World Trade Center - From my heart

[southerngirl]

Five years ago, this monday, our country, the united states was attacked.

 

This was a dark day in our history. In what happened, what led up to it, and whats taken place since. I dont know what more to say as Im very emotional about this subject.

 

But last night, my husband and I had 'date night' and went out to dinner and a movie.. It was a nice time.

 

We went and saw 'World Trade Center'. This movie for those that havent seen it was very hard to watch.

Rather than describe to you what its about... Here is what it says on the website about it.

 

It's a little known story from a day we know all too well. "World Trade Center" tells the gripping true story of two of the last men pulled out of the rubble of Ground Zero alive.

 

Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena play Port Authority Police officers. In the film's heart- pounding opening minutes, we watch the attack unfold through the eyes of these first responders. As the routine morning becomes anything but routine, the officers glimpse news reports (we are thankfully spared any images of the plane striking the towers) and get bits of information from cellphone calls to family members as they race downtown. But what's most striking is how little the men know about what's really happening. As the officers prepare to the climb the North Tower, they are unaware the South Tower has even been hit. Communications gear is failing, and there is confusion all around.[/Quote]

 

If you want to know more, follow the link I quoted for more information.

 

It brought back memories of where I was that day. How it felt to see this on tv, as I live many miles from where it happened. The cold fear that was felt deep to my bones. How I picked up my son from preschool early, and hugged him just a little tighter.

 

I was working that day, I remember sitting at my desk where I was the office manager of the systems division for an electrical contractor... i remember seeing my boss run out to his truck and grab his tv and then run back inside... I followed him to his office and jokingly said what are you doing Larry? going to watch tv? He said 'No Jess theres something going on!'... There we turned it on and though it was a small 18" tv we could see what was happening. There crouded around his office six of us watched. We watched as the 2nd plane struck the towers.. We were still watching some hour later as the towers fell.

 

I will never forget that day. Tomarrow night, here in the usa, on nbc is a movie called 'Pathway to 911'. Its billed as a docudrama which means that it is a dramatisation based on actual events.... Theres been alot of political uproar about this movie. Alot of people saying that they shouldnt be showing this movie. They say that they shouldnt show the movie, because its going to tell the story of the 'steps and misteps' that led up to 911. how much of this will be based on fact? How much will upset alot of good people?

 

As a nation are we ready to see something like this? I will be watching it when it comes on tv, and probally taping it. Although, I wonder what it is Im going to see.

 

I dont think Im over what happened that day.. I dont think our nation is over it yet either. It sure doesnt feel like its been 5 years.

 

What are your thoughts about it?

[DN]

Moderator Note

 

The anniversary of 911 will mean many things to many people.

 

Two things to bear in mind when replying to this thread.

 

First: your opinions are your own and you are free to express them but please keep posts respectful.

 

Second: remember that not everyone who is a member of eNotAlone is a citizen of the United States.

[ElektraHere]

It's odd that you wrote this. I was working on something sort of like this post last night. I just couldn't get the words out the way I wanted to express myself.

 

I can't believe it has been 5 years. I remember the day, it was like yesterday. I was getting out of the shower and my b/f at the time was glued to the tv. I asked what he was watching and he said that a plane just hit the WTC.

 

I hate to admit but I didnt know what the WTC was at the time. I then was glued to the tv. I couldnt pull away. I was hoping that there would be light at the end of that dark moment. Unfortunately we all know what happened. I cried, I was angry, I was confused, I was so many emotions that day. It was like the world stood still in hell that day and the weeks after it.

 

It was silent where I live (on the west coast.) There were no sounds of airplanes except for the military planes that were making rounds. I worked for a brokerage firm at the time and we were closed for the rest of the week. We also had offices in the WTC (I just never put the two together) we lost 3 employees.

 

I just recently was in NY and went down to Ground Zero. It was a sad sight. Not just because of the events that happened but the vendors that were there. I just thought it was so inappropriate for people to be selling chotchkies and fake designer purses down there. This was a place of such tragedy and these people are using it as a way to make a quick buck.

