As I wake up this morning... I remember
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JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
As I wake up this morning, I remember getting out of bed a little sleepy-eyed a few years back. I had returned from a vacation weekend with my family at the beach resorts and still had another day of vacation to burn off and enjoy as my "recovery" day from the vacation drive and weekend's activities.
My children were both off at school, my daughter having left for the school bus just as I was waking up. I was doing as I always did, checking the net for news/info/discussions that I followed, reading messages about the latest goings on.
Being a multimedia lover, I also had my little monitor/TV screen on, and had left it tuned to the morning news. As I was cruising the discussions at one of my favorite tech related discussion sites, I was struck by a new post that said "Plane strikes WTC."
At just about the same time I was reading that note, the news that I was watching live followed a second plane striking the other half of the twin towers of the WTC. Somewhere in the confusion there also came a report of a plane striking the Pentagon. With the second, and then the third strike, I (as well as all others) knew that things had radically changed for us. Our country was literally under attack and things were going to change for us in ways that may have been unimaginable.
We had no idea at the time who was responsible for the acts, but we knew it had been planned, and we all sat fearing where the next blow would come from. I thought of my children in school and whether they would be rushed home or stay in school for the day. I also thought of the people in D.C. and the mad rush that would come in trying to empty out the city. I knew that President Bush was not in the White House, and that things were going to get crazy as the security around the President, the White House, the Congress and other places was going to be quickly raised to the highest possible levels.
Watching local news (D.C. area) gave me the real pictures of the madness and confusion that was running through D.C. People couldn't communicate with each other, cell phone or no cell phone. Regular phone lines went nuts, my dial-up ISP somehow stayed up for a good while, then went down and I was left with busy signals pretty much the rest of the day.
The images of the burning buildings in New York City ran on until the first building collapsed and a mad rush of people tried to flee the area with the cloud of debris following them.
It's been 4 years to the day now since that morning. I still have very strong memories of that day, with a few minor details fuzzed out from the confusion that went on. Having been an intelligence analyst during my long and varied work history, I knew what we were in for. We'd find proof of who had attacked us, and we'd take the fight back to them in ways they never imagined.
Sadly, we haven't yet nabbed the ring leaders, or perhaps we have sent them to an early grave and we just don't want to let up the pressure on their followers and inspire them by having made their leaders martyrs. Either way, I'm somewhat disheartened that we haven't seen real proof that Bin Laden and his top round of followers hasn't been marched through streets in chains and leg irons. But I know we are still trying to find them, and bring them and all of their followers to justice.
I know it's not memorial day, but I also know I'll never forget 9-11-2001 and what it meant to this country (the U.S.A.) and the world.
I hope soon in the future that we can all get back to that pre 9-11 time of innocence and naivety that most of us enjoyed. We had been enjoying good times, buoyed by the fall of the Soviet Union, and general downfall of communism everywhere. We were enjoying the peace dividend, cutting back on the massive military budget, and spending the money on ourselves via tax cuts.
At some point down the road, we may yet be able to cut back on the military again. Thank them all (and their spouses, who put up with more stress and turmoil in their lives than the average individual could ever hope to deal with) for a job well done, and allow many to transfer over to civilian life, where they can hopefully make use of the skills they acquired for peaceful purposes.
Meanwhile, I thank all of those that are serving now, and those that may serve in the future, for the work they do for us, many times without thanks, with low wages, and long hours that an average U.S. citizen would decry. The work they do every day is to help make us all secure, and to help get us all back to that place of comfort and peace we enjoyed those 4 years ago.
My children were both off at school, my daughter having left for the school bus just as I was waking up. I was doing as I always did, checking the net for news/info/discussions that I followed, reading messages about the latest goings on.
Being a multimedia lover, I also had my little monitor/TV screen on, and had left it tuned to the morning news. As I was cruising the discussions at one of my favorite tech related discussion sites, I was struck by a new post that said "Plane strikes WTC."
At just about the same time I was reading that note, the news that I was watching live followed a second plane striking the other half of the twin towers of the WTC. Somewhere in the confusion there also came a report of a plane striking the Pentagon. With the second, and then the third strike, I (as well as all others) knew that things had radically changed for us. Our country was literally under attack and things were going to change for us in ways that may have been unimaginable.
We had no idea at the time who was responsible for the acts, but we knew it had been planned, and we all sat fearing where the next blow would come from. I thought of my children in school and whether they would be rushed home or stay in school for the day. I also thought of the people in D.C. and the mad rush that would come in trying to empty out the city. I knew that President Bush was not in the White House, and that things were going to get crazy as the security around the President, the White House, the Congress and other places was going to be quickly raised to the highest possible levels.
Watching local news (D.C. area) gave me the real pictures of the madness and confusion that was running through D.C. People couldn't communicate with each other, cell phone or no cell phone. Regular phone lines went nuts, my dial-up ISP somehow stayed up for a good while, then went down and I was left with busy signals pretty much the rest of the day.
The images of the burning buildings in New York City ran on until the first building collapsed and a mad rush of people tried to flee the area with the cloud of debris following them.
It's been 4 years to the day now since that morning. I still have very strong memories of that day, with a few minor details fuzzed out from the confusion that went on. Having been an intelligence analyst during my long and varied work history, I knew what we were in for. We'd find proof of who had attacked us, and we'd take the fight back to them in ways they never imagined.
Sadly, we haven't yet nabbed the ring leaders, or perhaps we have sent them to an early grave and we just don't want to let up the pressure on their followers and inspire them by having made their leaders martyrs. Either way, I'm somewhat disheartened that we haven't seen real proof that Bin Laden and his top round of followers hasn't been marched through streets in chains and leg irons. But I know we are still trying to find them, and bring them and all of their followers to justice.
I know it's not memorial day, but I also know I'll never forget 9-11-2001 and what it meant to this country (the U.S.A.) and the world.
I hope soon in the future that we can all get back to that pre 9-11 time of innocence and naivety that most of us enjoyed. We had been enjoying good times, buoyed by the fall of the Soviet Union, and general downfall of communism everywhere. We were enjoying the peace dividend, cutting back on the massive military budget, and spending the money on ourselves via tax cuts.
At some point down the road, we may yet be able to cut back on the military again. Thank them all (and their spouses, who put up with more stress and turmoil in their lives than the average individual could ever hope to deal with) for a job well done, and allow many to transfer over to civilian life, where they can hopefully make use of the skills they acquired for peaceful purposes.
Meanwhile, I thank all of those that are serving now, and those that may serve in the future, for the work they do for us, many times without thanks, with low wages, and long hours that an average U.S. citizen would decry. The work they do every day is to help make us all secure, and to help get us all back to that place of comfort and peace we enjoyed those 4 years ago.
