On 9/11, I typically put up a post remembering the terrible day on which a scintillatingly beautiful New York City was transformed into a scene of horror. I make it a point to link to Ned, who experienced the tragedy at a much closer vantage point... I was fifteen miles north of the WTC when the towers came down.
Sadly, the deaths continue, as the recent death of Marcy Borders demonstrates all too poignantly. Personally, I lost a friend to post-9/11 lung cancer seven years ago- I see his daughter on a regular basis because she is a student in the athletic program for which I volunteer. Her dad was one of the first kids I coached, when I was only a few years older than him. She has a strong support network, I wish all of the kids who lost parents in the attack were as fortunate as she is.
The deaths still occur... people dying all-too-young of cancers resulting from exposure to the toxic debris cloud that enveloped lower Manhattan for days. Thankfully, The James L. Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act was signed into law in 2011 by President Obama, after years of shameful Republican foot-dragging.
The Republicans have long made a mockery of 9/11, despite the fact that the WTC attacks were the result of the incompetence of Republican administration. Today, they are planning on making a big stink about the Iran nuclear proliferation deal, even though Iran never had anything to do with the attacks, and the country provides a Shiite counterbalance to the Sunni fundamentalist terrorists which currently threaten the Mideast, the successors to the Sunni fundamentalist terrorists that perpetrated the 9/11 attacks. I honestly think that the majority of them wouldn't be happy with any resolution that didn't involve attacking Iran... another war based on false pretenses, cynically waged in the names of the people who died fifteen years ago. We need to take care of the living, rather than trying to avenge the fallen by targeting innocents.
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3 comments:
I was at 22nd and Broadway, lost some former coworkers that day.
As appalling a crime it was, the fact that it was used to unleash a monstrous war crime on Iraq and none of those responsible have been punished (or even put on trial) is even worse.
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I was about as geographically far away as you could be and still be in the lower 48 - not to mention that, due to the time difference, the towers were both down by 7:30 am out here. I never have the teevee on in the morning, so I was blissfully ignorant, having my first coffee of the day, when my answering machine exploded with frantic voices cryptically telling me to turn on my teevee.
The sense of unreality was eerie. People came to my house. We sat and stared at CNN all day, mostly in silence. It was awful, but in a much different way than you locals experienced it.
As appalling a crime it was, the fact that it was used to unleash a monstrous war crime on Iraq and none of those responsible have been punished (or even put on trial) is even worse.
Yeah, the maladministration used the evil deed done against Americans as their 'carte blanche' to unleash a wave of atrocities on people who had nothing to do with it, while letting the backers of the perpetrators get off scot-free.
It's a sad day. My manager escaped the 78th floor of tower two. But so many others she knew, she never saw again.
An old family friend of mine got his entire office out of their by ignoring instructions to stay put. He's a gruff, tough Queens guy with a heart of gold- he barged into both the men's room and the women's room and yelled, "Don't bother flushing, don't even wipe, we need to get the hell out of here." Even though he got everybody out, he was devastated. We all lost friends in the attack.
The sense of unreality was eerie. People came to my house. We sat and stared at CNN all day, mostly in silence. It was awful, but in a much different way than you locals experienced it.
We were let out of work early, and I drove a co-worker home before heading home myself. I spent a good hour standing on a sidewalk alongside the service road by the expressway to Manhattan, hands clenched in a rage while watching the plume of smoke and particulates rising over the city as emergency vehicles raced to the scene, about fifteen miles south.
I worked in a workers' compensation insurance office. We handled a lot of the death claims. Every manila envelope was a reminder of the tragedy. There were a lot of funerals and memorial services to attend as well.
It was surreal... surreal and sad.
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