Posted on 02/13/2002 5:05:22 AM PST by Jeff Head
Early this morning the:
DEPICT THE WTC FLAG RAISING AS IT ACTUALLY OCCURRED
petition surpassed 200,000 signatures !!!.
It was four weeks ago that this petition was started in response to plans by the city of New York and the Fire Department officials there in New York to create a memorial to the fallen fire fighters of 9-11 that included an altered depiction of the flag raising that occurred at ground zero on that fateful day. The alteration attempted to change the ethnicity and physical appearance of those that did the flag raising to a "culturally diverse", "politically correct" version of events. It was a blatant attempt to project what some thought "should" have happened and what the event "should" have represented over what actually took place.
This attempt continues to strike a raw nerve in hundreds of thousands of citizens across this nation and the world (hundreds have signed from Canada, England, Australia, Germany and many other nations). I am sure of it were more widely known, it would strike that same raw nerve in tens of millions.
Revisionism like this occurred in totalitarian nations such as Stalin's Russia, or Hitler's Germany or Mao's China .... not in America. The people, despite eforts to the contrary, remember history and the untold death, misery and destruction those regimes caused and are unwilling to see our nation take such blatant steps in that same direction ... however couched, however prclaimed to be a result of "good intentions".
The liberty we enjoy in America is based on virtue and the truth. In order to make the responsible free will decisions that we make in this nation every day, we must have access to the truth and then act as moral agents on it.
Those politicians and planners and ideologs who proposed such an alteration are completely out of touch with the liberty and principles that make us all Americans. There attempts subvert the very foundational principles our Republic rests upon. Those three men who raised that flag did not do so as "whites" or "males" or any other descriptive term other than this one ... AMERICANS. The flag they raised represents us all, of all creeds, of all parties, of all ethnicities and races, of all genders. They raised it as a message to all, a message about our liberty and determination to maintain it in the face of the most appalling horror and dastardly attacks.
We have made progress in this effort. The city announced some time ago that they would not raise the altered statue. They have indicated that they now have other plans. There is no official word on what those other plans are as of yet.
According to the second point of the petition whichstates:
Cease all efforts to modify the historical record of that day in any way, shape, or form that would promote a so called "culutural diversity" or "politically correct" agenda of any type and simply present events as they occurred accurately for rising generations.... the petition will continue until plans are announced that portray a memorial with no political agenda and that is historically accurate.
Plans to deliver the first 120,000 signatures to New York in the next few days are well advanced. I should be picking up the six bound voulmes of signatures (about 450 pages each) and shipping them to firefighters in NYC within the next day or so. Those firefighters will then deliver the petition and signatures to the Mayors Office. I will then begin processing the next 130,000 names so that by the second installment, ONE QUARTER MILLION names will have been delivered.
I will follow that up with more sets of 125,000 names as they are completed, and so forth ... as long as I can and as long as needed.
I must thank everyone involved. Those who have signed, those who have spread the word, those who have unrelentingly kept the threads and the reports up here on FR and elsewhere on the internet, those who have prayed, and all of those who have donated any time or sent funds to help get these signatures to the City of New York. Most of all, in my faith, thanks to God in Heaven for His influence in helping this message spread abroad.
Now, perhaps we can take this same spirit and commitment and apply it one by one to the many other situations where the liberty this Republic was founded upon, and the principles that define it, are being relentlessly assailed by those who would destroy it, who would fashion it into something not at all resembling the original ... in a macro fashion of what was being done to the sdepiction of the flag raising.
I believe it is possible to thwart them. I do because of the heart warming, hope inspiring comments on the petition, from all over this country. If you want to feel the same way .... spend a few moments browsing the comments on the petition.
I will close again with one of my favortie comments on the petition, from signature 11497:
"WHAT A PATHETIC NATION WE HAVE BECOME when we have to alter history, and the TRUTH, to accomodate bleeding heart liberal, blood sucking interest groups. I am of hispanic origin, my parents were born in Puerto Rico, but i was born here, in the land God himself chose to be America. So what if the firemen who raised our glorious flag were white, they were AMERICANS, showing cowards we cant be pushed around. If you poor unloved, misunderstood crybabies want to be represented in the monument, take a close look and see that you are, in the flag itself. The glorious flag that will wave long after we're all eaten by worms. Political correctness has become morally and politically incorrect. Wake up and smell the coffee before we destroy ourselves. signed, an AMERICAN."Would that we all had such conviction and willingness to state and share it.
