A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day...911 Week, Day THREE 09-11-02

Written by JohnHuang2 with Graphics and Layout by Billie | JohnHuang2

[Mama_Bear]

              

September 11th --
A Day America Must Never Forget

By JohnHuang2

It was early September 11, 2001 -- just another beautiful, sparkling summer morning in America. From Florida's comely, sandy beaches, across the Carolina Smoky Mountains, to sensual Mt. Rainer in Washington State, it was just another typical, uneventful workaday. The roads and highways bustling with rush-hour traffic, factories humming right along, tireless shopkeepers, vendors and farmers were busy as ever.

The imperturbable, mundane serenity augured not a clue of the nightmare to come.

The clock strikes 8:46 a.m. EST. Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, a colossal, titanic explosion rips the heart of New York's financial center. A Boeing 767 passenger jet had just plunged into the World Trade Center's north tower. Instantly, a hellish fireball erupts, engulfing the skyscraper's upper-third, the towering flames scorching the morning sky. The explosion's unbridled power and fury were felt miles from the infernal epicenter.

Then, minutes later, yet another jet from hell rumbles over the trembling city, flying low as it eerily swoops towards the embattled WTC. At 9:03 a.m., the gruesome horror is repeated; this time the south tower is struck.

The world knew then this was no accident, no unlucky mishaps. This was terrorism -- the evil misdeed of savages.

But, more than that, these were acts of war. America was under attack.

As if to remove any doubt, reports of yet another kamikaze strike crosses the wires -- barely an hour after the south tower was struck. This time, the nation's military nerve center was the target. At 9:43 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon in Washington.

Then, reports of United Airlines Flight 93, and still another hijacking. At 10:03 a.m. a Boeing 757, bound originally for San Francisco, slams into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all 40 on board.

All told, the most barbaric acts of domestic terrorism snuffed out the lives of more than 3,000 men, women and children. These innocents became the war's first casualties.

The unspeakable horror and agony that day had broken the quietude and serenity we had long casually taken for granted.

America would never be the same again, her innocence ravished and raped that black September morning.

Suddenly, bursting before our eyes, what hitherto had seemed beyond unimaginable. The nation, whipsawed in terror and sorrow, stumbled and staggered.

Gone forever was our sense of sheltered invulnerability. The unfettered brutality and virulence (common-place in Bogota and Beirut, perhaps), could never befall on American soil -- or so we thought.

That indomitable aura of invincibility, like the World Trade Center itself, lay in ruins.

Amid the seared and parched remains, the smoldering corpses, the shrieks of agony and bellowing cries for help from under the sizzling rubble, as jolted rescuers, shrouded by plumes of blinding smoke, scurried heroically in search for survivors, the inevitable question "why?" ricochet across the lengths and breadths of our shaken land.

What kind of animals would deign to perpetrate such dastardly, despicable horror?

The answer would soon be forthcoming, as the trail of evidence pointed inexorably towards an all-too-familiar name, Osama bin Laden -- perennial enemy of the United States.

The shadowy, elusive Saudi national had long ago become a household name, having been the terror mastermind behind a deadly series of devastating attacks in the 90s, involving hundreds of casualties -- all under the unwatchful eye of the Clinton (mal) administration. The pathetic, halfhearted/half-baked 'military' 'retaliations' which followed would only embolden bin Laden and his al-Qaeda camarilla of war criminals.

While Clinton diehards deny it, September 11 has become an indelible blotch on the Clinton "legacy" -- a stain far more tarnishing than Lewinsky.

Today, exactly one year to the day after the harrowing carnage that awful morning, we commemorate the victims of 9/11 -- the more than 3,000 innocent men, women and children who perished that infamous day.

Three-thousand lives pulverized suddenly, senselessly.

Three-thousand hopes, 3,000 dreams, 3,000 candles of life extinguished, for no reason.

Among the victims, someone's father, someone's mother, someone's son or daughter, aunt or uncle or dear friend.

But all of them, fellow human beings.

A part of America died with them that terrible day.

September 11th was a cruel and vicious attack on all of us -- as Americans.

September 11th reminds us all of our shared humanity, and our common mortality.

The stupendous and miraculous out-pouring of love and support from people all across America during those darkest hours stands as living testament to the greatness of America itself. Our resilience as a people is what makes us uniquely American.

Our enemies may bomb us, hijack our planes, topple our buildings, but our shared sense of community, our effervescence and our love for each other can never say die.

This indomitable spirit moved the gallant heroes of hijacked Flight 93 to fight back, sparing the capital even greater carnage and destruction. Todd Beamer, who led the passenger revolt, epitomizes the courage and spirit and valor of America. This nation will never forget him.

