September 11th anniversary, what does it mean to you?

[nuttylawprofessor]

I totally agree with all of this, actually. But what seems to gets lost (not necessarily by you, just in general) is that every day that we're afraid, they've won. Every time we give away another freedom, they've won. Every time we voluntarily submit to a full body scan or eyeball the new neighbor suspiciously or even hand over our bags to be checked on the way into WDW, we're rewarding the terrorists. You're talking about living a free and open life, being able to come and go and do what we please, but we're NOT. We haven't been since that awful day. We're living under our own reign of terror, and this one's self imposed. We asked for it and we encourage it.

And for what? Nothing more than the ILLUSION of safety. People want to believe that they can somehow prevent this from happening again if they just try hard enough. And that leads to ritualistic, almost OCD behaviors, which spread through society and become the "new normal." We accept all sorts of intrusions that would have been unconscionable in the days before 9/11. Because we think that they will keep us safe.

But the terrorists don't think like that. By the time we react to one threat, they're already planning the next. Then when the next attempt occurs, we go back and try to prevent that one from happening again. And every time, it chips away at our freedom and our way of life just a little bit more. I don't think that singing kumbaya is going to make the terrorists go away, but I don't think living in terror is going to work either. I firmly believe that the best defense we, personally, as ordinary Americans without top secret clearances or military intelligence, have against the terrorists is to simply keep living...boldly and without fear. If it's going to happen it's going to happen, but if it's going to happen to me I'd rather be like the brave people fighting on Flight 93 than be half-naked at the airport when it does. JMO.

My spouse and I call it "security theater."

FWIW I think that we will eventually bring back our freedom. We're still kind-of new to this terrorism thing. Our society also tends to think that we can prevent accidents and tragedies. Once we realize that we can't prevent every horror, we will be ready to soldier on.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I get that people don't understand how some of us still grieve on this day. I get that others didn't run for their lives like I did. I get that people in other parts of the country watched this unfold from the comfort of their living room instead of live and in person. I get that most people didn't have their spouse and their parents waiting to hear if their wife or daughter was alive. I get that. I get that most people don't know someone (or many someones) that died. Hell, I even knew one of the terrorists that was on the Pentagon plane. You try living with the thought that this person you spoke with on a regular basis hated you enough to want to kill you. And then rack your brain to try to remember if there were any clues to this.

I wish I didn't grieve once a year for innocence lost. But on one day a year, I'm in bad shape. Sorry if that disturbs some of the people on this thread.

Thank you to all the brave men and women that gave their lives that day in rescue attempts and to those that continue to fight for our freedom.

 

[JLTraveling]

My spouse and I call it "security theater."

FWIW I think that we will eventually bring back our freedom. We're still kind-of new to this terrorism thing. Our society also tends to think that we can prevent accidents and tragedies. Once we realize that we can't prevent every horror, we will be ready to soldier on.

That's exactly what we call it in our house too!

I hope you're right that we'll eventually bring back freedom. I certainly thought it would have happened in the past nine years. And you're right, it's probably coming from the same place that makes us try so hard to prevent accidents too. I don't know where all that came from, even before 9/11.

I'm not that old, I grew up in the '80s and '90s. But somehow between then and now it became unacceptable to let kids develop the scars and battle wounds of childhood. I sat in a metal high chair, got scraped up falling off the bike that I rode all over town (on major roads ), carried a metal Star Wars lunch box to school in 1st grade, rode in the back of a pickup truck and split my head open doing dive tricks out of a swing. Then it was called life. Now it's called child neglect. I hope things go the other way soon, before we all end up being issued bubble wrap suits and gas masks!

 

["Got Disney"]

Thought I would share a picture that my son did back in 4th grade of Ground Zero.....he saw this picture in the newspaper and went and started drawing it. He also entered it into a contest that is held for students of California...he won 5th place out of thousands of applicants. We put it up every September 11th on our mantle.

 

[HSMndLKfan92]

This year, I realized that September 11th marks how ignorant I was. Before I get flamed, I was 8 years old when we were attacked. My mom tried her best to explain what happened, but I could not wrap my mind around the concept. I remember saying, "But mom, you can't fly planes into a building." I even went to the local bay area to see what the skyline looked like that day. It was ablaze.

