14 thoughts on “In Remembrance”

  1. It’s just past Midnight, making it now September 12th. I’d like to thank everyone that has shared on this post. It has been helpful to me to be able to read your comments. I identify with much of what has been said here so far. Although we all lead very different lives and differ in age, profession, political and religious beliefs, have different family responsibilities and live in very different parts of the world it is striking to see that 9/11 impacted all of us in very similar ways. Like a couple of you have mentioned, I also have a tough time trying to articulate my 9/11 experience. I remember it all in great detail and I know exactly how I felt and still feel about it, but for me those memories and feelings don’t easily translate into words. It has really helped me to see many of you articulate your memories and feelings here, because it seems it was a commonly shared experience for all of us, and because of that I realize I don’t have to describe my experiences to you. In an unspoken way we all just seem to “get it.” I find a level of comfort in that.

    I don’t mean to cut further discussion of this post by leaving this comment. I encourage others that come here after me to feel free to share with us. I think we’re all likely to keep an eye on this discussion thread.

    With great gratitude to all that we lost and to all that are still hurting…

    All the very best,
    Clif

  2. I remember working at home that morning. I had gotten an early start. My wife phoned and mentioned something about it. cnn.com, msn.com, yahooo.com, abc.com…none of the sites would pull up. But, it was on television. I turned it on to watch the smoking and the replay, and then saw the live shot of the 2nd plane. It wasn’t too long after that when I fell to the floor and cried. My wife and kids were gone for the day. I just wept.

    I remember all the strange things that you think you just have to do. I got as much cash out of the bank as possible. A bought a gun–like southern comfort food. I looked for a flag for at least 3 weeks.

    I remember thinking about my business. Have we just purchased $30K worth of goods that are now worthless junk?

    I remember a friend that had been in Mexico City on business. He said they had been afraid to go into the streets. No one knew what to expect. It took him so long to get home.

    I remember a friend that had been in Ukraine. When he showed up at the US Embassy about 18 hours later, there were hundreds of people, holding candles, all around the gate. When his party held up their passports, a sea of people opened up as men and women cried and prayed and ushered them through to the gate and the US Marines.

    I remember a friend at a brokerage firm in town on my soccer team. I remember how he said there were so many numbers on his cell phone that just didn’t reach an extension anymore.

    I remember a package that came back to our business via FedEx Ground, undelivered.

    I remember watching the television or listening to radio headphones (if kids were around) for hours on end–sort of like during the weeks of the Presidential election returns months earlier.

    I remember how quiet it was at night, when the FedEx planes didn’t run.

    I remember watching every plane for the week after the air traffic hold was lifted.

    I remember the Saturday following 9/11. We had planed a large trade show. I felt very strange, very irreverent. I thought we should cancel the show. I felt like I was doing something wrong. We have never before or since sold as much product in one day. Everyone was frenzied to buy things and feel good, and normal.

    I remember the President’s speech about “going back to what you do” ? He said we should “serve [our] country by doing those things that make this country strong.” I needed to hear that. I was in shock.

    I remember realizing that there were people that hated us. And that there was really nothing that would change that.

    I remember so many friends with Northwest airlines losing jobs or being transferred. My neighbors had to sell their home and move. In a very real way, their experiences were a practical example of the ripple effects of that day. These economic events were certainly far removed from the deaths of 9/11. But, these many economic impacts seemed to remind me that those men, those men that hated us, had stuck hard and deep and with effect.

    I remember David Letterman and Jay Leno, starting to tell jokes again.

    I remember American flags being in every store two months later.

    I remember the baseball season going deep into October. I remember missed football games being replayed, or were they deleted from the schedule?

    I remember politics returning to normal. I remember the long night of presidential returns, again.

    I remember when my daughter, two years later, learned about the men who flew into the Towers. I remember when my son, 6 months old on 9/11, graduated Kindergarten. I remember when his younger sister was born.

    I don’t remember 9/11 often enough. It is good to remember.

  3. Thank you Mr. Barbour for sharing your story about Newfoundland and posting the link to the snopes articles. I was very touched as I read how the whole city (state?, town?) gave so much of themselves to bring comfort to stranded and scared travellers. I needed something good to remember today, and I needed a good cry and your post provided both.

  4. It is still a very sad thing to think about. I remember watching the towers fall that morning. I am so glad we are not actually fighting the terrorism in the world. I was watching the reports today about what is going on in Iraq. We are making progress. It is sad to have our troops being killed over there but they are keeping us free. They chose to serve our country. We need to be behind them 100%. We need to let our Senators and Representatives know that we do need our troops over there to continue fighting for us. I am sick of all this debate that we need to pull our troops when we are actually making progress. We as citizens need to make our voice heard.

