Remembering and Reflecting 9/11/01

Triathlon Forum
1

At 8:48 a.m. I was in CCU in a patient’s room when NBC switched to the live shots of Tower One burning. The gist of the coverage was, errant plane? Terrorist attack? At 9:02 we got the answer. I do not know if it is possible to remove the image of that 2nd plane slamming into the North Tower. More unforgettable images would come. By 9:30 a.m. I was planning an inter-faith prayer service. The thought that demanded my attention was, “It’s all changed.”

Life is a gift. I know that. Weekly, if not daily, I am reminded of it, but 9/11/01 anchors that in my being like no other event. Over the last two years I’ve done a fairly good job of keeping that in front of me. I’ve said I love you a little more. I’m learning to see the good a bit better than in days gone by. But, today, as we bring intentionally to remembering once again I know I’ve got some unfinished business. I want to live life without regret. If I were to die today I would regret that I never took on the challenge of truly knowing my triathlon potential. It may sound trivial in light of this day but nevertheless, it’s there, and it does not feel trivial. What stands in my way? About 25 pounds and the willingness to cowboy-up and do it.

How has 9/11/01 changed us? Today, as we remember, I think it is an important question.

2

I was in my chiro office. A patient walked in and told me that an airplane had flown into one of the WTC buildings. I assumed he meant something very small but was quite surprised when he said it was a 747. He had only caught the earliest details on the car radio on the way over. We more or less assumed that it had been a navigational error or something and didn’t give much thought to terrorism. I had a break later in the morning and turned on the TV just in time to see the first building crumble. It then hit me what had really happened.

I went to NYC almost a year ago for a visit to see a friend. I hadn’t been there for several years and it seemed very sad not to see the two big towers. Made me realize that the world changed forever after Sept. 11th.

3

I was here in NYC on September 11th, working at The Joyce Theater. A co-worker came into the administrative offices and asked if I was watching what had happened on the computer. I thought it was a morbid joke at first and then I thought it was simply a small plane and then I got the full extent of the news shortly thereafter. After I called my wife who was still at home, a bunch of us went up on the roof of the theater (it’s on 19th Street and 8th Avenue, about a mile and half from the site) and watched the buildings with that horrible thick black smoke billowing out. I could only watch for a short period before it all became too much. Once I got back at my desk my wife called me from home in Brooklyn and told me that the first tower had fallen and I remember asking in disbelief “you mean just the top part?” “No,” she said, “it’s not there anymore, it’s gone.”

As a New Yorker, it’s hard to put into words the way I feel about that day and the days and weeks that followed. I didn’t know anyone in the towers that day, in fact, I rarely even ventured to that part of town, but I felt a sense of togetherness with the rest of the city and the world that I hadn’t felt before (or since). My heart goes out today to the thousands of people who lost loved ones on that horrible day.

“Well while I’m here I’ll
do the work-
and what’s the Work?
To ease the pain of living.
Everything else, drunken
dumbshow.” -Allen Ginsberg

4

The murders of 9/11 will be remembered, but as the Israelis have learned, we need to bury the dead and move on with helping the living. We need to live in the present and the future, not in the past. We are at war. We need to take the battle to the enemy so that he can not take the battle to us.

I hope as a country we find a path to stop litigation against Boeing, American Airlines, United, and the Port Authority for their “negligence.” I hope we soon stop flying the flag at half mast. I hope we quickly build bigger and better towers to replace the ones that we lost, and that the USS New York, forged from the recovered steel of the wrecked towers, kicks some serious butt of the freedom and civilization haters.

I am going to celebrate today by doing a good job building my apartment complex. The walls are made of 7.5 inches of heavily reinforced concrete. Osama, if you want to knock them down, stop by for a bit so we can chat. Please come by before we pour the slab. You can hide for a long time underneath it if you like. No one will ever find you.

5

Chappy,

It doesn’t sound trivial at all. In fact, I believe, that if people didn’t take the feeling that every day is a gift, and that if we don’t repay that gift with giving life all we have in return, then those people missed an important lesson. I was there. I worked across the street from the WTC and I saw all the horrid events that took place. The second plane, the people choosing jumping vs. suffocating. The collapse. All of it. I went through months of wondering what I would do if it was me that was up there. Tore me up inside. And that day taught me that if I don’t give everything that I have to what I’m passionate about, I’m wasting a gift that those 3,000 people would love to have. No, it’s not trivial. It’s meaningful. I say God bless you Chappy, and all others that give everything that they have to the goal of being great.

-Rob

6

“but as the Israelis have learned”

Has anyone really learned? Another Israeli military strike followed by another Palestine suicide bomber followed by a another Israeli military strike followed by another Palestine suicide bomber… An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and the cycle perpetuates leaving the carnage of dead bodies of innocent victims on BOTH sides. The middle east is a complicated volitile tinderbox that spilled over across the Atlantic two years ago. I wish I had all the answers and solutions but I don’t.

