Free Republic's 9-11 100 Hours of Remembrance

Free Republic | 9/6/03 | Free Republic

[jriemer]

It’s 4:46am September 6.

Its a little more than 100 hours from the Second Anniversary of Start the World Trade Center Attack and the subsequent Strike on the Pentagon and the Crash in Pennsylvania. 100 hours seems to be a long time; however, it is barely enough to reflect and remember all those who perished on the ground and in the air. Each one of the victims has a story, a life, that if retold would take more than 100 hours to appreciate the richness of their stay on this earth before it was snatched away.

Since 911, there has been more sacrifice. More have taken from this earth – this time not in tragedy but in a quest for justice and the expansion of freedom. They were not helpless victims but Heroes of liberation for the Afghanis and Iraqis and protectors of our domestic security.

We would hope that you would take the time and reflect on the lives of those who died on 9-11 and those who have sacrificed their all since that day in these next 100 hours. Please contribute a post of reflection, a prayer, a memorial, a picture or even just a ping to your friends to let them know that 9-11 has not been ignored this year.

Never forget…

[Vic3O3]

This is a big file, but well worth the wait.
http://www.ushostnet.com/gulfwar/911attack.swf

[Jeff Head]

God rest them.

[cavtrooper21]

You know, every time I hear some peacenik say "No War For Oil!!" or "We are blame for 9/11." or half a dozen other asnine statements I just want to grab them by the scruff of the neck and slam their smarmy faces into pictures like yours...
And ask them if they would feel the same way if they were hanging up there...
I WILL NEVER FORGIVE.
I WILL NEVER FORGET.

[SAMWolf]

You and me both cavtrooper21.

The suppression of these pictures by the main stream press so as not to "offend" anyone is BS. I want to see them and remember why we're doing what the rest of the world refuses to do, Take out the garbage.

[Prof Engineer]

The suppression of these pictures by the main stream press so as not to "offend" anyone is BS. I want to see them and remember why we're doing what the rest of the world refuses to do, Take out the garbage.

My sentiments exactly

[appalachian_dweller]

Thanks knighthawk for that link. A very wonderful site.

Never Forget. Never Forgive. Never Surrender.

[azGOPgal]

Thanks for the ping, Sis.

And thank you jriemer for the thread.

My 18th birthday was 9-11-01, and so many people say they are sorry that that's my b-day. I tell them that I'm so proud to have a birthday on a day when so many Americans came together in support of their country and fellow countrymen. We lost so many lives that day, but they won't be forgotten. Seeing all these pictures from the Trade Center still gives me the chills.

[Maigrey]

I disagree. My b-day is the 10th, and I see it as an opportunity to have seen the word change.

I still want to crucify the (bleep) who murdered 3000 of my fellow Americans, but I am also enormously proud to be born and live here, and for the dedication of the armed forces to enforce justice for the 3000 who died.

My FRsister has her b-day on the 11th (she turned 18 that day) and is proud of having her b-day that day, for that day, America united for a greater cause than themselves.

[NCC-1701]

Among the many thing written about this tragedy was an e-mail from the only American off the planet on that day. He was Frank L.Culbertson, commander of the first ISS crew. He said that during a conversation with mission control, they told him that "they were having a bad day down here". The understatement of the day. Anyway, it is a good read about his unique perspective of the event.

ALLWAYS REMEMBER 9-11-01!!!!!

[denydenydeny]

There is a remarkable story in the September Esquire about the person in that photograph, which I commented on in my blog last month:

The September 2003 issues of magazines are coming out, and some of them have 9/11 anniversary articles, which of course I devour immediately as any obsessed person would.

The current Esquire has one of the most extraordinary 9/11 articles I have ever read, Tom Junod's "The Falling Man," which is about the human being who is the subject of this famous photograph. It's the story of AP photographer Richard Drew, who took the picture, and the person who forever inhabits it. Earlier press reports had identified the Falling Man as Windows on the World pastry chef Norberto Hernandez, but Junod makes a good case that he is another WotW worker, a light-skinned black man named Jonathan Briley.

The article is not available online, but I will type out Junod's exquisite, terrible first paragraph:

In the picture, he departs from this earth like an arrow. Although he has not chosen his fate, he appears to have, in his last instants of life, embraced it. If he were not falling, he might very well be flying. He appears relaxed, hurtling through the air. He appears comfortable in the grip of unimaginable motion. He does not appear to be intimidated by gravity's divine suction or by what awaits him. His arms are by his side, only slightly outriggered. His left leg is bent at the knee, almost casually. His white shirt, or jacket, or frock, is billowing free of his black pants. His black high-tops are still on his feet. In all the other pictures, the people who did what he did--who jumped--appear to be struggling against horrific discrepancies of scale. They are made puny by the backdrop of the towers, which loom like colossi, and then by the event itself. Some of them are shirtless; their shoes fly off as they flail and fall; they look confused, as though trying to swim down the side of a mountain. The man in the picture, in contrast, is perfectly vertical, and so is in accord with the lines of the buildings behind him. He splits them, bisects them: Everything to the left of him in the picture is the North Tower; everything to the right, the South. Though oblivious to the geometric balance he has achieved, he is the essential element in the creation of a new flag, a banner composed entirely of steel bars shining in the sun. Some people who look at the picture see stoicism, willpower, a portrait of resignation; others see something else--something discordant and therefore terrible: freedom. There is something almost rebellious in the man's posture, as though once faced with the inevitability of death, he decided to get on with it; as though he were a missile spear, bent on attaining his own end. He is, fifteen seconds past 9:41 A.M. EST, the moment the picture is taken, in the clutches of pure physics, accelerating at a rate of thirty-two feet per second squared. He will soon be traveling at upwards of 150 miles per hour, and he is upside down. In the picture, he is frozen; in his life outside the frame, he drops and keeps dropping until he disappears.

[John Lenin]

[Quilla]

You described it perfectly - remarkable. Thanks for the post.

[NCC-1701]

As one possible small item for a future memorial to all the victims of 9-11, perhap the Teutles from Rock Tavern, NY and "American Chopper" fame would donate their Firebike. I have seen it and it is a beautiful machine and very tastefully done. I hope that's what their plans are for it.

NEVER FORGET!!!!!

[NCC-1701]

That was THE LAST THING he and the others had ever tought about doing that morning. If someone had told them that they would be diving out of the WTC, all of them would have said that the one telling them that was certifiable. Have mercy on all of the ones who didn't make it out. May those who forced them into that decision burn in hell.

NEVER FORGET!!!!!

[ctlpdad]

[zeaal]

Never Forget!

Thank you.

[NCC-1701]

Thanks for the pic. What a beauty. Number 343.

[Maigrey]

I don't know if I would have enough courage to do that.

Such terrible decisions afforded.

[Maigrey]

I saw what care, price, and effort went into building that bike. Amazing work.

[ctlpdad]

NEVER FORGET!