9-11 In Memoriam

There was something "spectacular" over the acts of terrorism we all witnessed on live broadcasting on September 11, 2001. Events that usually unfold under the cover of darkness or in remote places were happening before our eyes.

I am guessing most of us, who are old enough, have a vivid memory of where we were and what we were doing when we got the news fifteen years ago.

I had just been released from hospital the day before  and was still on sick leave. My father called on the phone and told me to turn on the TV because there was something going on in America. Swedish television was also broadcasting live.

Just a few seconds after I had turned on the TV-set - and before I understood what was going on - the television screen showed a passenger airplane flying suspiciously low close to the tower that had been hit first. Then I saw the plane steering right into the second tower, flames erupting around the hole that had been caused in the structure halfway up on the building.

 I was baffled, shocked, sad, angry and frightened. After seeing that I remained in front of the television all that day and well into the night to follow the news. There were many speculations concerning the amount of casualties, so once the true numbers were released I was strangely relieved that they were much lower than the initial speculations. 

2,977 people died in the attacks and many more were wounded, it's a scary thought that I could feel relief at such a high toll.  

In my mind's timeline there will always be a before or after 9-11, Everything changed, or at least my outlook on everything changed,

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I will always remember that day and all the lives that were lost and disrupted. May the dead rest in peace!

Remembering 9-11

This drawing was made by a child during the week following the attacks of September 11, 2001. It was rescued from being destroyed by rain from the front wall of a Chelsea elementary school by blogger +Joe Jervis, Joe.My.God., on September 18, 2001.

"The Hugging Towers"

Please read Joe's touching original post about how he found the picture, J.M.G.: "One Week Later" (reposting September 18, 2006).

Joe has donated the painting to the museum which now resides on the site of the former World Trade Center.

9/11 Again

Honor the dead by caring for the living!

I took these pictures on this day last year at the 9/11 Memorial site (SLurl) in SecondLife.

The effect of the two transparent and ghostly towers looming over the surrounding buildings is a powerful and beautiful reminder of the horrible day when the towers disappeared from the skyline and all our lives were changed for the foreseeable future.

I remember that awful day well. It feels like a lifetime ago but is only eleven years. The day before I had come home from a five day stay at the hospital where I had been urgently admitted when my blood count (Hb) was found to be only 59 g/l (In a healthy man it should be around 130-170 g/l).

They never found out where I had been bleeding slowly over a very long period despite probing my body through every open orifice with a variety of instruments. However, I was sent home after having received a few blood transfusions and been instructed on how to recognize the warning signs. (As long as the palms of your hands are reddish your blood count is over 120 g/l, below that they turn grayish/white.)

The day after I got a telephone call from my father telling me to turn on the television set because something terrible was happening in New York. I turned on the TV and sat in front of it the rest of the day and long into the night. I watched and cried while the second plane flew into the second tower and then again when the first tower collapsed and then the second and then listening to the guesses all night long about who and what had planned and executed these atrocities.

9-11

The September 11 attacks (often referred to as September 11th or 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights.

The death toll of the attacks was 2,996, including the 19 hijackers. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 70 countries. In addition, there is at least one secondary death – one person was ruled by a medical examiner to have died from lung disease due to exposure to dust from the World Trade Center's collapse.

The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror: it invaded Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harbored al-Qaeda terrorists. The United States also enacted the USA PATRIOT Act. Many other countries also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. Some American stock exchanges stayed closed for the rest of the week following the attack and posted enormous losses upon reopening, especially in the airline and insurance industries. The destruction of billions of dollars worth of office space caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan. (Quote from Wikipedia)

Mourn the dead, celebrate the heroes and start building a new future with tolerance, respect and forgiveness!

We must also always remember that the terrorists are an extremely small minority in any community, religious group or society! In the words of the American president Barack Obama, "We don’t differentiate between them and us. It’s just us."

And yes in the light of this I must - and will - forgive my few enemies and wrongdoers for the petty drama they caused me and for hurting my feelings. I will accept them, I will respect them but I do not need to love them!

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P.S. Recommended reading on the blog Joe.My.God "That day". A personal eyewitness account.