The invincible spirit of the firefighters saved countless lives that day. The stories of heroism, of courage overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds would take more than a lifetime to recount. These brave men boldly defied death in the face that day, again and again.

Take the story of the men of Ladder Company 6. It's a story of how six New York firefighters were miraculously saved from the jaws of death -- all because of Josephine Harris, a woman they call their very own 'Guardian Angel'.

Stationed in downtown Manhattan, Ladder 6 heard the harrowing explosion when the first jet slammed the north tower. "A plane has gone into the World Trade Center!", boomed the intercom.

Ladder 6 rushed to the scene. Three minutes later, they saw "pieces of aircraft lying on the sidewalk and there were computer monitors smashing in the street", firefighter Billy Butler told the Guardian newspaper.

Butler, a seven-year veteran on the force, recalls how they "waited for the debris to stop falling and grabbed our stuff and made a beeline for the front door."

Captain John Jonas told Dateline NBC that, as they entered "One World Trade Center, the [north] tower, there were two badly burned people right there at the lobby door."

"We were in the lobby when the second plane hit", recounted Sal D' Agostino. "You could hear a rumble and an explosion. And from the windows in the World Financial Center across the street, the reflection of the explosion came off of that, came off of those windows", he said.

Climbing stairwell B, each carrying 110 lbs of gear on their backs, Ladder 6 reached the 27th floor when suddenly they heard a "rumble that nobody's ever heard before -- a 110-story building coming down", Captain Jonas told Dateline. The south tower had just crumbled to earth. They were ordered to evacuate -- immediately.

It was then when Ladder 6 came upon Josephine, a Grandmother who had already climbed down 46 floors from her office at the Port Authority.

Captain Jonas described his reaction to Dateline this way: "And Billy's my biggest, and strongest guy. I said, 'Billy, just put her arm around you, and just, we'll do the best we can'. And she was having a hard time. She was elderly, and she wasn't walking very well."

"We started down with her and it was a slow process because she was extremely fatigued, her legs were collapsing," Billy Butler tells the Guardian.

Butler: "We made it down to the fourth floor. We took two steps down the stairs and the whole building started to collapse. It threw us down to half landing. I have never been in a tornado or an earthquake but I think it was like a combination of both. You could see the stuff coming down past your face and the next minute it was going up past your face."

"My lower legs were covered with debris", Butler added, "and as I picked it off I heard something. It was this woman Josephine, she was laying at my feet. Then some of the other guys started getting up. The dust and the smoke did not clear for an hour and half."

Mr Butler: "We didn't give a Mayday initially because we thought we could walk out of there like gentlemen. Then we gave a Mayday and nobody answered, we couldn't get a signal. The chief finally ... got a message out. Captain Jonas told them that they were in the north tower's stairway B. The reply came back, 'where's the north tower?"

Richie Picciotto, the Batallion Chief, told Dateline that "there was no way out. We were encapsulated. So even though we were alive, there's 105 floors above us."

In fact, as Dateline reports, little did they know "those 105 floors were now in pieces all around them. The men of Ladder 6 had survived the collapse but were now marooned in one of the few fragments of the building still standing -- a darkened stairwell. And surrounding them, a craggy wasteland shrouded in smoke."

In his Mayday call, Captain Jonas kept "telling them, 'we're in World Trade Center One. You enter through the glass doors, you make a right, stairway B is the first stairway on the left. We're on -- between the second and the fourth floor. And my five year old daughter could follow those directions."

But Butler has a better idea. He borrows a cell phone from a Port Authority police officer hunkering with them and calls home.

Bill Butler: "My wife answered the phone. She said how are you doing. She was asking a lot of questions. I said, listen to me. And she started to whimper a little bit, and I said, ‘You can’t cry, do not cry right now.' She actually is writing this stuff down, so I just told her call the fire house and tell the guys where we’re at."

Then, suddenly, miraculously, "everything cleared just for a moment. And we could see we were at the top of this debris pile. And I'm thinking, this is going to be OK, you know? This, we're going to be OK here."

Richie Picciotto: "There’s light there. I thought it was an optical illusion. There’s light, we’re safe. There’s life. There’s light."

Dateline recounts how "Chief Picciotto followed the light to an opening they had not seen before, climbed out and secured a rope to show others the way. Still sounding his bullhorn siren, the chief was soon discovered by the men of Ladder Company 43. The firefighters could now climb out. But what about Josephine Harris?"

"I knew that we couldn’t get Josephine out by ourselves", Butler recalls. They stayed with Josephine till she was rescued.

