9 - 11, 2001

[zeke]

Take a moment today to remember 9-11, 2001. God Bless



Boomer Sooner

[soonernation]

Take a moment today to remember 9-11, 2001. God Bless



Boomer Sooner

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060829/060829_911whererthey_flag_new.standard.jpg

[Soonermagik]

I'll never forget that day.

[soonersweetie]

Nor will I, this morning while watching the news before work, I found my eyes welling with tears-even 5 years later.

It brings back so many emotions.

God Bless those whose lives were lost on that horrible day. I never thought that could happen on our soil.

What a different world we live in now.

Most of us probably do anyways, but if you happen to see someone today and you know they help protect our country (military, police, fire, etc), shake their hand and say thank you.

God Bless America

[All_Day_28]

Take a moment Wed. and remember Tupac Shakur

[lukin254]

and Biggie

[All_Day_28]

and Biggie
yeah but wed. is the 10 year anniversary of Pac's death.

[SoonerBlonde87]

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone that lost a loved one..

[AlabamaSooner]

ttt

[footballfanatic]

As someone who lived in Manhattan and experienced 911 personally, I will never forget that day, nor the brave firefighters and policemen who gave their lives.

One of the worst (and most surreal) experiences I had was sitting with friends in the apartment of someone who was missing. As we waited for news, we clung to any hope that she would turn up, including reports that she and others had turned up alive at different hospitals. This news came several times throughout the night. Sadly, she didn't make it out, and neither did anyone else from her company. (They only had 13 employees.) When we went to the different hospitals to find her, I was so touched by all the food that people living in the neighborhoods brought out for the rescue workers. No one asked them to help, but they wanted to help in any way they could. I'll never forget the firefighters heading downtown to cheering crowds, or crying people shaking the hands of policeman. Why is it that we need horrible events to remind us of all the amazing things people do for us every day?

[All_Day_28]

whoever negged me in this thread and didn't leave a name is gay.. I said nothing to be negged..

[soonerloyal]

Remembering...

September 11, 2001 - My oldest Marine was in boot, four days away from his 21st birthday. I remember that morning, watching the coverage of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon being hit, how I'd sent him off to San Diego, a month or so before. How I got to stay with him all the way to the gate, as the recruits boarded the plane. How I smiled and waved until he disappeared from sight, and they closed the gate - and how I cried only then. I watched their plane slowly pull away from the gate, roll slowly down its path to the runway, where it picked up speed and lifted them off to their future. I remember thinking, "Lord, bless the pilot as he carries these young men." I wrote in my journal later that I wondered if he knew how special his cargo was, and how important they were to not only their families, but to our country.

I cried again on Semptember 11th, for so many reasons more.

I thought again of my son and his choice of which I was so proud. Knowing what this attack would mean for all those recruits struggling to become Marines. And I mourned for what we had lost that day, and what we were sure to lose as the days stretched out over a new future.

I watched the newscasters falter as they recounted the first tower collapse, then the second. I stood rooted to the screen as the reality of the loss of life washed over not just me, but every decent human heart who stood watching as well. And as the minutes turned to hours, the pain did not diminish, but was partnered by an anger that burned so strong, I wondered if I would survive the flames. I watched the brave men and women who had gone into those towers to save whover they could find, bleed slowly out of the rubble and into their own lost realm, as they (and we all) realized that many of their brothers were still inside the ashes and twisted steel. Many of them - and those they fought to rescue - would never be found. I'd always admired the brave souls who ran into infernos while others around them ran out. That day, I was reminded why in a big way. Little did I know that less than a year later, my second son would emulate not only his brother, but also follow the path of the rescuers he watched that day. He became a Marine - and a firefighter as well.

In the wee hours of September 12th, I sat with shaking hands in front of my computer, writing my son another birthday message. I'd written him the week before, a happy message celebrating his coming of age, his benchmark birthday. I remember I'd decorated it with poorly-drawn balloons & a cake, and a crude sketch of a mama kissing her boy's scrunched-up and blushing face. The paper I'd loaded into the printer just now was already blotched with tearmarks. What a different letter this was going to be. I still have a copy of it; so does my son - along with every letter I wrote to him while he was in boot. They're in the same cedar chest that holds the Daily Oklahomans covering the Murrah Building bombing and September 11th. Reminders of what I hope is the final wake-up call we'll need.

The trip to see my oldest son receive his Eagle Globe and Anchor was markedly different from the last time I'd been to the airport in OKC only three months before. Gone were the welcoming gestures from smiling security personnel, offering me the chance to go beyond the boundaries. My trek was directed by tight-lipped men in uniform, curtailed from Point A to Point B with no allowance for deviation. I didn't bat an eye when I landed at San Diego, and N.G.'s were the order of the day, complete with M-16s, wearing camoflauge and nervous frowns. For most, it was comforting and brought on anger at the same time. My fellow passengers and I remarked at how different flights were now, and how grateful were were for it. I couldn't help but wonder what might have been different if we'd made it harder to board flights, and shown more vigilance about with whom we flew, "before".

Both my Marines tell me that the other is his "hero". The younger admires the first for answering the call of his country prior to 9/11/01, "before" he was needed so much. The older says there's more courage and commitment in the choice of his little brother to answer when he knew much more clearly what that answer might mean - "after". I don't have to tell you who two of my heroes are, do I?

