probably dead.

I don't have a scanner or else I would scan some photographs of my trip. Instead, here's bottle from my collection that I'll share with you. Anyone still effected by that tragic day in our lives...this Bud's for you.

[cowboysaxman]

Thank you vatoloco.......watched the film from inside the Towers the other day and broke into tears several times!!

[stonie jo]

I was gettin' ready for work-kids at school, ol' man at work-watchin Good Mornin' America, as usuall. Everything was kewl. Diane Sawyer comes on and says there's been a plane crash into one of the towers. They didn't have any details at that time but they would keep us up to date. They were showin' the tower smokin', then out of the clear blue sky (literally) comes this other plane-slams into the other tower. I 'bout shit!!!I said Holy Shit out loud, I remember, then realized there was no one else here. I was sick and bawlin the rest of the day. Then I 'bout burned myself out watchin' too much news on it. I have never even been to N.Y. Probly will never get to go. I still felt it was an attack on me & mine. The thing that I was proudest of is the way we all kinda pulled together and took care of each other in such a desperate time. It showed me that there was still some kindness and compassion out there.

[ganjaphish]

yeah that special they did on 9/11 the other night was very heartbreaking and wretched my heart for all those involved...
i still cry over this! and i live in california!
i was home sick that day, and was on the net surfin around grasscity, and all of a sudden i read an email from my bf at work "TURN ON THE TV."
i turned it on just in time to find out that the 2nd plane had just hit, etc.
i will never forget what happened, it was probably one of the worst days in american history

[livingrace]

I was talking with my husband on the phone. He was walking an air force base in St. Louis for his job. He was about to go through the gate so we hung up. I turned around and they had the first tower on the tv. My hubby said he knew immediately something was wrong when he got to the hanger. There was tension in the air. By that time the 2nd plane had hit and they took him and the two people he was with and put them in a room with an armed guard! He had no idea what was going on!!!!!! Then the guard asked him if he had had his briefcase searched. He said no and handed it over.

I was really impressed with our military. That is pretty quick reaction to the situation. They talked of keeping them there on base, but after they were cleared they let them go. My hubby already had a rental car so he just drove it home that day. Like he said, he just wanted to be home, not sitting in some airport!!!!!

He didn't get to see the whole thing we were all watching on tv until he got home that night!

I too watched again the 9-11 on tv the other night. I hadn't forgotten, but it was amazing how it rekindled the emotion that had ebbed away. America can't forget. It truly is our freedom on the line here.

Peace
livingrace

[FillaBong365]

it sure dont seem like six months... i would never go on a plane or nuttin in the first place but definatly after seeing all this shit goin on NEVER WILL I BE ON A PLANE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT......

[vatoloco]

Over a year ago we were talking about this and reading these posts just made me teary-eyed today.

Back when I first posted this I thought for sure that Bush would be re-elected. I find it hard to believe how short-lived the memory of most Americans is but we stood behind our president long enough to give him and his administration the power to lead us into a war we can never truly win. We've become a target for terrorism, and I doubt it will ever stop because people are envious of our culture, way of life, and especially our freedoms.

Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with most of Bush's views on things...but one thing I don't understand is all the protests. People in the UK are calling Bush a criminal, a dictator, and a war-mongerer when their prime minister Tony Blair is just as much a factor in this war as Bush is...why aren't they protesting against him as well?

Can't they understand that we're trying to liberate people who would be shot if they slandered Hussein in anyway? This is the same country that we liberated in the early 40s and they've used chemical weapons to commit mass genocide on their own countrymen!

As for France, if it wasn't for the US we would be calling France East Germany! They rejected Bush's proposal before Iraq even looked at it...spit right in our faces. What does the world have against this country we call home? I don't even know why we bother being in this senseless war, it's not even worth our time, money, and effort. Iraq's military isn't prepared, they dress in civilian clothing and hide rpgs and grenades in elementary schools!
Just some issues I had to get off my chest, sorry for ranting.

Support our troops...send them home.

[KraziHare]

first of all, 9/11 had nothing to do with Saddam, nothing to do with anyone in that country, and most imporantly, trying to tie the two together simply dishoners the memories of those who died that day, instead of being victims of an attack they're being used as tools by those who want to use sympathy as an excuse for revenge, undeserved revenge on an innocent people. I'm not saying you (vatoloco) believe these things, there are just too many willing to use it as an excuse for war.

Second, I can understand the protesters quite well, I'm one of them. Dubya, or more specifically the ones who control him, are trying to do more than save a bunch of people from some horrible 'regime'. They're trying to set a precedent so that they can do this whenever they want. Have you ever known Dubya or any of his people to be altruistic or good natured in any way? They stole the election and used their power to commit atrocities. It does tend to hurt the anti war effort when people mix their own agendas in with the real point, but Dubya is what caused this war and one way to stop it is to make sure he doesn't get re-elected.

And as for the French and the rest of the world, since when was disagreeing with someone akin to spitting in their face? In my opinion even if the French, Germans, Chinese and the others are against this for the wrong reasons they still embody the american spirit better than most anyone in the american government right now. We were founded on challenging abusive, oppresive power and somewhere along the way the majority of the populace became convinced that somehow we are doing the same by attacking another country unprovoked.

And please, please stop this crap about other countries hating us because they're 'jealous'. It makes me embarrassed to be american when I hear such talk, there's more to life than money and power, not everyone in the world are driven by such things. People don't tend to hate entire countries because of jealousy. Just a little while ago I was watching some cartoon where there was this steroetypical large bully child pushing kids around, his justification was that they were jealous of him being larger, actually being large I know this isn't true, things don't work like that, and actually being an American I can say that we have a lot when it comes to money and power but we're lacking in the compassion and reason department.

Other than that I agree, bring the boys back home, now.

[vatoloco]

I knew I shouldn't have tied the two together but this was the only thread I felt comfortable stating my views on things without being ridiculed.

As for Saddam not having anything to do with the events on 9/11, we can never be 100% sure of that. There still isn't much evidence on Osama and where is he? Why are we so worried about Iraq now when they don't even threaten us in the slightest? N. Korea seems more of a threat since over 80% of that countries' population works for the military. Who are we to tell who can and can't have weapons of mass destruction? Why are we so worried about Saddam when most of the terrorists come from Saudi Arabia, a country that is supposedly our "ally". Why are we spending millions and billions of dollars on bombs when we have ghettoes and Indian reservations here at home that are like 3rd world countries?!

There's a lot more questions to be answered but I think the truth will come out in the next couple years..but as for now I just think Dubya is picking up table scraps and finishing his daddy's plate.