This has nothing to do with tri, but today for me will be a day of rememberence and one of reflection to try to understand something seems not understandable.

7

I was quite specific about the lesson the Israelis had learned about burying their dead and moving on. I wasn’t making a commentary about their global, long term security and foreign relations strategy.

Still, you describe a faulty cause and effect cycle. Israelis are murdered when Israel makes concessions for peace. Israelis are murdered when Israel cracks down. Israelis are murdered when they withdraw from the West Bank. Israelis are murdered when they elect right wing leaders. Israelis are murdered when they elect left wing leaders. Israelis are murdered when they enter into cease fire agreements. Israelis are murdered when they go on the offensive. Israelis are murdered when they stay on the defensive.

This whole process has been going on for generations, before there was an Israel, before there were “Palestian refugees”, before there were occupied territories. I really don’t see any cause and effect here. Do you?

8

"I really don’t see any cause and effect here. Do you? "

I see a very distinct bias on your part, which in the bigger picture may be a reflection of American foreign policy towards the Middle East. I’m not condoning Palestine acts of terror in any way but do feel that it takes two to tango and that Israel has not been totally without sin.

This has nothing to do with tri, so this will be my last post on the topic. I should have left it at my first post which described where I was two years ago.

For me this day is a double whammy. It also would have been a 25th wedding anniversary had we not divorced ten years ago.

9

I remember I wasn’t doing much in particular at the moment and that still bothers me today. Make every moment count!

Rest in peace to all who died, and thank you to those who served.

10

Bummer Cerveloguy, this day is really getting you down. I think you need to go out and do a long brick. It is really hard to be sad after that.

11

Cerveloguy - Not trying to start a flame war here, but I wanted to respond to your previous post. I am not an Israeli, but your average American, who after 9/11 can see with a little more clarity, the situation in the Middle East. Your views seem to me at least, way off the mark.

You write:
Has anyone really learned? Another Israeli military strike followed by another Palestine suicide bomber followed by a another Israeli military strike followed by another Palestine suicide bomber… An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and the cycle perpetuates leaving the carnage of dead bodies of innocent victims on BOTH sides.

That to me is akin to saying “Another fire put out by the firefighters followed by another fire ignited by an arsonist, followed by another fire put out by the firefighters followed by another fire ignited by an arsonist …” There is no cycle here. The only way to fight terrorism is to bring the fight to the terrorists, as the US is doing in Afghanistan, Yemen, etc.

You then write:

The middle east is a complicated volitile tinderbox that spilled over across the Atlantic two years ago.

And

I’m not condoning Palestine acts of terror in any way but do feel that it takes two to tango and that Israel has not been totally without sin.

When the Middle East spilled over across the Atlantic, what did we in the US do to cause that? You say that it “takes two to tango,” What did we do? What does Israel do? What does any victim of terror do. Terrorists are nothing but a bunch of common murders hiding behind some political, religious, etc rhetoric to justify their thugish ways. You can not reason with them, negotiate with them or appease them. They only understand when you face them with a force greater than a force they can muster. That’s why they are called terrorists. If some maniac broke into your house one night, went to your daughters room and told you he was going to rape and murder her, would you negotiate with him? Try and find some middle ground? Offer to let him just beater her up a little, but then leave? No, you would not. You don’t need to because you are in the right and he is in the wrong. It’s the same thing that Israel, the US, etc face now, only on a different scale.

Sorry for this rant, but as someone who lost friends in NYC on 9/11, I have a hard time understanding why anyone can’t see things as clearly as they seem to be. Agreed … lets get back to Triathlon only discussion here … and save these discussions for a more appropriate venue.

12

I’m with you in this sentiment. An eye for an eye will leave us all blind and we have one bad eye as it is…

Let’s hope 9/11 doesn’t come to represent the day America lost its soul to anger and retribution.

-Robert

13

“If some maniac broke into your house one night, went to your daughters room and told you he was going to rape and murder her, would you negotiate with him? Try and find some middle ground? Offer to let him just beater her up a little, but then leave? No, you would not.”

No, but if I’d trained him, given him finacial support and the weapons he was using to attack my daughter I’d have to think long and hard about my relationship with the maniac I’d previously given my support to so that he could fight my enemies. A lot of innocent people died because of the duplicitous foreign policies of our so-called leaders.

14

Who is the “maniac” you are referring to?

15

It was a response to your last post. The 9/11 terrorists you were refering to.

“…Kindness, sweetest
of the small notes
in the world’s ache,
most modest & gentle
entered man before history
and became his daily
connection, let no man
tell you otherwise.” -Carl Rakosi

16

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. - Yoda

…the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugrural Address, 1933

Please do yourself and others a favor and read this address. It’s just words and it may not be agreeable to all, but some of the words still ring true and people throughout the world can benefit. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/

Think about why people do what they do. I mean what really limits peoples abilities. It’s fear. Fear of winning. Fear of losing. Fear of death. Fear of government. Fear of losing their job, lifestyle, family. Fear of hunger. Fear of Illegal Aliens. Fear of terrorism. Fear and you name it.

