United Airlines Flight 93:   33 passengers    Passenger Todd Beamer : "Are you guys ready? Ok, Let's roll". Plane crashed in a field in Shankesville, Pa instead of US capital.

11 years ago, we were a nation with many of the same problems we had today. Our politicians were dysfunctional, our lives were consumed with work, etc.

Everyone remembers where they were when it happened. I myself was in Buffalo, New York. I had kissed my daddy goodbye that morning, wishing him a safe flight. He was going to be gone for 2 days, and was missing my first high school football game (I was a freshman). School was out for whatever reason, and so I busied myself on my newest Mario game.

All of a sudden my mom screamed. It was the single most terrifying moment of my life. I hurled myself downstairs and ran in to the living room, where my mom was watching the events unfold. I came in just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower. I didn't comprehend what was happening, but I dropped to my knees. Details poured out, the little that we knew.

Then it happened. The one image I remember more than any other. With my eyes glued to the TV, I watched as the towers collapsed. A huge smoke plume crashed through the city, and I began sobbing hysterically. The rest of the day was a blur. My father had been flying, and he was supposed to be on one of those flights.

Agonizing minutes passed. That evening, we recieved a call- my father, telling us he was okay. We were relieved for ourselves, but the body count of others gave us no reason to be- we watched as the country stood still, helpless, while the radical al-Qaida members attempted to destroy us.

They failed. For out of the ashes, we arose. We were united, truly, during that time. It was like everyone cast away their differences, joined hands, and began marching on the terrorists. "We will not stop," we warned, "until we bring you justice."

Very touching memory caesari. We have a First Responders Park here in Hilliard, OH that has pieces of the wreckage along with monuments listing every single person that was taken from us. After breakfast I'm taking my 2 1/2 year old son there so that he can experience it. Let's remember all the family and friends, brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles that we lost. Celebrate their memory. Celebrate life.

Its eleven years later but somehow the memorial for flight 93 hasnt been completed for lack of funds. Take a moment and make a donation. Currently the Alcoa Foundation is matching every donation dollar for dollar so even $20.00 becomes $40.00. http://www.honorflight93.org/

Guess what I learned today? The headmaster at the school I work at was college roommates with Todd Beamer. It was chilling to hear a first hand account of who Beamer was. He and the others who died on that flight are true American heros.

Posted by metsmax on 9/11/2012 6:15:00 AM (view original):
Trade Center.  Pentagon.  Flight 93.  343 New York City firefighters.

+1 repeating

Posted by caesari on 9/11/2012 7:49:00 AM (view original):
11 years ago, we were a nation with many of the same problems we had today. Our politicians were dysfunctional, our lives were consumed with work, etc.

Everyone remembers where they were when it happened. I myself was in Buffalo, New York. I had kissed my daddy goodbye that morning, wishing him a safe flight. He was going to be gone for 2 days, and was missing my first high school football game (I was a freshman). School was out for whatever reason, and so I busied myself on my newest Mario game.

All of a sudden my mom screamed. It was the single most terrifying moment of my life. I hurled myself downstairs and ran in to the living room, where my mom was watching the events unfold. I came in just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower. I didn't comprehend what was happening, but I dropped to my knees. Details poured out, the little that we knew.

Then it happened. The one image I remember more than any other. With my eyes glued to the TV, I watched as the towers collapsed. A huge smoke plume crashed through the city, and I began sobbing hysterically. The rest of the day was a blur. My father had been flying, and he was supposed to be on one of those flights.

Agonizing minutes passed. That evening, we recieved a call- my father, telling us he was okay. We were relieved for ourselves, but the body count of others gave us no reason to be- we watched as the country stood still, helpless, while the radical al-Qaida members attempted to destroy us.

They failed. For out of the ashes, we arose. We were united, truly, during that time. It was like everyone cast away their differences, joined hands, and began marching on the terrorists. "We will not stop," we warned, "until we bring you justice."

Not sure if this was a personal story or not, but very touching man...God Bless

Yes it is a personal story. Appreciate the words. Obviously though, this day is not about me.

Posted by caesari on 9/11/2012 7:49:00 AM (view original):
11 years ago, we were a nation with many of the same problems we had today. Our politicians were dysfunctional, our lives were consumed with work, etc.

Everyone remembers where they were when it happened. I myself was in Buffalo, New York. I had kissed my daddy goodbye that morning, wishing him a safe flight. He was going to be gone for 2 days, and was missing my first high school football game (I was a freshman). School was out for whatever reason, and so I busied myself on my newest Mario game.

All of a sudden my mom screamed. It was the single most terrifying moment of my life. I hurled myself downstairs and ran in to the living room, where my mom was watching the events unfold. I came in just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower. I didn't comprehend what was happening, but I dropped to my knees. Details poured out, the little that we knew.

Then it happened. The one image I remember more than any other. With my eyes glued to the TV, I watched as the towers collapsed. A huge smoke plume crashed through the city, and I began sobbing hysterically. The rest of the day was a blur. My father had been flying, and he was supposed to be on one of those flights.

Agonizing minutes passed. That evening, we recieved a call- my father, telling us he was okay. We were relieved for ourselves, but the body count of others gave us no reason to be- we watched as the country stood still, helpless, while the radical al-Qaida members attempted to destroy us.

They failed. For out of the ashes, we arose. We were united, truly, during that time. It was like everyone cast away their differences, joined hands, and began marching on the terrorists. "We will not stop," we warned, "until we bring you justice."

My heart stopped halfway through. God bless all the people that risked their lives to save others and the folks that fell to their death.

Touching story caesari. 

that day was surreal for sure. i lived in northern jersey at the time, a sophmore in high school. listening to the radio secretly during class was the "cool" thing to do, for many kids, so we started hearing the news within minutes of it happening. the school was in chaos, half the kids had fathers or mothers or uncles with connections to new york. those that didn't were comforting the crying girls who did, and cell phones would simply not work, the towers were flooded. it was hours before people could get word that their loved ones were ok, and not everybody was so lucky. my little 2 square mile town lost six people alone, the 5 mile town next to us 9, another border town 8... it seemed every town within 10 miles, from the one with our favorite movie theatre, to the mall we'd go to, lost at least 5 people. it was very sad. i will never forget later that day, our family climbed atop the tallest hill in the small area, and except on the darkest of days, you could very clearly see the new york skyline. it was a sight we all new and loved, we all knew exactly where the towers stood. but instead, you could see the smoke rising, for days, five times taller than any building and stretching out over the sky at least a hundred miles. the island of manhattan was dwarfed by the size of the smoke cloud. we went to see the wreckage the next day, the tallest bit was still 16 stories high. it was unbelievable.

it is truly a terrible thing to take out anger against a state or religious group on the civilian population. the saddest part of it all is knowing how bad 9/11 was, there have been SO many incidents not so close to home, where instead of thousands, tens or hundreds of thousands, or even millions of civilians have paid the price for the same general reasons. the incidents are too numerous to count. i just hope that now that it hits so close to home for all americans, we never again make the mistakes like those made in rwanda, where 800 thousand were slaughtered, many of whom were killed before america was willing to step in. as bad as 9/11 was for us, imagine how bad it was for those people... hundreds of thousands killed primarily by machete, woman and children alike. its not like we were being forced to go up against nazi germany, and forced to consider the prospect of defeat before we got involved. it is easy to forget the suffering inflicted by these acts when we are not personally involved... but we must not forget the pain of 9/11, and we must not forgo those who are not lucky enough to live in a country where the world's strongest military stands ready to defend us, and make those who attack us pay for their crimes.