 

[JLTraveling]

[QUOTE="Got Disney";38185280]

Thought I would share a picture that my son did back in 4th grade of Ground Zero.....he saw this picture in the newspaper and went and started drawing it. He also entered it into a contest that is held for students of California...he won 5th place out of thousands of applicants. We put it up every September 11th on our mantle.[/QUOTE]

Wow, that's terrific! He's very talented. Is your son still an artist?

 

["Got Disney"]

Wow, that's terrific! He's very talented. Is your son still an artist?

He still draws but not as much as he should. When he does he does much more detailed work.

 

[DWGal210]

I hear what you're saying, and I agree. You can't live in fear, or they've won. I completely agree.

I totally agree with all of this, actually. But what seems to gets lost (not necessarily by you, just in general) is that every day that we're afraid, they've won. Every time we give away another freedom, they've won. Every time we voluntarily submit to a full body scan or eyeball the new neighbor suspiciously or even hand over our bags to be checked on the way into WDW, we're rewarding the terrorists. You're talking about living a free and open life, being able to come and go and do what we please, but we're NOT. We haven't been since that awful day. We're living under our own reign of terror, and this one's self imposed. We asked for it and we encourage it.

And for what? Nothing more than the ILLUSION of safety. People want to believe that they can somehow prevent this from happening again if they just try hard enough. And that leads to ritualistic, almost OCD behaviors, which spread through society and become the "new normal." We accept all sorts of intrusions that would have been unconscionable in the days before 9/11. Because we think that they will keep us safe.

But the terrorists don't think like that. By the time we react to one threat, they're already planning the next. Then when the next attempt occurs, we go back and try to prevent that one from happening again. And every time, it chips away at our freedom and our way of life just a little bit more. I don't think that singing kumbaya is going to make the terrorists go away, but I don't think living in terror is going to work either. I firmly believe that the best defense we, personally, as ordinary Americans without top secret clearances or military intelligence, have against the terrorists is to simply keep living...boldly and without fear. If it's going to happen it's going to happen, but if it's going to happen to me I'd rather be like the brave people fighting on Flight 93 than be half-naked at the airport when it does. JMO.

 

[DWGal210]

I understand what you're saying - it's certainly a very, very complex issue. I wasn't trying to make it too simple. From what I've read, it seems to me they will latch themselves onto whatever cause or issue to get support from tge people they need resources from, but in the end, they could care less; they're only it in for their own interests and aims.

They don't hate the freedoms we have, they really don't care and despite what you might think, it IS about foreign policy and our presence in "their lands".

Do you think that if the U.S. never had any interests in the affairs of the oil-rich middle eastern nations, that the terrorists would even care about us??

 

[ztbz]

I remember on 9/11 how the Disney Parks were Shut down for the day and not just the major parks but the water parks and Downtown Disney. All Disney Transportation was suspended for the day. I also remember people not able to go home cause of the Air-Line shut down and many had to drive rent-a-cars back home.

There is also one thing that started on 9/12 and is still affects visitors to Disney Parks even today, 9 years later and thats Bag Checks started the day after 9/11/2001.

Z

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Why is this day any more important than then 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 200,000 people? Or Pearl Harbor (2,402)? Hurricane Katrina (1,836)? Or Oklahoma City? Or Waco?

Meanwhile, every day 2700 people died from Malaria. That is a disease pretty much eliminated in the United States.

About double that die from AIDS every day.

 

[Noah]

For me, this is a day to honor and pay homage to the brave firefighters and the volunteers who helped and rescued the victims of the World Trade Center. They are all proof that we do care and we do take care of each other even amidst challenging times.

 

[Dee77]

Why is this day any more important than then 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 200,000 people? Or Pearl Harbor (2,402)? Hurricane Katrina (1,836)? Or Oklahoma City? Or Waco?

Meanwhile, every day 2700 people died from Malaria. That is a disease pretty much eliminated in the United States.

About double that die from AIDS every day.

There is absolutely no comparison between 9/11 and natural disasters or infectious diseases or AIDS for that matter.

