22 Years since 9/11

[88Comrade2000]

It’s the 22nd anniversary of 9/11.

[ixcuincle]

For those who lived that era it was just, something changed after that

 

Everyone was living their life carefree and then the towers went down, and then the US said there would be retribution

 

I remember being in HS during that time and in history class the teacher from next door just opens the door during class  and says the towers were hit by a plane. It was just jarring. For 5 or 6 straight days after that, you had a special report on TV, which was unprecedented.

 

This generation's pearl harbor. A horrific attack that changed the face of US foreign policy.

[gbear]

I think it changed more than just our foreign policy.  Talking with somebody from Australia, they made it pretty clear it changed the world's foreign policy.  One doesn't just pull on Superman's cape without him bringing the rest of the justice league with him into the fight.  That was back when what we said was still instantly believed by many of our allies who had our back knowing we would always have theirs.   

 

I still remember that day trying to get everybody out of the government building where I worked and the lines at the red cross as people tried to do the only thing they could in the near term to help.  I remember how everyone actually acted like we were one society for a moment instead of red versus blue or rich versus poor.  It sucks that it takes tragedy to do that to us, but for a moment we all got to feel a part of one nation under God.  That said, their were some Muslims treated poorly who might have a different take on it, but my Muslim friends all went out of their way to show they were insulted and hurt too.

 

[The Evil Genius]

Have solace in knowing that the people who funded it now own part of the PGA. And the leader of the Republican Party. 

 

Fwiw I'm not sure if anything has really changed anymore. I remember being at work the entire day, despite being in a State building, and wondering how things would ever return to the same. Now I can't recall much that is different pre 9/11 vs post 9/11.

Edited September 11, 2023 by The Evil Genius

[TheGreatBuzz]

It's what led me to join the military. 

[skinsmarydu]

I got grabbed off the sidewalk going into my restaurant by a co-worker with the news.  My dad took data stuff down to the State Department on Wednesdays, and I totally freaked out because it took me a second to remember what day it was. Edit here to add:  it was the toughest day to get through that I've ever worked.

Went home, locked my door, fell to the floor right there and cried with my cats. 

Edited September 11, 2023 by skinsmarydu

[balki1867]

I think people forget how awesome the 90s were-- the US economy was soaring, the federal government had a balanced budget, the US hadn't been at war the entire decade-- i could go on.  I'm not saying it was perfect- the OJ trial, the LA riots, the first major government shutdown and the Clinton Cigar scandal all happened in that era.  But for most of that decade the average American legitimately felt like for whatever remaining problems existed, we were going to solve them.  It just was a matter of time. 9/11 changed all of that- not immediately, but eventually. 

 

I was a senior in college when 9/11 happened and like everyone else, I have many memories of that day:

 

1. A fraternity brother had recently broken up with his girlfriend.  He was still heartbroken when she died in a traffic accident the Saturday night before (Sat 9/8).  He found out on Monday Sep 10 and I still remember going into his room and seeing him sobbing at his desk chair that day.
2. It was the week of our college job fair-- I was a senior so this was a big deal. On Monday I met a company rep that loved my resume and I got an on-the-spot interview for the next day. I went to my interview Tuesday and the rep told me, "until about 6 hours ago, I was going to tell you that we have some aggressive hiring plans.  I have no idea what our plans are going to be, but I appreciate you showing up."  The company was Boeing.
3. My parents were supposed to fly to visit me for parents' weekend on the 14th.  My dad claims they were on the first flight out of BWI when air travel re-opened that Friday. They made their flight, but security was a madhouse. There were no TSA rules in place, so security was doing everything they could with no real guidance-- just tearing apart bags to find anything that could look like a weapon. My dad got his safety razor confiscated.

Edited September 11, 2023 by balki1867

[The 12th Commandment]

2 hours ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

It's what led me to join the military. 

I went to the recruiter the next day.  They talked 35 year old me, on the cusp of eligibility, out of it.  Would have made for some stories I don't doubt.  

