Sep 11 2011
9-11, A Decade Later
No words can convey the importance and impact of 9-11 on this nation and on the world. A sleeping giant was once more called to wake and to take down the forces of darkness. On this day we remember those who died and those who became heroes, during that tragic wake up call.
But we should also remember all those who heeded the call of 9-11. Our son is now a Corporal in the United States Marine Corp. He was going to turn 12 years old on 9/13/01, now he trains to go into harms way and protect this nation by protecting the freedoms of others on the other side of the world.
. He and his school mates have enlisted in the US Armed Forces in amazing numbers. Number more like those of his grandfather’s generation who fought in World War II. Much more than my generation of the 60’s and 70’s and our naive and inane war protests. These wonderful children of 9-11 who have stepped forward to take their turn as America’s guardians also are due honor and respect from all of us who live peacefully in the embrace of this nation’s freedoms.
On this day, we remember that it is our nation’s greatness that sets us apart, and sadly makes us enemies of those dark forces which to this day would shackle and enslave humanity for twisted and narrow purpose. It seems strange to think that the world is still rocked by narrow minds who cannot tolerate differences of views, but 9-11 was just such evil lashing out at the Golden City on the hill. Only in America has the coexistence of diversity truly been achieved. So on 9-11 we remember the price we pay to have these freedoms, and why we must ensure they are universal to all humanity – else we find ourselves once again the target of a growing cancer of envious evil.
[note: all the pictures have links worth a follow]
One Nation Under God forever. One Republic forever.
Never forget.
God Bless America. God Bless President Bush. God Bless the Military. God Bless Your son.
[…] The Strata-Sphere has 9/11, 10 years later […]
About that phoenix arising on the site:
CALL it “The Freedom Tower” …
… Not that mind-numbing bureaucratese of “One World Trade Center”.
“Freedom Tower” is what it was originally meant to be called anyway, until somebody got their panties in a twist and thought that such a name would be a gigantic Foxtrot Yankee to those who tried to bring us down. (Sounds to me like an excellent reason to so name it.)
From the Wikipedia entry (for what that’s worth) …
In 2009, the Port Authority changed the name of the building from “Freedom Tower” to “One World Trade Center”, stating that this name is the “easiest for people to identify with”.
All I can say is (EXPLETIVE DELETED!!!).
I saw a NOVA special on TV a few nights ago, all about the design and construction of the 1 WTC Building (They’ve already forgotten the original name) and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
The Presence of Absence …
That’s what the architect of the memorial said it was to evoke; the sense of loss in the footprints of the original twin towers.
That’s not a bad description of what appears to be the attitude of Obama and many of his minions who will appear at the 10th anniversary on 11 Sep 2011. An attitude of “Let’s put this behind us and move on.”; a good sentiment in some circumstances, but in this context almost like saying that the Holocaust Museum should never have been built.
In the Shadow of the Freedom Tower …
To add to the mix, we also have the Ground Zero Mosque, except we’re not supposed to call it that on account of it ain’t located directly on the former World Trade Center site, Ground Zero, nor is it primarily a mosque, (“A rose by any other name …”)
Although the City of New York refused to let a Greek Orthodox Church that was destroyed at Ground Zero be rebuilt, they appear to have no problem with this abomination.
Maybe some solace can come from the fact that its location, about two blocks northeast of the Freedom Tower suggests that in the fall (around Sep 11), each afternoon it will lie in the shadow of the tower.
Where was I on that fateful day? …
The same place most of you were; at work that Tuesday morning 11 Sep 2001. Being in IT, they tolerated my occasional surfing of the internet, but it was other workers who urged me to check out the CNN website that morning; something about an airplane crashing into one of the World Trade Center towers.
I immediately thought it was a horrible accident, with Murphy’s Law working at peak efficiency that it would be the tallest thing in Manhattan to be hit. Indeed, that even made sense as it would be a more likely thing to happen because of its height.
I had read, many times, about the July 1945 incident in which a USAAF B-25 Mitchell bomber tried to land in zero visibility (because of fog) at LaGuardia Airport and the pilot became disoriented and crashed into the Empire State Building between the 78th and 80th floors. At the moment, I felt that, because of the proliferation of tall buildings near landing approaches, such an accident was almost inevitable sooner or later.
Of course, that second plane hitting the other tower made it painfully clear what had really taken place.
The most horrific part was when the South Tower collapsed. Most of the people killed would have been those trapped on the upper floors. By that time, the ones below would have already been evacuated, with the only people still below being responders and others desperately trying to reach those still trapped.
