September 11th

[Yuri]

Let's all take a moment and remember the tragic events of five years ago.

I happened to be home on my days off and was watching some morning talk show with my wife Cathy when a trailer rolled by indicating a plane had crashed into one of the two towers. We flipped to CNN and were glued to the events all day. In the days that followed we all asked when it would be proper to smile again. It didn't come soon...I still cannot watch the flood of TV shows depicting the attack.

It wasn't an attack against Americans but rather an attack against the civilized world. A dishonour to all the true, peaceloving Muslims. If God/Alah/Budda/(insert deity here) created all mankind, what makes these terrorists decide that they have a right to destroy what some supreme being has created??

Canadians also lost citizens in the horror of that day. We shed tears for them, for all the Americans, and for all the other nations touched by this unholy act of terrorism.

Let's all call for a Jihad against Idiocy!!!

Thanks for letting me sound off!!!

Yuri

[Cathy]

I was at work at the time. One of the guys had switched a TV over to FNC to record a three hour block, and he yelled to everyone that a plane had hit one of the towers. We all gathered in small groups, around several TVs. When the second plane hit, the room grew quiet. I remember saying something about it being terrorism.

The hardest thing to deal with was knowing our New York office was just a few blocks away. I called my counterpart in New York, and I could hear people screaming and crying. He said that everyone was looking out the windows, watching the events as they unfolded.
I called again about an hour or two later, after the towers had collapsed, and they were waiting for the evacuation team to give them the okay to leave. Things were very tense... everyone was on edge, scared to death! Many people lived in Queens and walked home. A couple of people who lived on Long Island managed to get seats one of the ferries, but it took them forever to get home.

[Jennifer]

As an American I recall this horrendous day, I mourn deeply, and my patriotism is strong. I also mourn for EVERY inhumane act of terrorism and senseless violence in the world. It has nothing to do with being American or whatever you happen to be. It's about being human and humane. The big picture is that we are all here together on this little tiny speck of dust floating through space called Earth.

[Borderstone]

I recall what I was doing exactly 1 week before it happened. On Tuesday the 4th,i had the day off and went to see the comedy "Rat Race" (at the mall that I just finished working at last month).

This is significant to me because the following Tuesday was an entirely different universe. Before 9/11/'01,the biggest news story of the day was M. Jordan retiring,again and other now forgotten stories.

Just hours before,I had called my brother James late,after arriving home from the hotel. I wished him a happy birthday in the 11 O'clock hour.

I awoke sometime after 9am to get ready for a dr.s' appt. only to find my brother Frank out in the living room of our apt. watching the news. It was absolutely the most horrible and devastating thing I (and maybe anyone) had ever seen on live TV.

I recall thinking,"My God,World War 3 has broken out and my brother lets me lay in bed"? (I rarely use the term "M.G." by the way,but gosh wasn't enough for that. )

I sat glued to the Tv and watched the towers go down and the peopel run for their lives. For days after that,like many,I went nowhere. Even work because no one except the current guests were at the hotel. Everything had ground to the eeriest silence I'd ever heard.

I hope we never have to see such horrible things ever again. I thank God that I have my family still, and friends.