FRegards
And You are exactly right with the indoctrination centers and our incorporated churches. America is Rome, Ceasars Rome.
As far as Christians go in this story we are a threat to them, we accept only one King. And He isn't the king they worship.
I said before the election that putting bush in the Whore House would be like putting satan himself there. I stand by what I said even though many won't understand until it's too late.
We are witnessing satans domination of a nation that was started under religious freedom.
This may appear off topic, but it is the center of the whole thing.
On February 1, 1992, president George Herbert Walker Bush stated: "My vision of a New World Order forsees the UN with a revitalized peace keeping function. It is the sacred principles enshrined in the UN charter to which we henceforth pledge our allegiance."
To many who don't understand the UN this may appear innocent, but I believe from what You have said, You can see the dangers posed here.
Did You know that bush and cheney are big oil men?
Did You know that Cheney owns a huge construction company called Haliburton?
Did You know that a huge oil conglomerate named Unocal wants control of trillions of dollars worth of oil in the Caspian Sea, and needs Afganistan to bring it to market?
Did You know that Afganistan's newly imposed leader worked for Unocal?
I'll bet my paycheck that Haliburton will be building a pipeline in Afganistan shortly.
Did You know that bush sr. is a major player in a war corporation called Carlyle? And I know You know that bush jr. said this "war on terrorism" is going to be a long war, he just left out profitable.
And I agree with You on Soildarity American style. These are some reasons to not let our present rulers rewrite Americanism.
WE are a Great Nation, but only if WE are willing to stand up for it. Against all enemies, foriegn and domestic.
Jeff has done so many things to rally us as American's, this Petition is another stone in America's foundation.Help make it a strong foundation that can't be torn down with lies and deceptions.
Peace
Firefighters from Engine 255 and Ladder 157 in Brooklyn had been digging in the rubble for survivors for six grueling hours, when they got the call to immediately evacuate.
Firefighter Dan McWilliams from Ladder 157 headed out with the rest of his crew. It was then that the 35-year-old firefighter spotted a flag flying from a yacht docked behind the World Financial Center. He made his way to the boat, rolled the flag up around its pole to be sure it didn't touch the ground, and carried the pole back to the evacuation area.
As McWilliams passed his buddy and fellow 157 firefighter George Johnson, he slapped him on the shoulder. "Gimme a hand, will ya, George?"
"I knew exactly what he was doing," Johnson, 36, said.
Then Billy Eisengrein of Rescue 2, another Brooklyn fire company, and McWilliams' childhood friend from Staten Island, jumped in, "You need a hand?"
The three firefighters quickly found a perfect spot -- a single flagpole anchored in the rubble about 20 feet off the ground on West Street.
They climbed a makeshift ramp so they could easily raise the flag in its new home. It was at that moment that Record photographer Thomas E. Franklin spotted the three from a distance.
Only two days had passed since that moment. The World Trade Center death and chaos were still fresh in the minds of McWilliams and Johnson as they sat in the noisy kitchen in the Flatbush firehouse recalling how the three firefighter friends -- Johnson from Rockaway Beach, McWilliams from Long Island, and Eisengrein from Staten Island -- acted as one.
"A big part of this is maintaining the unity of the whole team," McWilliams said.
His eyes filled with tears as he remembered the hellish day New York's firefighters experienced right after the Twin Towers' collapse, and their lack of progress in finding survivors.
"Everybody just needed a shot in the arm," he said, pausing to regain his composure.
The photo was the shot seen round the world. It has run on many American newspaper front pages, including the New York Post, the Baltimore Sun, and Providence Journal, and has been shown on network television.
McWilliams and Johnson said they didn't raise the flag to solicit personal attention. They didn't expect to get any phone calls or comments from friends and family. They were unaware they were being photographed. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision that started with McWilliams.
Though few firefighters remained in the evacuation area at that moment, Johnson said he recalls hearing comments after the flag went up.
"A few guys yelled out 'good job' and 'way to go.' "
And although he hadn't given the hoisting much thought, McWilliams remembered, "Every pair of eyes that saw that flag got a little brighter."
The day started at 8 o'clock in The Record photo office. I had just gotten back from an assignment in the Dominican Republic. I flew on American.
An editor told me what happened. I started driving down to the World Trade Center on the turnpike and heard the second plane had crashed.
At Exchange Place in Jersey City, I got out and hiked to the riverfront. Having shot hundreds of pictures of the World Trade Center over the years, I knew the best vantage points.