What a horrible word is “only” when applied to people like that. The most merciful thing in their case was that when the rumbling started, they probably barely had time to wonder “What the Hell is that?” before it was over. It was half an hour later before the North Tower went, and I believe that rescue people were still trying their level best there, knowing all too well what could happen and being totally aware when it did.
A year later, I took a driving vacation and, among other places, visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
On display in one wing of the museum was a U-2 reconnaissance plane. On one wall, curving up from the floor, was a huge aerial photo, taken from that (or a similar) plane, of Manhattan Island. What you could see so clearly in that photo were the Twin Towers, and it literally took your breath away realizing what was now gone. I was trying very hard to hold back tears, and I don’t think I succeeded. (If any reading this have been to the museum recently, I’d love to know if that photo is still on display.)
I hope this will be read by bloggers with far greater readerships than my humble 3 or 4 hundred a month, because I beg you to launch a campaign to make “Freedom Tower” the official name of this magnificent structure, or failing that, at least make it the de-facto name.
If honoring the memory of those who fell there was the only reason, that would be more than enough.
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“He and his school mates have enlisted in the US Armed Forces in amazing numbers.”
This generation of young Americans is amazing. They are going to have a tough road ahead of them as we leave them with the bills to pay for our own indulgence. I would wish they learn from us not to repeat our mistake for the generations to follow them.
They are wonderful Americans and I wish them success.
You know, sometimes I think maybe after the Taliban refused our demands to turn over bin Laden, maybe we should have simply dropped three nukes. One on Kabul, one on Jalalabad, and one on Kandahar, and have been done with the whole thing. Three bombs, done. No invasion, no “nation building” none of this 10 years of dragged out low-intensity combat … just flatten Kabul, Jalalabad and Kandahar and that’s it. We would have got Bin Laden, Omar, and all the rest of them all at once and been done with it while sending the message that any country that allows itself to be a base of attack on the United States and harbors the perpetrators is subject to obliteration.
We should have given them an ultamatum. Turn over bin Laden and his cohorts and shut down the terror machine or we will turn the middle east into glass. A warning that one more attack would result in the destruction of the entire area could have solved the problem. As it is, we are now crying tears about the “innocent muslims” who might get killed. Muslims jihadists attacked us on our home ground. There is no way we can win this war as long as we are continually told that our enemies are really our freinds and we should love them instead of fight them. All these ‘innocent Muslims: should be warned if they dont’ want to be killed to get the hell out of the battle zones. You can’t fight a successfull war unless you wage total war on the enemy. that means their families and possessions are fair game. Unless we decide we are in this wAR to win, and act like it, we are just wasting our money and the precious lives of our sons and daughters for nothing. You better believe the enemy doesn’t give a hoot about colateral damage. If they did we wouldn’t have had a 9 11.
God Bless the 9 11 generation. They make us proud.
I say there is no such thing as “innocents”. They hold “innocent” Americans responsible for the stuff our government does, fine, we will hold theirs responsible, too.
Russia showed us, Egypt showed us, Tunisia showed us, no government stands but at the pleasure of the people. The government IS a product of the people because the people CAN bring that government down if and when they decide to do so.
We should have nuked them and left them to deal with it themselves and that is how we should deal with any future attack. In fact, I am currently in favor of simply nuking Somalia to deal with the piracy issue there. To hell with trying to find the exact individuals responsible, the entire culture is responsible. Those pirates are supported by their community, that community could put them out of business in one week if they had a mind to. Screw them, nuke them, I’m tired of it.
Well, my last one ended up in the moderation bucket. But I will just say this: No government stands but at the pleasure of its population. Egypt and Russia have shown us this. The people are ultimately responsible for what its government does. We did give them an ultimatum, and then we invaded. We should have simply nuked those three cities. That would have put pretty much an end to the Pashtun Taliban leadership. Yes, a lot of civilians would have been killed, but it is that community of civilians that supports those people and puts them in a position of power. It would have put the people of the world on notice that if you support a government that attacks our civilians, then your own civilians are placed at risk as well.
I read that Obama and the Talibans are negotiating the deal that would allow the Talibans have their own “office” in Qatar. Obama adm is thinking that moving the Talibans away from the influence of Pakistan might change their beliefs or something.
Right.
Obama adm has now adopted the Clinton and Carter “law enforcement” policies for these radical Muslims and illegal immigrants.
Not good.
Somebody wrote about the Middle East boiling over. It needs to boil over as long as we’re out of the loop. OPEC is also looking to cut back the oil production. OPEC needs to cut back.
Any of you gonna listen to tonight’s debate? It will be interesting to see how Mitt and Rick will handle social security.