  6. There’s not alot of acknowledgement of 9/11 here in Africa today. I’m glad that I visited the blog tonight. It’s very difficult to describe what it’s like to go through an event like that when you and your loved ones are on separate continents. There’s no technology that can close the gap that you feel between you because of the great distances. Nothing was ever the same after those terror strikes. It has ever since been more dangerous to be here but it also made it even more important to be here.

  7. I liked reading everyone’s comments.

    I am kind of going through what techteacher described because I want to post something but I just can not put my feelings into words.

  9. I was actually at a two day professional development session on the province’s new virtual high school in Gander, Newfoundland. For those of you who don’t know the role that Gander played in 9/11, this passage from snopes does a good job with it – http://www.snopes.com/rumors/gander.htm – as does the passage from Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gander%2C_Newfoundland_and_Labrador

    Specifically, my group had broke early and went to a local restaurant/bar to sit around and chat (keep in mind we are one and a half hours ahead of Eastern time). We were all sitting around in the bar when CNN started covering this and were glued to the television sets for the next two hours. Later that day we, before we left town (as this was the second day of the two day event), went out around the airport and took pictures of all of the planes lines up along the grass, just off of the runway.

    For the next two weeks, those stranded passengers dominated our local news. Schools in the area were all closed, but students still can to act as cooks and maids and guides and just someone to talk to for all of the people that were living in the gym or the library. Students who could drive would take people to their homes so that they could shower or get their turn on the telephone or Internet quicker than waiting at the school. They organized social events for them, I remember the students at one school had former students come back (some who were even out of province) to do a production of last year’s school musical for the unexpected guests. A number of community groups in some of the smaller communities held traditional Newfie variety shows. The Red Cross canvassed some three and four hours away, looking for blankets and toiletries – my grandfather even gave them about a dozen quilts -granted, she still probably have a dozen more… 🙂

    So while it would be another two years before I would move to the United States, 9-11 has always had a strong personal connection for me – like so many other Newfoundlanders.

  10. I was in high school when the planes went down and we didn’t hear anything about it until after lunch. We all wanted to go home so we could find out what was going on. It was a very long afternoon waiting to get home. I think I set infront of the tv all night watching all the news about the crashes and stuff. I just kept hoping that they would find all these people safe and sound in the wreckage.

  11. I saw the post and felt really motivated to share a comment. The odd thing is that I’m sitting here reflecting on the events related to 9/11 and I just don’t know what to say. Alot is going through my mind but I just put any of it into words right now. Just thinking about it all helps so thanks for helping do that.

  12. As many people do, I will always remember where I was on Sept. 11, 2001. I was a high school Marketing teacher and had just started the first class of the day when word began spreading of the first plane hitting one of the Twin Towers. We were able to pick up a weak signal from a tv station on our classroom set and watched in disbelief as both towers crumbled. Not long afterwards, we received word that the Pentagon had been hit as well. I remember a student asking me “Ms. Conger what is going on?”, and I remember replying back almost without thinking “I think we’re under attack”. The student asked if we were safe in Paris, TN. I remember trying to reassure her, but honestly I wasn’t sure myself.

    The rest of the day was very emotional. I had one student with an uncle working at the World Trade Center and another student with an aunt working at the Pentagon. Both were very panic stricken…as were many of us. I remember trying to comfort all of my students the best I could, but I wasn’t sure myself if any of us were actually safe.

    Since that day six years ago, I’ve lost a family member in Iraq as well as some former students who joined the military after graduation. There is no adequate amount of thanks that can be given or gratitude that can be shown to the people (or their families) who’ve paid the ultimate price for our freedom. I wish this war could end today and terrorism would be defeated, but unfortunately it seems as though this will be an ongoing battle for years to come.

  13. The picture that you used well captures the commemoration of this tragic day.

  14. I was sick on 9/11/01, so I was not teaching that day. I remember resting on the couch with one of the morning shows on TV. I watched in horror as things unfolded. When the first tower was hit I just thought it was a wierd accident. When the second tower was hit I was stunned. When it was reported that the Pentagon was hit I became horrified…who knew what was going to be hit next. Then came the report of the downed plane in Pennsylvania and the apparent heroic efforts and sacrifice of those on board. Then there were the heroic efforts of the fire and police departments and all other rescuers at each of these sites. The heroism made the tragedy a bit more bearable.

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