Before. And After. Two words make such a difference in the annals of our country's history, do they not?

Those sons of bitches brought down more than buildings and planes that fateful day. They brought down the blinders too many people had on, shielding their eyes and senses from knowing that Evil is a presence to be reckoned with in our own midst. It's been said America lost her innocence again that day; I agree. But I say we gained an eagle eye of truth, insight and opportunity - what we do with it now remains to be seen.

I'll add two more words that have echoed from the hearts of Americans living and dead for the last five years since. I want you to hold them with the same reverence I do, say them and mean them...

NEVER FORGET.


-----Lori H. (soonerloyal)

[footballfanatic]

[I]Remembering...[/]

September 11, 2001 - My oldest Marine was in boot, four days away from his 21st birthday. I remember that morning, watching the coverage of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon being hit, how I'd sent him off to San Diego, a month or so before. How I got to stay with him all the way to the gate, as the recruits boarded the plane. How I smiled and waved until he disappeared from sight, and they closed the gate - and how I cried only then. I watched their plane slowly pull away from the gate, roll slowly down its path to the runway, where it picked up speed and lifted them off to their future. I remember thinking, "Lord, bless the pilot as he carries these young men." I wrote in my journal later that I wondered if he knew how special his cargo was, and how important they were to not only their families, but to our country.

I cried again on Semptember 11th, for so many reasons more.

I thought again of my son and his choice of which I was so proud. Knowing what this attack would mean for all those recruits struggling to become Marines. And I mourned for what we had lost that day, and what we were sure to lose as the days stretched out over a new future.

I watched the newscasters falter as they recounted the first tower collapse, then the second. I stood rooted to the screen as the reality of the loss of life washed over not just me, but every decent human heart who stood watching as well. And as the minutes turned to hours, the pain did not diminish, but was partnered by an anger that burned so strong, I wondered if I would survive the flames. I watched the brave men and women who had gone into those towers to save whover they could find, bleed slowly out of the rubble and into their own lost realm, as they (and we all) realized that many of their brothers were still inside the ashes and twisted steel. Many of them - and those they fought to rescue - would never be found. I'd always admired the brave souls who ran into infernos while others around them ran out. That day, I was reminded why in a big way. Little did I know that less than a year later, my second son would emulate not only his brother, but also follow the path of the rescuers he watched that day. He became a Marine - and a firefighter as well.

In the wee hours of September 12th, I sat with shaking hands in front of my computer, writing my son another birthday message. I'd written him the week before, a happy message celebrating his coming of age, his benchmark birthday. I remember I'd decorated it with poorly-drawn balloons & a cake, and a crude sketch of a mama kissing her boy's scrunched-up and blushing face. The paper I'd loaded into the printer just now was already blotched with tearmarks. What a different letter this was going to be. I still have a copy of it; so does my son - along with every letter I wrote to him while he was in boot. They're in the same cedar chest that holds the Daily Oklahomans covering the Murrah Building bombing and September 11th. Reminders of what I hope is the final wake-up call we'll need.

The trip to see my oldest son receive his Eagle Globe and Anchor was markedly different from the last time I'd been to the airport in OKC only three months before. Gone were the welcoming gestures from smiling security personnel, offering me the chance to go beyond the boundaries. My trek was directed by tight-lipped men in uniform, curtailed from Point A to Point B with no allowance for deviation. I didn't bat an eye when I landed at San Diego, and N.G.'s were the order of the day, complete with M-16s, wearing camoflauge and nervous frowns. For most, it was comforting and brought on anger at the same time. My fellow passengers and I remarked at how different flights were now, and how grateful were were for it. I couldn't help but wonder what might have been different if we'd made it harder to board flights, and shown more vigilance about with whom we flew, "before".

Both my Marines tell me that the other is his "hero". The younger admires the first for answering the call of his country prior to 9/11/01, "before" he was needed so much. The older says there's more courage and commitment in the choice of his little brother to answer when he knew much more clearly what that answer might mean - "after". I don't have to tell you who two of my heroes are, do I?

Before. And After. Two words make such a difference in the annals of our country's history, do they not?

Those sons of bitches who brought down more than buildings and planes that fateful day. They brought down the blinders too many people had on, shielding their eyes and senses from knowing that Evil is a presence to be reckoned with in our own midst. It's been said America lost her innocence again that day; I agree. But I say we gained an eagle eye of truth, insight and opportunity - what we do with it now remains to be seen.

I'll add two more words that have echoed from the hearts of Americans living and dead for the last five years since. I want you to hold them with the same reverence I do, say them and mean them...

NEVER FORGET.


-----Lori H. (soonerloyal)

Thanks for your great post. Strong words and I appreciate the sacrifices your sons have chosen. Thank you, and health to you and your sons.

[goingoneight]

Where's the little patriotic smiley when you need one? God Bless the U.S.

arggghhh... even Texas. :D

[cherokeebrewer]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v252/BeerWench12345/EllisIsland.jpg

[DrZaius]

I was not sure how today was going to be. Stern replayed his show from 9/11-2001 today and it was weird how much feeling I still had about that day.

God Bless