I reloaded my digital camera with a new photo card (it's like film) and snuck back. I could see ferries carrying the wounded coming from the city. A triage center was set up. I was able to make some shots.
The whole day was an emotional roller coaster. I was scanning the faces in Jersey City, hoping that I would see my brother. He works two blocks south of the World Trade Center. I didn't find out until 3 o'clock that afternoon that he was OK.
By noon, the boatloads were less and less frequent, and I was running out of room on my card. I downloaded some photos into my laptop and then went back.
That's when another photographer, John Wheeler, persuaded authorities to let us on a tugboat that was shuttling survivors back and forth.
When I arrived, I rushed to the scene. I was right underneath World Trade Center Building Seven. Police ushered everyone out, but I worked my way to ground zero. They threatened to arrest me at least a half-dozen times.
I was making pictures at the scene for about an hour. I was expecting to see death, but mostly I saw mangled metal, overturned cars and ambulances, and everything covered with dust. The heat from the smoking debris was incredible.
Firemen evacuated the area as they prepared for the collapse of Building Seven.
There was one other photographer with me -- James Nachtwey. He's won the Pulitzer Prize. He's covered wars. He told me how he narrowly escaped death earlier in the day. I didn't even realize until I was telling the story later that Nachtwey and I had been the only ones there.
We were catching our breath, drinking water and juice, when I decided to walk back toward the debris. It was between 4 and 5 p.m.
I would say I was 150 yards away when I saw the firefighters raising the flag. They were standing on a structure about 20 feet above the ground.
This was a long-lens picture: There was about 100 yards between the foreground and background, and the long lens would capture the enormity of the rubble behind them.
I made the picture standing underneath what may have been one of the elevated walkways, possibly the one that had connected the World Trade Plaza and the World Financial Center.
As soon as I shot it, I realized the similarity to the famous image of Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima.
This was an important shot. It told of more than just death and destruction. It said something to me about the strength of the American people and of these firemen having to battle the unimaginable.
It had drama, spirit, and courage in the face of disaster.
I probably made about 10 frames.
Throughout the day, I was afraid that something was wrong with my camera and that these once-in-a-lifetime pictures were ruined.
I immediately took that photo card out of my camera, put it in my pocket, and put another card in, figuring I should be OK. That's when I realized I'd entered the dangerous area.
Spread out in front of me was 200 yards of burnt-out cars, ambulances, and firetrucks that were crushed and covered in soot. There was no color; everything was dusty white. I saw money, notebooks, financial reports, couch cushions, calculators, and shoes.
At that point, I didn't think about the danger. I knew I wouldn't have any assignment as important as this. Nothing was holding me back.
In the back of our minds, all photgraphers believe we're going to get "the big one." I've shot hurricanes, earthquakes. But I've never seen anything like this.
There were times during the day that I cried. Nothing had ever touched me as emotionally as this. But I had a job to do.
I'm not comfortable taking "credit" for something like this. None of it would have made it into the newspaper if I hadn't gotten a ride on a police boat back to Liberty State Park, a hitchhiked ride to my car in Jersey City, and then help transmitting photos from a hotel after getting stuck in a Route 3 roadblock.
Once I made deadline, all I wanted to do was see my wife and my son.
Those three firefighters embodied America's response: with grief and with grit. Battered yet somehow undaunted. And united by the flag. Roughly 6 1/2 hours after the second of the Twin Towers had collapsed the three Brooklyn-based firemen -- Dan McWilliams, George Johnson, and Billy Eisengrein -- had found an American flag nearby.
Franklin, the photographer, was 30 yards away as the scene unfolded, and he stopped and took the photo with a telephoto lens rather than risk trying to get closer and miss the photo altogether. The longer lens compresses the background and makes it even more dramatic: The firefighters are flying America's colors amid ash-gray devastation piled several stories high.
That sense of loss and despair, that sense of desolation, permeates the photo. To shellshocked Americans, the photograph of the three firefighters near ground zero sent a message of hope at a time when the nation was in desperate need of one.
The photograph sent a message to our enemies as well: You might have knocked this nation down, but not for long.
Thank you for those two excellent replies reflecting the first hand accounts of a 'flagraiser' and the 'photographer'.
The danger I see is that most people don't realize who the real enemy is.
Let's come together as one, like it should be.
Peace
The 'real enemy' is the 'lie' and the 'Father of Lies', the Great Deceiver Satan, and those who consistently follow after him without concern for that which is good, or the price to be paid for their 'evil'.