 

Truly an awful day.

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Ball Security]

My first real job out of college started on September 10. I worked at a bank’s headquarters and one of my roles was the backup to the backup to the administrative assistant for the small business lending division. So if someone called the office and the two other people weren’t available the call would roll to my desk. Well, after 9/11 the government temporarily froze accounts for many customers who had foreign backgrounds. I would get calls from people who preemptively had their lines of credit frozen. Crazy time.

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Chew]

Being on the largest military base in the world (Ft Bragg) during 9/11 was the most chaotic thing I've ever seen. 

 

I was 19 and had just arrived at my first duty station, Pope AFB (which is actually inside Ft Bragg), the day before.  

[TheDoyler23]

It is a position of privilege to talk about how "united" we were after 9/11 and romanticize candlelight vigils and memorials. 

 

The aftermath of 9/11 is a terrible time in our history. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Larry]

30 minutes ago, TheDoyler23 said:

It is a position of privilege to talk about how "united" we were after 9/11 and romanticize candlelight vigils and memorials. 

 

The aftermath of 9/11 is a terrible time in our history. 

 

 

 

 

 

Just pointing out:  

 

It is easily possible to compliment the unanimity of the American people. And criticize the response of the government. 

[TheGreatBuzz]

I assumed he meant how society treated Muslims and brown people in general. 

[Larry]

1 minute ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

I assumed he meant how society treated Muslims and brown people in general. 

A valid point, as well. 

[TheDoyler23]

1 hour ago, Larry said:

Just pointing out:  

 

It is easily possible to compliment the unanimity of the American people. And criticize the response of the government. 

 

23 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

I assumed he meant how society treated Muslims and brown people in general. 

Yea that was something I was getting at. The hate crimes during that time of “unity” undermines the concept of unity. The general embrace of Islamaphobia by many Americans as well. And that’s just the domestic part of the equation. 

[Renegade7]

I was wondering how close we were to not having one of these threads this year.

 

I could see the smoke from the pentagon from my school in dc. Some kids were getting picked up by their parents when we 1st saw people jumping out the towers on tv, some weren't.

 

You don't say "Happy 9/11 Day" for a reason, goddammit, this isnt f'n rocket science.  It will get like Pearl Habor and there will be more that weren't around when that happened then were.

 

My wife heard about it, a kid as well, but she hadn't seen the same "footage" I did, didn't see people running from the smoke clouds by the towers collapsing like that or what I described earlier.

 

We did things because of our fear of that ever happening again that at the time I didn't want to believe we would do, but we did.  You don't celebrate that, you remember it, learn from it, and/or try to heal from it if you haven't yet.

[Maxito]

I was in high school when the tragic events happened.  I don't recall any faculty telling the students what happened.  I didn't have a cell phone throughout high school so I didn't find out until I got home.  

[PeterMP]

6 hours ago, balki1867 said:

I think people forget how awesome the 90s were-- the US economy was soaring, the federal government had a balanced budget, the US hadn't been at war the entire decade-- i could go on.  I'm not saying it was perfect- the OJ trial, the LA riots, the first major government shutdown and the Clinton Cigar scandal all happened in that era.  But for most of that decade the average American legitimately felt like for whatever remaining problems existed, we were going to solve them.  It just was a matter of time. 9/11 changed all of that- not immediately, but eventually. 

 

 

 

The tech bubble had already burst.  GDP growth had already been negative (technically we were in a recession starting in March 2001.  The balance budget was already blown.  If you were paying much attention (I'm a little older than you it seems), it was clear the Clinton economy had been a bubble and that things were going get worse.

 

During the previous election cycle, Bush had gone from arguing we needed tax cuts because the federal government had too much money (in the primary) and that was bad to that we needed tax cuts to prevent a recession.

Edited September 11, 2023 by PeterMP

[Fergasun]

2977 people were murdered on that day.  The national mobilized and united.  We established better security, a new cabinet level department and goodness knows what else we don't know about. 