Butler explains the remarkable irony to the Guardian this way: "This woman was soooo slow, but she was a guardian angel sent to us. It was because she slowed us up that we ended up in that void. If we had gotten out of that building we may have sought refuge in our fire truck which was flattened. I saw it the other day and it's just one twisted piece of metal."

Folks, the story of Ladder 6 is the story of America, a tribute to this great and wonderful country of ours.

'But that was a year ago', the cynic scoffs. 'Today, that spirit is dead'.

Nonsense.

America is roaring back, thanks to the leadership of our President, George W. Bush. And thanks to the courage and bravery of the troops he leads, our enemies are either dead, captured or on the run.

"We'll succeed," thundered the Commander-in-Chief at a White House ceremony in March marking six months since the September 11th attacks.

"There will be a day when the organized threat against America, our friends and allies is broken," the President continued. "I see a peaceful world beyond the war on terror, and with courage and unity, we are building that world together."

Over the site of the World Trade Center, two beams of light tower defiantly into New York's night sky, a touching memorial to the victims of 9/11. But more than just columns of light, those beams piercing boldly the darkness are unflinching towers of courage, towers of strength, towers of firmness and undaunted resolve. To our enemies, these poignant symbols send a message, loud and clear: You will never defeat us, we will never surrender, through fire and water we will triumph over you, whatever it takes.

To the victims and heroes of September 11th; to the firefighters, policemen, emergency/rescue workers -- to all who were taken from us that day -- these radiant beams illuminating the heavens are our way of saying, 'We will never ever forget you.'

America must never forget. ~ JohnHuang2

THIS WEEK'S THREADS

09-09-02   911 Week, Day ONE
09-10-02   911 Week, Day TWO

[WVNan]

[LadyX]

Thank you, Louie, for that very beautiful and poignant offering.

[LadyX]

Welcome, dear Nan!
Looked forward to your presence here this day.

[COB1]

ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE

[MeekOneGOP]

Brought to you courtesy...
Of the RED, WHITE, and BLUE

Very nice Max. Thanks ! Ya'll oughta check out the USO thread today. Lot's of 9-11 sentiments, etc there:

USO Canteen FReeper Style ~Tribute to
the Human Spirit~ September 11, 2002

Here was my comment/post regarding a military leader......

Yep ! I recall someone posting a note about a US Military leader regarding his thoughts about forgiving Osama bin Laden. His reply was without hesitation:

It's Gods job to forgive.
Our job is to arrange the meeting !

---

Excerpt of President Bush's radio address to the nation September 15, 2001
after the WTC/Pentagon Terrorists Attacks of September 11, 2001:

This is a conflict without battlefields or beachheads, a conflict with opponents
who believe they are invisible. Yet, they are mistaken. They will be exposed,
and they will discover what others in the past have learned: Those who make
war against the United States have chosen their own destruction.

---

Our Hero Emerges

[Diver Dave]

At last night's ceremony, a neighbor and friend was one of the featured soloists. He is a member of the local opera company to give you an idea of his talent.

The song Joe chose to sing last night was a familiar hymn to many, "It is Well With My Soul." There is a tragic but wonderful story behind the verses written by Horatio Spafford, and Joe shared that story last night before presenting the message in song.

I will repeat it here because I feel it has a message for us as Americans as we go through the day reflecting on the tragedy of 9-11.

Saved Alone

This hymn was written by a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford. You might think to write a worship song titled, 'It is well with my soul', you would indeed have to be a rich, successful Chicago lawyer. But the words, "When sorrows like sea billows roll ... It is well with my soul”, were not written during the happiest period of Spafford's life. On the contrary, they came from a man who had suffered almost unimaginable personal tragedy.

Horatio G. Spafford and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio's legal career and business endeavors. The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords' only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.

Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And, not only did they need the rest -- DL Moody needed the help. He was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer 'Ville de Havre' across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later. With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago. Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: "Saved alone."

On November 2nd 1873, the 'Ville de Havre' had collided with 'The Lochearn', an English vessel. It sank in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people. Anna Spafford had stood bravely on the deck, with her daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta clinging desperately to her. Her last memory had been of her baby being torn violently from her arms by the force of the waters. Anna was only saved from the fate of her daughters by a plank which floated beneath her unconscious body and propped her up. When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, Mrs. Spafford's first reaction was one of complete despair. Then she heard a voice speak to her, "You were spared for a purpose." And she immediately recalled the words of a friend, "It's easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God."

Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father's voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." Horatio then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.

The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told "her soul is vexed within her", she still maintains that 'It is well." And Spafford's song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers was.

