~ 9-11 Just Remember and Honor ~

lilbug

Active Member
Jul 13, 2011
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Please folks, no politicizing. For one day we can set aside our political differences and just remember and honor.

Where were you when you heard or saw the Twin Towers attacked? I was at my brother's house, had just gotten up with coffee, still half asleep, and turned on the TV and when the first tower was hit, I thought I was watching a horrible movie. Then the phone rang, it was my brother calling from work, explaining what I had just seen.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDh_pvv1tUM]9/11 - The 10 Year Anniversary - YouTube[/ame]
 
(Moved from another thread which turned political)
"Why do we celebrate this day....."

I don't think we celebrate, so much as we pause to reflect, and remember, on days like December 7, Memorial Day, and 9/11. We remember, in mourning, the shock, the horror, the tragic loss; the darkness, the terror, measured out in shattered and torn metal, and concrete, and lives. Some of us remember friends, comrades and loved ones, taken from us too suddenly, too soon. We remember sacrifice, and sorrow, the terrible cost of being a nation that stands for what too much of the world hates-freedom.

We remember all that, but we also remember something else. We remember that in the darkest, most desperate minutes and hours, there were those men and women who did their best, as our enemies did their worst. Men and women, young and old, of every race and creed, seasoned, dedicated professionals, half-trained youth and ordinary civilians, who put aside their own shock and fear and horror, and rose to the heights of courage in selfless devotion to our nation, and to their fellow man. We remember those who ran to danger and faced it, when every primal instinct in them screamed "Run away!" We remember too, how a people so often bitterly divided and fractious, stunned, horrified, grieving, and outraged came together, united in a greater cause. We remember our nation, hurt, battered, but still standing, proud and determined.

We do not celebrate the grim, fearful, inhuman enterprise of war; but we DO celebrate, as we should, the magnificent, undaunted courage, determination, honor and spirit of those whose light shines through its dreadful gloom, and reminds us that even in the most hopeless and terrible of moments, there are still angels among us.
 
I had just finished going over the morning work with my first graders, and happened to be standing near the door to my classroom. A fellow teacher went running by, and I stepped out into the hall and asked what was wrong. Without stopping, she said that terrorists had flown planes into the World Trade Center buildings, and they were evacuating the White House. I was stunned. I turned back to look at my students, who were busy doing their work, and my heart felt so heavy as I realized that they were about to lose a special sort of innocence that day. I knew that I had to remain calm and composed. The principal came by each classroom to make sure we didn’t turn the televisions on in the lower elementary. Older students were allowed to gather and watch the events unfold to see history in the making. I called my then husband, and asked him to go pick up our son, who would be turning 3 in five days. We decided to leave our daughter at school, who was in fifth grade, knowing her teacher from our church. Even being in SW Missouri out in the middle of nowhere, I kept looking out the window at the blue sky, and searching for planes. Once I got home, after hugging my children and thanking God for our safety, I spent the next several hours glued to the television watching the news. I was finally able to let go and cry. My heart was breaking for our country. I remember feeling less afraid after the President talked to us that night, but still a lot of uncertainty about the future when I laid my head down on the pillow to go to sleep that night. I fell asleep praying for all the victims, their families, and America.
 

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