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The Ballad of Mike Moran

by our own FReeper doug from upland


1 posted on 09/10/2016 5:03:14 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Evening, Kathy. (Or rather, good morning.)

Gosh, it’s been 15 years. So much has happened then, unfortunately — what a difference time has made in our moral fiber.


92 posted on 09/10/2016 11:32:18 PM PDT by MoochPooch (I'm a compassionate cynic.)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

9/11 bump.


104 posted on 09/11/2016 3:16:10 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
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To: Kathy in Alaska; GodBlessUSA; LUV W; E.G.C.; HiJinx; AZamericonnie; MEG33; mylife; SandRat; ...

Good morning, Everyone.

Good morning to our
AWESOME
Military, our Allies, and their families.

Thank you, Ma, for preparing
the Canteen for today's activities.

Stopping in long enough to honor those who died
during yet another attack on America.
(we haven't forgotten Pearl Harbor, either)

I read through the posts, but
didn't see anything reminding us of how many
of those crazed terrorists we have
sent to collect their virgins,
(as promised by Pres. Bush)
or the many allies and/or countries who stood with us
and offered help during a tragic time
in the United States of America.
We must not forget them either.

Please stay.
Chat up the troops and their families.

Now remember, the Canteen is ALWAYS

Come in and sit for a while.
There's always plenty of coffee, tea,
pancakes, conversation, silliness,
and plain old BS

REMEMBER THEM

DEFENDERS OF FREEDOM


106 posted on 09/11/2016 4:33:25 AM PDT by beachn4fun (Don't let the hate-mongers win.)
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To: Kathy in Alaska
Good morning, Kathy. Good morning, all

Somber September 11 to everyone.

The following was posted in 2008 (or earlier, but my quick search found 2008) and it's been reposted annually. I was in downtown Brooklyn on 9/11/01, just across the river. I didn't know what was going on until after everything happened and the trains had shut down. I took a long walk with strangers.



At about 8:40am on that morning, I was walking into the Court building on Adams Street (actually, the Court St. entrance) in Downtown Brooklyn to start serving jury duty.

As luck would have it, I had been halfway to the train station before I'd realized that I'd left my Walkman on the kitchen table, so I didn't bother going back for it. I figured I'd just get a newspaper. Besides, I didn't know how well I'd be able to pick up AM inside the building anyway.

I sat in a dark room watching a video on How to Be a Good Juror, oblivious to what was going on right across the river. We were told to relax in the room that they have and I looked out the window at the Marriot Hotel. Traffic on Adams St was snarled, not moving. Must've been an accident on the Brooklyn Bridge, I thought. (It was a block away.)

People were standing around outside the hotel. Must be waiting for a tour bus or something. What did I know.

Fire trucks and ambulances started flying by on the wrong side of Adams Street, which had no traffic. Okay, traffic doesn't come into Brooklyn much in the morning, but something was odd here. I had been facing 180 degrees from where I needed to be looking.

Finally, they had made an announcement. America was at war, under attack. The World Trade Center and the Pentagon had been destroyed. The were trying to get coverage on the TV sets in the jury rooms. I don't think they succeeded. Even if they wanted to, only CBS would be available because it still broadcast from the Empire State Building.

People were beside themselves, many broke down, everyone was rushing for the payphones. I met a woman who had been listening to her radio. She let me share her earbuds. She was shaken and needed a cigarette. I don't smoke, but I walked her to the smoking room. (There was one on the floor. Quite a few people were there.)

We were dismissed. Not much was going to get done in the Court building that week. Groups of people huddled outside with questions, comments, gossip and hearsay. Some of the lawyers said they saw it happen. What kind of plane was it?

Does anyone know if the trains are running? What about the buses? No trains. No LIRR. A few buses and they're all packed. It was time to start walking and no one wanted to walk alone. We walked in groups.

Dust was falling from the sky in downtown Brooklyn like a dirty snow that was covering the cars. Papers fell too. We started walking up Atlantic Avenue. People were wondering around with their cell phones out trying to get a signal. no luck.

We took a turn down Third Avenue. I needed to. I wanted to stop at my mother's house. It was a good resting point for me. The group I'd tagged along with decided to join me. One guy stopped in a hardware store for masks and passed them out.

When we passed Third St and reached the Gowanus Canal, we had our first real look. It was like a scene out of a bad movie. The skyline was there. But the Towers were missing. Just a terrible column of smoke and a cloud drifting our way.

We didn't stay long. We kept walking. I made it to my mother's house and said good-bye to the others. Some were walking all the way to Staten Island. One who had joined our group had walked over the Brooklyn Bridge -- after having walked down 50 floors of Tower 1. God was looking out for him.

I watched some of the coverage until the trains were running again. I took one that left me about a mile or so from my inlaws, the meeting place for the rest of the family. I stopped in at St. Athanasius on the way. I hadn't been there since a wedding about 15-20 years earlier. I stayed for a little while and walked the rest of the way.

Thankfully, my wife, who worked at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side had evacuated immediately before the trains had stopped running.

It's not a walk that I'll forget ever forget.

TS

109 posted on 09/11/2016 8:26:10 AM PDT by Tanniker Smith (Rome didn't fall in a day, either.)
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