His worship does not solely depend on how he feels. "Whatever my lot", he says, come rain or shine, pleasure or pain, success or failure, "Thou hast taught me to say / It is well, it is well with my soul".

Nor does his worship centre on himself He focuses on what God has already done (0 the bliss of this glorious thought / My sin ... is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more) and what God will do in the future ("Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight / The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend").

In fact, Spafford's worship brings us back to the bottom line: at the end of the day, come hell or high-water, it is "this blessed assurance" that holds us fast. -- Equipped magazine, Vineyard Churches UK.

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blessed assurance control
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

My sin, 0 the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but in whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 0 my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

[ST.LOUIE1]

Thank you, Louie, for that very beautiful and poignant offering.

Thank you, Lady.

Nice hearing from you. : )

[WVNan]

As familiar as I am with that story, it never fails to stir my heart. How hard it is to say, "it is well with my soul" when your heart is broken and bleeding. Only through the Spirit of Christ are we able to do this. Not through Muhammad, not through Budda, not through Krishna, but through Jesus Christ.

[Aquamarine]

Courtesy Of The Red White And Blue

Click on the pic

[Diver Dave]

Amen! Preach it Sister!

[Johnny Gage]

THE FALLEN

It was Friday evening at the local fire hall
When eight brave members answered the call

The chief and a captain had just dropped in
While six of the guys worked out in the gym

They were laughing and joking, carrying on
When over the speaker the tones came on

Their fellow firefighters just down the road
Had a big old house, burning out of control

The very next statement opened all eyes wide
They thought there were still people inside

With the chief and a driver in the front of the pump,
Two more into the tanker quickly did jump

While in the back of the pump four donned BA
They responded to dispatch and were off on their way

The drivers were good, with calm, steady hands
The mask men in back put together their plans

Then the neighboring chief gave a radio update
Which chilled the hearts of our brave eight

The fire was heavy, burning hot and hard
And four of his men hadn't made it out to the yard

A cold silence settled over them all
While soft white snow started to fall

They pulled on scene in the fire's orange light
And quickly, efficiently joined in the fight

All the residents were out, safe with friends
But still uncounted were four brave men

Our guys in masks headed for the door,
And quickly found one lying still on the floor

The lines were recharged, flame turned to steam
As into the blaze crawled our two search teams

Some said they were angels, sent from above
While others said they did it from love

They found the rest, two still alive
But one other to no more fires would drive

Now the fires out, smoke rises from the ground
And snow falls softly on two still mounds

As one our eight, with their firefighting brothers
Knelt in the snow to honor the others

Two brave firefighters who gave of their best
Three days later, were laid to their rest

The drive to our station was silent and still
As each of us pondered God's silent will

We still answer calls, more than a few
But each time we roll, we think of those two

Dedicated to the memories of the fallen heroes of FDNY,
our brethren, September 11th, 2001.
We will remember them.

By FF Michael J. Hilliard
October 2nd, 2001

Let's Roll!

[Pippin]

You have mail, Louie!

[Libertina]

BUMP

Diver Dave, I can't thank you enough for posting this incredible story, the foundation of the song. It is truly an inspiration - with a vital moral to remember. May God continue to Bless and Keep us.

[mamaduck]

great photos, great thread, I sure appreciate the pings!

I wanted to comment to Pippin that I was a lurker pre 9-11, too and FR was my sanity saving conduit for information and hope following . . .

[Flyer]

Is there any coffee left? I worked the night shift last night. I did our daily thread at our Chapter forum at 3:30 this morning. Nothing unusual about that. . . except I usually do when I get up. This morning it was before I went to bed.

God Bless America, land of the free, home of the brave. . .

-----

4th of July 2002 - Houston, Texas

-----

[Flyer]

Good morning afternoon, Pippin!

[ST.LOUIE1]

Thank you for this post, Diver. It's special.

[dansangel]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, but I was on a break from teaching that training class.

Thank-you for wanting to share my "rant." By all means, if you think it's appropriate.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{COB1}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[ST.LOUIE1]

#151

Wow!!! Impressive! And so true!

Billie, you amaze me. : )

[Mixer]

hmmmmm that is odd that you are gettign the red X. Try right clicking the x and do show picture. I have not heard from anyone else that they can not see it and I have check from 3 different computers on different ISPs....strange though. Try the right click show picture if you don't mind and let me know if it works......Thanks

Just in case here are the links

http://www.jungle.net/mixer/wtc.jpg

also change to wtc2.jpg and wtc3.jpg

After that maybe they will appear in the FR thread too.