 

We walked over to the firehouse that is accross the street and there was a bronze memorial they had put up all along the firehouse wall. It was something the firefighters did to commemorate their lost brothers. It was sad but beautiful. I later found out that there are notes, cards, and pictures that firefighters had written to the fallen on the opposite side of the plaqured. It is sort of a time capsule however it will be sealed forever.

 

I am not sure when our country will be ready for the shows, the movies, the books, etc. It has taken almost 60 years for Pearl Harbor to not be such a sting when spoken about. All we can do is remember those lost, love our families, and love our friends.

[rose2summer]

Wow, it's so interesting you posted this southerngirl,

 

Because I have been thinking about this movie a great deal after seeing it a few days ago,

 

I was amazed by the movie and the fact that it was all based on the true accounts of the survivors,

 

That was the best movie I had ever seen,

 

And it showed the true compassion humans have for each other,

 

I must admit it brought tears to me eyes,

 

My love and condolences go to all of those affected by 9/11, and my gratefulness to all the police/fireman/civilians who helped out.

 

With great respect,

 

Rose

 

Edit to add: I was at my University at the time, and I was the site where one of the planes was headed, we were evacuated, and I found out some of my classmates were on the plane going back to school. Needless to say, some of them never made it back home. Rest in peace.

 

It was a very unsettling and terrifying day.

[NKP]

I remember the day like yesterday i remember getting up outta bed my mother was crying i started to watch tv i remember seeing people jump out i guessthey would rather kill themself than let someone esle do it, i know thats what i would of done. This only happened months after my father passed away. I have watch flight 93 and i cried it was so sad and i cant help but think of there loved ones how will they cope losing someone they loved and will they heal and feel good again or will they be depressed for life. I just cant believe something like this happened to our world just proves how F*ucked up it is. The people that died that day will always be in our hearts and never forgotten

[NJRon]

I lived in Hoboken at the time... right accross the river. My ex-wife and I were (at the time still married) in the process of having a 'controlled separation', so I had another apartment in Philly where she normally stayed. She happened to be up in Hoboken that day as she was taking classes in the city. I was in training in a town not too far away.

 

I heard it happen from someone coming into the training class, speaking of the news. At first, everyone though he was joking. Then it dawned on us it was real. I ran upstairs to use the phone... no phone calls could go through. The lines were jammed. I couldn't get in touch with my (then) wife and I knew she was going into the City.

 

I had 5 friends that worked in the towers and one that lived accross the street. I couldn't get through to anyone. They cordoned off Hoboken as an emergency medical area. It took my ex 2 hours to find a way out of town. I wasn't allowed in... even though I lived there. She had gone out on the pier and watched the second tower fall.

 

We met up in Philly and watched the news over and over for about 5 hours. Then I shut it off. There was nothing more to see.

 

The 'controlled separation' was drastically cut short by a few weeks. A week later, I went back to the Hoboken apartment to get my remaining things out. I remember topping the ridge in the highway and seeing the devastation... the smoke/dust pluming out of this great hole in the ground where the towers once stood. the skyline forever altered. I walked the streets of Hoboken... they were deserted... fliers of missing people were pasted all over the place and were floating about in the air... some hitting me in the face. Everything was grey.

 

All of my friend came out alive.. though the last took two weeks to track down. My friend who had the apartment the block over from the towers wasn't allowed to enter his place for a month. When he was able to, there was an inch of gray dust coating everything. His aquarium was half empty and full of murky water... but, his fish survived. Last I spoke to him a few years ago, he still had them all...

 

One of my cousins in Texas is a fire chief. He left post to come all the way up to the site and help the other fire fighters. It took me over 3 months to get rid of that apartment in Hoboken... no one wanted to move there... usually you could sell in a day. The traffic was light and people were really friendly to each other for about 3 months... then everything went back to normal... as people forgot and started hating one another again. *That* sadness will always stay with me...