The 'petition' calls for 'truth', and, as such, is a blow against the 'real enemy'.
Now, for those who believe there is no God, no Satan, no heaven and no hell, it becomes very easy to have no 'basis' for truth and therefore no truth apart from themselves, their 'science', and their so called 'theories of science'. On what solid 'Rock' will America stand, or will she fall?
Do we agree on the 'real enemy'?
Long Presidents' day weekend. I'm willing to throw caution to the wind and be optimistic about Monday. {:~)
Well . . . it's 237,142 now.......I still say it'll reach 250,000 by . . . . . . tonight?
The material, caught on tape by French filmmakers Gedeon and Jules Naudet, is believed to be the only such video available from inside the complex after the planes slammed into it.
It will air on Sunday, March 10, at 9 p.m, the night before the six-month anniversary of the terrorist attack.
``It's something that's very vivid, very moving and very heroic,'' said CBS President Leslie Moonves. ``I thought it was very important as a broadcaster to show this footage.''
The Naudets were in lower Manhattan on the morning of Sept. 11, shooting a documentary on New York City firefighters. Hearing a roar above him, Jules turned his camera toward the sky and caught pictures of the first plane striking the trade center. He later sold the images to a video service and they were widely broadcast.
Both filmmakers rushed to the scene and kept filming, Jules inside the building complex and Gedeon outside. For awhile, neither brother knew whether the other was still alive, Moonves said.
None of this other material has been broadcast. The brothers brokered the deal with CBS through friends at Vanity Fair magazine and its editor, Graydon Carter, who contacted Moonves.
The CBS executive would not say how much the network paid for the material. He said there was no bidding war with other networks.
The video is dramatic but not gruesome, said Susan Zirinsky, the executive producer of the CBS broadcast. ``It is remarkable to be in the belly of the beast but it is not difficult to watch,'' she said.
It's unclear whether the footage will show recognizable images of people who did not survive, which may be upsetting to family members. Firefighters who were at the scene are involved in putting the CBS show together, Moonves said.
The CBS executives said they are sensitive to critics who will be watching to see if the event is exploitative.
``All of us feel humbled by the goal of presenting this in the right way, in the right tone, in the right context,'' Zirinsky said. ``Nobody is out for anything other than showing a remarkable body of work.''
The Naudets hope that part of the broadcast will be used to raise money for family members of firefighters killed on Sept. 11, according to CBS.
I got carried away and shouldn't have brought it up here.
Well said, d14. Seems to me I've read that somewhere before . . . uh, Christ said so. I knew we had a kindred spirit, lol.
237,579 bump.
UPDATE: 237,770
Day 01 - = January 15 = *2,800-----Day 08 - *8,800 Total = 73,200
Day 02 - *9,700 Total = 12,500-----Day 09 - *8,900 Total = 82,100
Day 03 - 16,600 Total = 29,100-----Day 10 - *8,900 Total = 91,000
Day 04 - 10,400 Total = 39,500-----Day 11 - *6,100 Total = 97,100
Day 05 - *6,700 Total = 46,200-----Day 12 - *4,500 Total = 101,600
Day 06 - *8,200 Total = 54,400-----Day 13 - *6,900 Total = 108,500
Day 07 - 10,000 Total = 64,400-----Day 14 - *7,300 Total = 115,800
Day 15 - *6,400 Total = 122,200----Day 22 - *6,800 Total = 158,200
Day 16 - *6,200 Total = 128,400----Day 23 - *7,200 Total = 165,400
Day 17 - *5,400 Total = 133,800----Day 24 - *7,000 Total = 172,400
Day 18 - *3,600 Total = 137,400----Day 25 - *3,800 Total = 176,200 -10am -10pm only
Day 19 - *2,900 Total = 140,300----Day 26 -Petition Online System Down
Day 20 - *4,600 Total = 144,900----Day 27 - *7,700 Total = 183,900
Day 21 - *6,500 Total = 151,400----Day 28 - *9,300 Total = 193,200
Day 29 - 11,200 Total = 204,400
Day 30 - 12,300 Total = 216,700
Day 31 - 13,100 Total = 229,800
Day 32 - *8,000 Total = 237,800
Day 33 - "ROLLING, ROLLING, ROLLING!!!" Thank you, signers from around the world, for making the 'CASE FOR TRUTH'. Day 32 saw the first 120,000 signatures bound and on their way to New York City. Hoo Yah! Jeff and FR
Good one
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