RIP to all those who lost their lives on this day in 2001. My heart goes out to their loved ones and the whole American nation....Let us never forget our friends loss..also may we recognize and respect their strength in those dark days and their strength and fight since....


Our enemies will crumble ...and the flags of freedom will fly long after their demise....

The British will never forget 11th September 2001..For what its worth we are with you in this fight

God bless our American brothers and sisters..........This Brit salutes you



They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Lest we forget

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Hi Ho Hi Ho

Thank you for remembering, jrj, & for your thoughts.

On this day every year I wear a mourning band on my badge if I'm working. Even if I work days close to 9/11 I'll wear the band the whole week when I'm on duty.

Every year I get angry all over on this day. I remember it like it happened yesterday. I had retired from the Army just a few months before & I tried to come out of retirement. Had I been retired less than 3 months they might have let me back in. I was just over 3 months. My son took my place a couple of years later & did some serious a$$ kicking in Iraq & Afghanistan.

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Proud Dad of a US Army Ranger SSG-Former 3/75 Rangers, 2/334-95 USAR at present
US Navy 1960-1966 Submarine Service, Navy Diver-UDT 21
US Army 1980-2001 Airborne Infantry,G3, Army Instructor, Commo Instructor Company 1SG
Retired 1SG/MSG
I was a Soldier. I am a Soldier. I will always be a Soldier.

Thanks jr..

I have such mixed emotions on this day. For days, weeks and even a few months after, our nation rallied together. Flags were hard to find and it seemed we almost had peace for a while. Slowly over time all that begin to fade. I know moving on is part of the grieving process and for those who aren't still fighting the war in a personal way, 9/11 isn't always as personal.

My family is not likely to forget what happened that day. For the 4th straight year in a row our Soldier is gone, the second 9/11 he is spending in Iraq. On 9/11/01, he was gone as well, away from us. Being apart on that day was a small hint to us of what the future would bring to us as a family.

Last night I sat my three boys down (12, 10 and 7) and I explained to them what this day meant. I thought about keeping them home. I acknowledge Patriot Day, really I do but I don't want my children who are too young to remember the actual attacks to stand around a flag pole on their school grounds waving flags like it's a 4th of July Parade and singing "It's a Grand Old Flag", I don't use the term anniversary because that implies a need for a celebration and today isn't about a celebration. Today is about remembering those who were lost (the innocent), those were sacrificed (the firemen, police, volunteers and the passengers of Flight 93) and those who have since worn the uniform that bears US before any branch they serve in the military.

Many say that 9/11 and the current war in Iraq (part of the Global War on Terrorism) are not connected. To me, it very much does and while I won't go into that argument, I will just say this. That day as I was comforting my children and pondering what life was going to be like, I knew our role as a military just changed. As a result my husand has served in Iraq twice. Last night I was again comforting my children as we talked about that day and their dad being gone and in harm's way.

I am proud to be an Army family. And while we endure hardship and pain at times going through separations, like I told my boys, I couldn't be prouder than this mission we are currently on. To know my husband is a part of less than 1% defending our nation's freedom, to be part of the mission that is working so hard to ensure that another 9/11 doesn't happen here, I can't even put into words.

To us and many like us 9/11 isn't something we are likely to forget.

God Bless America and those who preserve her Freedom.

♥Never Forget - SFC Bryant Herlem, SGT Jose Gomez, SGT Brandon Teeters, SGT Jeremy King, CPT James Funkhouser♥

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Armygirl4ever,
Proud Army Veteran 1993-2004
Now Proudly Serving in the Silent (okay, maybe not always so silent) Ranks

Nobody will ever convince me that Iraq has no part of the Global War on Terrorism. The four times he was there & the one time he was in Afghanistan virtually every terrorist they killed or captured was al Qaeda or aligned with al Qaeda. Same "membership" in both countries with a lot of cross-breeding & common training between them.

From what I've read & researched there isn't a terrorist in the world without at least some al Qaeda connection, funding, training, etc.

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Proud Dad of a US Army Ranger SSG-Former 3/75 Rangers, 2/334-95 USAR at present
US Navy 1960-1966 Submarine Service, Navy Diver-UDT 21
US Army 1980-2001 Airborne Infantry,G3, Army Instructor, Commo Instructor Company 1SG
Retired 1SG/MSG
I was a Soldier. I am a Soldier. I will always be a Soldier.

Good man jrj. Good man.

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OOH RAH!

Thank you Jrj...

Thanks, jrj. This day gets to me in so many ways.

Apparently there is special on the History Channel tonight at 8 Central. It sounds like it would be good.

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Proud Mom of a Proud Soldier

Some horrific scenes on that day back in 2001. My prayers go out to all those that died, survived and are scarred by that horrible act!

I remember everyone up here started flying American flags. You can still see the faded bumper stickers today here and there.

Every day, back then I got up, showered, grabbed a coffee and popped on the news. Usually saying "boring" to myself a few times before going to work.

So I turned on the news. It was just a few moments after the first plane had struck. ....who among you saw it happening? It was such a bizarre feeling, quickly realizing that what you were seeing was real knowing it was crazy, but not immediately connecting with the gravity of what was happening. I was thinking, "Jesus, how the hell does THAT happen!".

Then, news feeds start saying that something has happened elsewhere. And your like, getting a bad feeling suddenly. A different bad feeling than the one you just had. One that makes you want to look out the window in a way.

The room mate was in the shower. I took to yelling at them to hurry. They asked why and I said, "I don't know what to say, the news is seriously fu.cked!"

The phone rang. Mom calling. Wondering if I knew what was happening. Within 5 minutes it rang a few times with people calling to ask the same. ....a lot of people were calling a lot of people.

Then, the second tower is hit. Now you know, there is no question that this is being done on purpose. That someone is doing this to us. There were only two of us watching the news that morning but, there was no mention of the states. It didn't feel like that at all. It was just, "who is doing this to us!".

What a sense of helplessness. Maybe like being shot at in your living room, from somewhere, but you don't know where, or when or if it will happen again. All the while, shattering the should be serenity and security of your home. I knew that for the first time in my life I was seeing something that in one stroke would change the world we live in. It had to.

Then they fell, one then the other. Looking back, anger was for certain the prevailing emotion. You just wanted to be able to grab the right person by the neck and watch them die.

Had to go to work still. Traffic was heavy and I remember looking at people and wondering if they knew what was happening. It was an eerie drive. A perfectly sunny day, everything quite beautiful. But not, not at all.

Our office looked after a pile of tourism here. We ended up converting it to a center that created what was called a "bed bank" of private citizens and hotels who were willing to give rooms for free to people who had nowhere to go when huge numbers of flights were diverted to Canadian cities up the east coast. CNN, NBC, CTV and the local stations were all there. A devastating morning led to a devastating day. It was great to be able to help, that's for sure. It was a constant 10 hour shift of the grim reminder of why you were helping these people though.

That was my 911 morning. So long as I can remember things, I think I'll remember that.


R.I.P.

Common

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Humans, a renewable resource?
Bumble Bees Die to sting you

2nd Period Art Class. Middle School. I remember it vividly. We were told everything which I thought was nice. Friends at other schools weren't told the whole story or the story at all. We turned on the TV, and 10 minutes in, my class of 6th graders watched the second plane hit.

That was the moment I decided that I wanted to be one of those who supplied a one-way ticket to "paradise."

I'll see them in Hell.