Never Forget.

Never Forget ^ | 2-23-05

[Indy Pendance]

Please take the time to watch this video, we must remember those on September 11, 2001. We can never forget, and we can not let those who wish us to forget to let us forget. Please, take 15 minutes from freeping, this is bookmarked on my home page, Thank you FReepers. Indy.

Never Forget.

If you let it run past the video, there are many good quotes after.

[Admin Moderator]

Welcome to the forum. How's about you educate us Americans on the truth?

[7.62 x 51mm]

That video still bring tears to my eyes, and huge amount of anger, hate and rage to my heart in wanting to kill all subhuman, murderous, islamic terrorist filth.

NEVER FORGET, dammit!

[metesky]

Never forget!

BTTT

[NYC GOP Chick]

Yes, it does need to be shown regularly, since it seems to have faded from public consciousness.

Thank you for the kind words.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thank you for sharing Bear with us.

Do you have the stories on others?

[Pete'sWife]

So many of the websites that existed in the days after 9/11 are gone now.

Whatever it takes to keep this site up FOREVER, just ask. We will see to it.

Americans in the days, weeks, months, and years following 12/7/41 rallyed to a Great Cause, stayed the course, and defeated our enemies.

That so many Americans see no cause, demand "exit strategies," call for conciliation, "understanding" of those who seek to murder the rest of us is baffling.

That we can no longer unite as One People frightens me, and saddens me.

[Calpernia]

I have a few more good stories.

I'm going to post a thread to Chat now and I'll add the link here.

[hopper4]

This is one of the most touching sites I've encountered, set up for one of the victims of flight 93. Brought it all back to me...
http://www.nicolemillermemorial.com

[Calpernia]

strange. My post is showing empty, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1349893/posts?page=109#109

I thought it was a refresh issue. I still don't see my post.

Trying again.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1349893/posts?page=109#109 was suppose to say, I just gave this story it's own post in Chat,

Faithful Dog Leads Blind Man 70 Floors Down WTC
Just Before Tower Collapses

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1350072/posts

[Calpernia]

Sirius, WTC Dog, Found in Rubble

NEW YORK CITY (USA) — Four months ago, Port Authority Police Officer David Lim was in the basement below the World Trade Center when the first explosion hit Tower One. Officer Lim put his 4-year-old Yellow Lab partner "Sirius" into his crate and raced upstairs to investigate.

His last words to Sirius were: "You stay there. I'll be back for you."

Neither David nor anyone in the world could have expected both towers to collapse on September 11, 2001, claiming thousands of human lives and one dog's. Sirius became the one canine casualty of the WTC terrorist attack.

That morning, Officer Lim raced up 43 flights of stairs to assist and direct the fleeing individuals when the evacuation began. He was helping to carry a woman down near the fourth or fifth floor when the tower collapsed and buried them. "It was like an avalanche," he describes. "We were just waiting there to die."

Officer Lim was himself rescued that afternoon just after 3pm. Nobody kept count on how many people he had been able to help escape, but unfortunately one individual very dear to him didn't make it out. David made several attempts to get back to the basement were Sirius was crated, but firefighters and officers at that point were trying to secure the scene and would not allow re-entry.

In addition, doctors would not allow Officer Lim to search at "the pile" because of the emotional toll it could have taken on him. But he kept tabs on the rescue effort, checking in periodically to ask whether they had made it to the kennel area. Finally last week, the call came: they had found Sirius. Investigators said that the dog had died instantly when the kennel collapsed.

On Thursday, under full honors, complete with a prayer and a salute, the body of Sirius was removed from the wreckage.

"There was a flag over his bag and I carried him out with another officer, John Martin," says Officer Lim. "Everyone saluted. All the machinery was stopped—the same thing that is done for human police officers and firefighters. I thought it was very nice."

Welcome home, Sirius.

[Calpernia]

Letter from a World Trade Center Rescuer and his Dog

When asked: "Give me three reasons why you went in there", he replied: "Duty, Honor, Country!"

My buddy, Hal Wilson, and I went into the "pile" at the World Trade Center with our search dogs, Cody and Sue, at 11 AM on Wednesday, September 12th, 2001. You wouldn't believe the teamwork and the silence with hundreds of firefighters stumbling through the mess.

Hal was a US Marine in Vietnam while I served with the airborne. I never thought a paratrooper and a marine would get along so well together. In our camouflage battle dress we were the first military personnel on site since the airports, the tunnels and many other roads to New York City were closed.