 

I even wonder now... are there still terrorists out there who want to mess with America?  I guess they get taken care of before they are much of a threat.  Or, we find people and we pretend they are threats and take care of them.

 

And then COVID hit .. and people shrugged their shoulders when nearly 3000 people were dying each day during some periods. 

[Renegade7]

7 minutes ago, Fergasun said:

 

And then COVID hit .. and people shrugged their shoulders when nearly 3000 people were dying each day during some periods. 

 

I'm convinced a big part of that was one was this massive individual event on a single day versus a daily difference of what people saw happening where they were when talking about risk and needing a mask etc.

 

What happened in Manhattan is very different experience then what rural Kentucky did, for example, and took longer to really get there. 

 

It's entirely possible this impact on personal freedom as it became frames was inevitable reaction to not even being able to question what rights for safety we gave up after 9/11.

 

That's not me defending it, just wondering allowed why we took sides in how to respond to COVID instead of 9/11.  Some group of attcked us, that's right up our ally on what to do with the size of our defense budget.

 

We are way more susceptible to propaganda now then back then.  Or maybe we weren't...

 

 

[PeterMP]

19 minutes ago, Fergasun said:

2977 people were murdered on that day.  The national mobilized and united.  We established better security, a new cabinet level department and goodness knows what else we don't know about. 

 

I even wonder now... are there still terrorists out there who want to mess with America?  I guess they get taken care of before they are much of a threat.  Or, we find people and we pretend they are threats and take care of them.

 

And then COVID hit .. and people shrugged their shoulders when nearly 3000 people were dying each day during some periods. 

 

I suspect the "success" of ISIS in the Middle East as well as pressure by the US government on the Saudis and other Middle East countries had something to do with it.

 

I suspect what the Taliban was doing in the Afghanistan was always a bit hidden, and it was well that's over there.  That doesn't affect me (in terms of wealthy Middle Easterners).

 

When it was happening in Iraq and people were being beheaded and forced to live by Islamic rule, I suspect a lot of people in the region that had money and had been supporting terrorist said, 'I actually don't really want that.'

 

After 9/11, the US also did a lot to dry up the money.

 

Recruiting and training terrorist takes money.  Without money, there might be the same or even more people out there that are unhappy, but they don't have the direction, focus, or means to do much about it.

[Renegade7]

Agree with @PeterMP

 

Want to add we spent a lot of time targeting leadership during war on terror.

 

Similar to how we were going after the British via guerrilla snipers with Kentucky long barrels to get our Independence, it makes a huge difference as it adds up.

 

Edit: word on the street is Bin Laden started to really second guess himself after watching the Arab Spring.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Renegade7

[PeterMP]

2 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

I'm convinced a big part of that was one was this massive individual event on a single day versus a daily difference of what people saw happening where they were when talking about risk and needing a mask etc.

 

Fundamentally, for some reason Americans have a misplaced fear of being "conquered" or losing our freedom or control due to some outside power or just really like to be part of military conflicts.  You can see it run pretty consistently through history.  Vietnam, Bay of Pigs, Cuban missile crisis, The Barbary Wars, etc.  There's a large history of us getting into conflicts for what is minimal to negative value to us that most other countries managed to avoid. 

 

As compared to other threats (diseases, pollution, food additives, etc.).  Somebody somewhere is talkling about doing something that might negatively affect us.  We can attack them, but heaven forbid you want to up regulation and USDA funding to prevent people from dying/getting sick from food sources contaminated with pathogenic bacteria.

 

Interestingly, Western Europeans very much have the opposite behavior/feelings.  They are probably overly aggressive in  banning things like chemicals and food additives, but when it comes to a direct threat from another country/people historically they've been slow to organize/respond.

 

Germany almost certainly over estimated the negative impacts of their nuclear power compared to the threat from Russia.

 

I suspect the difference is our historical isolation minimizing threats from other countries/groups vs. for them that's just been part of life regularly forever.

Edited September 11, 2023 by PeterMP