 

[Stephanie218]

9-11 to me, is the reason and justification for sending my husband off to war twice so far. I am so proud of him and the rest of the Marines (and soldiers) for the work they are doing in Afghanistan now.

I agree with Noah that we should honor the firemen and volunteers that served as well - that day was a terrible loss of American lives.

 

[Mr.MouseFan]

Why is this day any more important than then 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 200,000 people? Or Pearl Harbor (2,402)? Hurricane Katrina (1,836)? Or Oklahoma City? Or Waco?

Meanwhile, every day 2700 people died from Malaria. That is a disease pretty much eliminated in the United States.

About double that die from AIDS every day.

With the exception of Pearl Harbor and Oklahoma City, and not to take away from the lives lost during Katrina, and the tsunami........Seriously? I'm just going to shake my head and walk away from this one.

 

[Mr.MouseFan]

9-11 to me, is the reason and justification for sending my husband off to war twice so far. I am so proud of him and the rest of the Marines (and soldiers) for the work they are doing in Afghanistan now.

I agree with Noah that we should honor the firemen and volunteers that served as well - that day was a terrible loss of American lives.

Please thank your husband on my behalf for his service to our country. And thank you as well for the sacrifices you and your family have made so that we can live the lives that we do.

 

[shellabell]

It reminds me of the terror I felt when I thought I had lost my Daddy. And it reminds me of the fear I live with every day knowing that the lung disease he has from spending many months there recovering his brothers will someday get much much worse.

It means that I am so thankful of the heros we have with us, and those who lost their lives fighting for us.

Bless your dad! I hope they find a way to help all those suffering from the breathing issues. Watching 9/11 Toxic Legacy on planet green, so scary. I hope there is more done for all the heros now suffering so greatly.

 

[snykymom]

Do you really think that by telling our stories to each other and re-living every single moment of that day and becoming frightened, depressed, sad, angry and outraged all over again, we're actually preventing another attack on our soil? Here's a news-flash: it's GOING to happen again. We need to get used to that fact and face it with courage.

There are many here on this board who knew people who died in the 9/11 attacks. But I know that there are many more than 3,000 Americans who've lost everything since then: job, savings, home, car, family, even their lives - EVERYTHING. That tragedy is far fresher in my mind than the 9/11 tragedy. It's still going on today yet there are no memorials to the victims of "the greed of the few".

I'll remember 9/11, and I'll attend any memorial my DH wants me to attend with him (I think the last one was 2006). But what I won't do is get mired down in reliving every detail and rehashing a past (which I can do nothing about) when the present and it's very real threat of losing a job, health insurance, savings, and home is already frightening enough thankyouverymuch.

Mourning and remembering is not a zero-sum game. Because you remember 9/11 doesn't mean that you do not feel for those suffering from the economic downturns. The thing is that we have all suffered from the economic downturns to some degree or another. Some of the victims are getting help and some are not. It's also impossible to mourn over a situation that lasts for a significant period of time; we are not psychologically able to live in that state and continue to function, which we must.

They don't hate the freedoms we have, they really don't care and despite what you might think, it IS about foreign policy and our presence in "their lands".

Do you think that if the U.S. never had any interests in the affairs of the oil-rich middle eastern nations, that the terrorists would even care about us??

Yes, actually, I do. The battles in the eastern European countries that are part Muslim and part Christian have nothing to do with the Middle East. The only difference is that if we had not been involved in the oil-rich middle eastern nations, they wouldn't have the funding to do what they are now doing.

 

[fraggle551]

Bless your dad! I hope they find a way to help all those suffering from the breathing issues. Watching 9/11 Toxic Legacy on planet green, so scary. I hope there is more done for all the heros now suffering so greatly.

Thank You. I hope they are able to find a way to help too. They are doing little things now, but nothing can reverse what was done. I am just so thankful that he is here with us today.

 

[fraggle551]

Bless your dad! I hope they find a way to help all those suffering from the breathing issues. Watching 9/11 Toxic Legacy on planet green, so scary. I hope there is more done for all the heros now suffering so greatly.

Thank You. I hope they are able to find a way to help too. They are doing little things now, but nothing can reverse what was done. I am just so thankful that he is here with us today.