Freedom has it’s price and it can be a mighty toll. Those who can see past their own needs know that those who don’t want Freedom are fearful. Fearful of change, fearful of losing power, control, importance.

America has many faults, but we cannot be held responsible for the actions of The World. We’ve tried benevolence. Some who’ve benefited from this generosity have turned on us because they are ungratetful pigs. We’ve tried Isolationism and been chastised for that as well. We get pissed on on a regular basis. Capitalism has made us strong and others are envious.

The United States is where I live and I’m never ashamed to be an American. Let Freedom Ring!!!

17

I had the dubious distinction of being on the 60th floor of WTC 2 two years ago today(and in '93 as well),

and I am posting this message for one reason only - to testify that a long term committment to fitness

can provide balance, outlet, and even a degree of solace in stressful times. After I got home that day

(ironically, it was beautiful weather) and hugged my family all I wanted to do was get on my bike and ride

around. After the sights and sounds of that morning it was amazing how vivid my normal reality

suddenly seemed!

     We were all witnesses that day, but it is part of the past.  I must maintain optimism about the

future, and Triathlon helps me do that. John H.

18

“And that day taught me that if I don’t give everything that I have to what I’m passionate about, I’m wasting a gift that those 3,000 people would love to have.”

You’ve answered a question that was put to me by my friend and boss: “What are those 3,016 souls saying to us?” I think by remembering and reflecting on, how then should we live, good trumps evil, at least in the little world we have some influence.

19

At ~ 9 am 2 years ago today I was on a flight from Toronto to Atlanta, at the time, not too far from NYC, when the pilot does a 180 degree turn on a dime and announces, “We have a problem ladies and gentlemen…there are a reports that a number of aircraft have been hijacked with one having been crashed into the WTC. The FAA is closing US airspace in 30 min, so we have that amount of time to turn back, fly back into Canadian airspace and land in Toronto. Unfortunately, you will not be getting to Atlanta today !”. It was pretty hard to believe on the flight, that this was actually happening, but after landing in Toronto and talking on the phone (when you could get through) to loved ones, it was clear that things were pretty bad.

You guys are all correct. Each day is a gift. After a “near death” hyponatremia event in my last Ironman, I believe this more than ever !

20

I thought long and hard before responding to this post, because I don’t really feel that I have a lot of value to offer on this subject, but after reading some other posts, I thought that perhaps I should say something.

I work in the financial district in Boston, and I was acquainted with quite a lot of people who worked in the WTC. Several people in my department, including myself, were planning on attending the Financial Markets conference on the top Floor of Tower 2 that day, but we decided against it because it was $3,000/head and we had a lot of people who wanted to go. The fact that there was even a possibility that I might have been there still freaks out my wife occasionally.

When the first plane hit, there were rumors about what was going on, but soon all the trading monitors had the Bloomberg news replaced with the live coverage. We thought it was an accident until the second plane hit. We got to see hundreds of lives end on live television. We were all sent home at 10:30 AM. There were thousands and thousands of people at South Station waiting for trains that were not there because no one rides out of Boston at mid-morning. When the T finally got some trains online the ride, about 7 miles, which usually took 20 minutes, took over two hours. It was a tortuous two hours as people who could get through to their loved ones via cell phones updated the riders on what the latest news was.

Over the next couple of weeks, I gradually learned which of my colleagues were alive, and which were not. Many of the people lost were young, successful, and productive members of society, and while I try to focus on the future, it still makes me sad sometimes.

I flatter myself in thinking that the financial industry is one of the most important businesses in the world, as it is the one that creates the most wealth for both people and nations. It allows an average person anywhere to invest their money anywhere in the world that they feel has potential for growth, and to reap the rewards that go along with that choice.

That somebody would want to destroy the very mechanism which drives the distribution of wealth throughout the world is an affront to human civilization, and the perpetrators of this destruction should be granted no quarter. The war we fight is no less than that for the continuance of civilization.

I sincerely hope that we as Americans remember that we did not start this war, that being White and not poor is not a moral failing punishable by death, and that we, as Americans, generally seek peace in the world. I realize that we are not perfect, and that there are people being exploited by the US, but on the whole, we generate and distribute 60-70% of all the wealth on the planet. If we were not leading these relatively affluent lives here, then the many developing nations of the world would still be living miserable lives in poverty and squalor.

I was just getting back into shape when the Towers fell, and at the time I pondered whether I would have made it out if I had been there that day. I’m sure many of us have. It made me very keenly aware of how fragile our lives are. I have tried to use this awareness to motivate me to get into even better shape, so that I can protect my family and friends should the need ever arise, and so that I can live to be old and healthy in either case.

My wish for you all is that you may live long, happy, peaceful lives, and that before too long, our children will once again live in a world where bombings do not occupy the headlines every day, and that the constant fear of death is not ever lingering in the backs of our minds.

I think I’m done being sentimental now. Sorry I’m so damned long-winded.