On the way in through the rubble we walked past deserted restaurants with white and checkered table cloths, fully stacked bars, wine on tables and menus in hallways which had survived the blast. Then the realization hit us head on as we entered a court yard and we saw the "pile" of debris several stories high.

We linked up with four state police K-9 teams which were the dirtiest, filthiest men and dogs we had ever seen. They were covered with gray dust and mud. All of the troopers had that thousand meter stare which all combat veterans have after they have been on the line too long.

The troopers and their dirty dogs were being pulled out as Hal and I were deployed with Cody and Sue on to the "pile" stacked several stories high with fire rigs, police cars, twisted I beams, shards of glass, aluminum, wood and chunks of metal and concrete sticking out of the ground. The metal rods I stumbled through reminded me of punji stakes in Vietnam.

The fire lieutenant in charge led Hal and I and our dogs to a fire rig which has been a hose truck. It was gray, completely burned out...no seats, dash, steering wheel...nothing. "Get down there, please, and tell me if you can detect anybody in there!" the officer requested. Cody and I climbed down ten feet and I called into the truck, "If you can hear me, say ONE, if you can hear me, say TWO, if you can hear me, say THREE!" There was no response. Then I repeated myself and said, "If you can hear me, but can't talk, bang the wall with your foot ONCE...TWICE...THREE TIMES!" Still no response. Cody, my golden retriever, began scratching and I told the fire fighters above me, "We have a body down here!"

They pulled Cody and me out of the pit and began cutting the truck open with an electric saw. Several minutes later I heard the fire fighters below call out, "Body Bag!"

As an orange plastic roll was passed down the line into the pit next to the burned out rig, another officer asked me, "How good is your dog?" We were standing on a hose line and Cody was scratching again. I didn't have to answer the officer when Cody's paws suddenly were covered with blood. "Body Bag!" was heard again and another roll of orange plastic was passed down the line.

The remains of the first fire fighter were carefully lifted to the surface in a basket and eight of his brothers carried the remains to the morgue truck. Soon the second fire fighter's remains Cody had discovered were placed into another body bag and we were asked to step aside as another crew removed them.

Another officer grabbed my arm and directed me to a concrete slab which had been a wall the day before. Under the slab was another fire rig. "Can you get down there and tell us if...." He didn't have to finish the request. A hole had been punched into the wall of debris below the slab. "What's down there?" somebody asked.

Cody and I climbed down into this pit and I stuck my nose into the hole, smelling gas. Then Cody passed by me digging into the debris under the slab. We smelled burnt flesh again and I signalled the officer behind me. "Body Bag!" was heard again.

I couldn't believe Cody had discovered three sets of remains in thirty minutes. It was more than I had ever expected from that dog.

As I tried to get out from under the slab and clear the way for another crew to remove remains, I found myself in a great deal of trouble. I was wedged into a pit and couldn't move. It was like being under a staircase in a dark basement and there was no way to get out.

Cody was still in front of me however and in a dash for his safety, gasping for air, he jumped over my left shoulder and turned me around. I crawled toward the light and was lifted to the surface by a squad of fire fighters which began to dismantle the slab under which we were trapped.

I was exhausted this time so Cody and I returned to the top of the "pile" watching a body bag with remains being removed from the scene every twenty minutes or so.

Soon a wind picked up and we began dodging shrapnel flying off buildings about the pile. I thought I had seen it all in two years of Vietnam combat. I hadn't!

I couldn't find my helmet which was buried in my back pack under three days of rations I had loaded for Cody. "Helmets!" was the order so I stumbled away to the relative safety of another structure....one which collapsed later in the day.....where two nurses gave us water and another provided us a cup of orange juice.

Then I got rattled, starting to look for my partner, Hal, and his dog. He was right behind me...and so was Sue..."Hey Marine...let's get the hell out of here!" I shouted. "Yes, sir!" he responded and we followed a crew of fire fighters carrying remains from the "pile" through the building with the bar and restaurants out to the morgue truck.

We were exhausted and hurting. Cody was sneezing and coughing so we headed for the Suffolk County SPCA van. But before we left the scene, Hal procured a metal tray from a garbage pile and we gave our dogs all the water we had.....and as we did.....a squad of fire fighters behind us poured out all their water into the tray for the dogs. Nobody said a word.

After the dogs were checked out by volunteer vets and vet techs at the Suffolk County SPCA, had their noses and eyes washed, paws cleaned and received shots, we were ordered to rest for an hour at Stuyvesant High School. We followed orders.

