Vox

Musings, rants, rambling, general nonsense

That Day

Posted on | September 11, 2004 | Comments Off on That Day


Cox & Forkum
Go see the image at their site

I was asleep when the first plane hit. When I woke up I went to my computer and logged on – it’s just what I do. No radio or TV turned on yet, so I am still completely in the dark.

Then I get an IM from Daniel who says “It is a sad sick world”

“What????”
“Someone just flew a plane into the World Trade Center”
“NO – on purpose?”
“yeah, I think so”
“talk to you later”

So I turned on the TV and stared at it for what seems like days, flipping channels, willing the newscasters to tell me a different story. Seeing the second plane had hit, the news about the Pentagon, the crash in PA, the towers collapsing – it all was just a blur of shock and sorrow and rage. I sobbed for hours thinking of the people who might be trapped in the rubble, hurting for the families and friends who were waiting for news of their loved ones.

I talked to my ex for a couple of minutes. He is an Air Force pilot and I wanted to know he was OK, was going to be OK, didn’t know any of those lost at the Pentagon – as if he would already know those things. Mostly I just needed to hear his voice. We were married just before Desert Storm and I sat many sleepless nights then. I knew the US was going back there, I knew he would be going back there. I knew he would be able to say something to make me feel better…but he was at a loss as well. And then, obviously, he had to go – there was work to be done.

And now it has been three years and the anger and the sorrow and the shock and the disbelief are just as strong. Now they are directed not only at the events of that day but also at the reaction of so many in this country and around the world. The idea that we deserved it, that we should just try to appease the murdering bastards, that fighting to free Afghanistan and Iraq won’t make the world a better, safer place. Humans have a short attention span – perhaps the anniversary will remind a few of them just what we lost that day – and what we are fighting for now.

* See also the timeline Lori has posted for the events of that day.

* And Jeff Jarvis’ post as he visits the site. He visits each 9/11 (and throughout the year), thankful to be alive, having been there that day three years ago. He is the very definition of politically centrist – but he got pushed a bit to the right on that day, on that issue.

* Janie, another Arizona blogger, has some powerful memories to share as well.



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Category: General, Iraq, military, politics

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