About 4 PM we started home, walking towards Penn Station on 34th Street. Sue was close to heat exhaustion and Cody was having a hard time breathing. Then we spotted a Franciscan priest who blessed the animals, Hal and me. We felt better and started on our way again. Cody stopped in his tracks on 23rd Street and 6th Avenue, unable to walk any longer.

We watered both dogs, taking a break on a sidewalk, leaning against an office building. Passersby said "Thanks!" and after a few minutes we were on our way again.

When we arrived at Penn Station, twenty minutes before our train was due to depart for Long Island, more people said, "Thanks!", providing us food, water and a couple of beers. On the train ride home Cody slept under my feet with his back to the a/c.

Thanks New Yorkers for giving us the chance to help!

Paul Morgan and Cody Hal Wilson and Sue

The Pile

[nw_arizona_granny]

This one makes me sad.

But life is like that.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Thank you for that article. I sort of recall it, but some of it seems new. Always good to feel some people - even jounalists - have sense.

[nw_arizona_granny]

This is a new to me report.

Thank you.

[Calpernia]

The World Trade Center's Heroic Rescue Dogs

A police dog and her handler weave through the debris where the WTC south tower once stood. Rescue dogs like this one are trained to detect traces of sweat and other musky odors exuded by the body during stress. They are also able to distinguish between the living and the dead.

U.S. President George W. Bush greets a Black Lab searcher dog after visiting the site of the World Trade Center attack in New York City.

Help is offered from as far away as Vancouver, BC. Vancouver Urban Rescue Team officer Jack Wadley puts Khan and the gang on standby as the U.S. accepts Canada's assistance. New York City's canine rescue teams have been working non-stop, full-day shifts since Tuesday.

Grim faces and sad tails show the frustration—and the unshaken resolve—of rescuers from the Maryland Task Force Rescue Team on lunch break. Handlers say that dogs trained to find survivors feel as if it's their fault for not being able to find anyone. No survivors have been located since last Wednesday when canine search teams helped locate five injured people.
"They will search endlessly for that scent until they are called off."
— Lori Mohr, National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

Kinsay" of the Texas Task Force One has an injured paw treated—while dishing out her own dose of fuzz-therapy to weary crews.

"Some couldn't take it anymore. Rescuers asked to play fetch with Thunder. But then they'd sneak off in a corner to just be with Thunder, or maybe to talk with him." — Bob Sessions, rescue worker, Federal Emergency Management Agency

Ohio Task Force One's Gary Flynn and his partner Tascha prepare for another shift.
The therapeutic value of dogs at the World Trade Center site has been widely recognized. CNN correspondent Kitty Pilgrim reports, "Not all dogs are soldiering through piles of rubble. One special unit was brought in to provide emotional support to rescue workers. They reach out to these dogs because it's OK to." An unidentified rescue worker adds, "These dogs have been trained to pick up on trauma and goes towards it. So they pursue people they perceive as being in a state of trauma ... We've been visiting a lot of firemen, police, and cleanup detail."

"Worf" located the bodies of two missing firefighters on the first day. Overwhelmed, he lay down and curled up on the spot. The dog began shedding profusely, quit eating and refused to play with other dogs. His partner Mike Owens made the decision to retire the 12-year-old German Shepherd from search-and-rescue duty permanently. They are now back at home in Monroe, Ohio, where the entire town takes turns petting and playing with Worf.

One-year-old "Porkchop" gets some kind reassurance from partner Erick Robertson of Oakhurst, California. SAR dogs—especially those trained to find living people—feel increased stress and depression as time passes with no survivors found.

NEW YORK CITY — Their sense of smell has been estimated to be at least one million times more refined than ours; they have as many as 220,000,000 "sniffer" cells, compared to a human's mere 5,000,000; they can detect sound vibrations at 250 yards that most humans can barely hear at 25; and most importantly, these marvelous workers are dedicated, determined and motivated beyond the limits of exhaustion like no human or machine could ever be.

[youngtory]

I agree, let us never forget those who lost their lives, those who heroicly(sp?) sacrificed their lives and prayers for the families affected by September 11,2001.

[sandalwood]

My classmate from high school died at Cantor Fitzgerald. It is still vividly painful to recall that day, and I, too, never wanted to visit the pile of debris. In fact, coming across the bridge from Jersey without the towers still fills my heart with dread.

We can only thank God that we didn't lose 10x as many lives that day.

God bless your family, and baby Matthew. May he know in his heart the uncle he will not meet on this earth.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thank you for sharing these stories with all of us.

[pepperdog]

bttt