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Sparrowhawk
09-04-02, 01:03 AM
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I17787-2001Sep12


In my garage are six boxes, packed full of videotapes of 9/11.

From the first news flash, when I came out of the shower and my wife pointed out that a plane had struck one of the towers, until weeks later, I taped all the news and events that transpired. Over 60 eight-hour tapes of the events that changed history and our way of life are stored away. it was a day that cahnged the world and our way of living.

Within a couple of days after the attack, I purchased, a cell phone and emergency equipment for their cars for each of my daughters and wife.

My second to the oldest took it the worst. Her life she knew would never be the same. She could no longer enjoy the freedom she once did. She wished it could all be undone. Don't we all.

We're more careful now, more alert. We leave on trips and check with each other often. Check out people and suspicious looking objects with cautious interest.

I bought new weapons for the home, and my daughters that are going away to college are learning how to protect themselves physically and with weapons.

We have resolved to not be victims, yet in the back of our minds we still wonder what else is coming and feel that its not over, not by a long shot.


Life as we knew it before 9/11 has changed in America. Things will never be the same. How has it impacted you and your loved ones life?

Sparrowhawk
09-04-02, 01:06 AM
MSNBC.com
The Facts after 9/11



Tons of steel used to build the World Trade Center: 200,000
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American flags sold at Wal-Mart on Sept. 12, 2001: 200,000
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U.S. citizens killed on Sept. 11: more than 2,000
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U.S. citizens who lost their jobs: more than 300,000
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Ratio of Americans killed by terrorists last year to the estimated number who died from food poisoning: 3:5
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Number of times “Osama bin Laden” appeared in the U.S. press on 9/11/01: 3 (1)
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Bush’s approval rate on Sept. 21, 2001: 90 percent, the highest for any president (2)
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Aid money returned to a Saudi prince after he linked the attacks to U.S. support for Israel: 10 million dollars(3)
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Percentage of people polled who said Giuliani should have accepted money: 10
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Top Lycos search in the week of Sept. 11, 2001: Nostradamus
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Rumor that spread through the Internet: Nostradamus prophecy (4)
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Increase in sales of books about prophesy in the week following 9/11: 80 percent (5)
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Application increase at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School: 40 percent
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Years before U.S. air travel is expected to return to pre-Sept. 11 levels: 2 to 4 (6)
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Lower Manhattan residents who reported clinical depression symptoms eight weeks after the attacks: 90,000 (7)
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Percentage of residents near Ground Zero still experiencing physical symptoms related to the attacks: 50 (8)
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Observation deck tickets sold annually at the World Trade Center: 1.9 million
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Annual visitors to the observation deck at the Empire State Building since 1931: 1.5 million
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Tickets distributed at Ground Zero since January: 1,070,499
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Increase in tourists in New York City since last year: 8 percent
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Decrease in tourist spending in New York City since last year: 9 percent
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Therapists who signed up for trauma treatment training immediately after 9/11: 1,400
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Increase in first-aid kit sales on drugstore.com: 150 percent
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Increased activity at wills.com since 9/11: 100 percent
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Dollar compensation received by families of the six victims of the 1993 WTC bombing: 0
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Minimum compensation to each victim’s family from 9/11: $300,000 (9)
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Families that have so far sued the New York Port Authority: 450
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Travelers who say another U.S. terrorist attack is likely: 79 percent
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Millions of dollars to repair the Pentagon: 500
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Increase in American public’s attention to foreign news since 9/11: 7 percent (10)
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Countries that gave specific warnings of a terrorist attack before 9/11: Germany, Egypt, Russia and Israel (11)
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Footnotes

Nexis database search
Gallup Organization
Zogby International pollsters in an Oct. 15 survey
The Nando Times
USA Today, Sept. 24, 2001
Phil Condit, chief executive officer of Boeing Co., as cited by Reuters.
New England Journal of Medicine
As surveyed by the New York City Department of Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Defense Counsel Journal
Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center on the Press & the People
Germany as reported in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Egypt as reported in The New York Times, Russia as reported on MSNBC.com, Israel as reported in Sunday Telegraph

mrbsox
09-04-02, 08:01 AM
There is NO doubt, that the face of our Country has changed. You see ads, to the effect that the Nation wide change has been Flags on every house, bumper stickers, tee shirts, and the like. But, what I fear HAS NOT CHANGED, is the overall apathy of the American people. :disappoin

There were Flags, on nearly every house, but how many today?

When was the last time you saw a window Flag on a car?

When was the last time the general public said 'KICK THEIR F'n A$$ ?

One of my largest fears, has been that the TERROR we faced, would become part of our society. That America would run around paranoid all the time, that our civil liberities would be compromised... (don't confuse liberty with modern convience), that would be the TERROR, that never ends.

But, I have seen that people have forgotten they even own a bumper sticker, or that car Flag is under something in the trunk, or the house Flag is wadded up ( I'm sorry to say that, but I'm sure there are thousands) and stuck in a closet.

Has the American people REALLY changed all that much since 9-11? My fear is that I don't think so. We have gone back to our own little hole in the world, our little cubilcle, our generally somber lives.

How have I changed, was the Question.

I did buy Flags for the house. 1 is on top of a 20 ft pole in the front yard, that flys EVERY DAY. 1 larger Flag is FOLDED, and waits for special times to fly higher and bolder.

I did buy another gun for the house, and my wife and I BOTH have carry permits (had them before 9-11), AND we both carry.

We taught our kids, that 9-11 was a horrible thing, brought about by a group of people that beleived that to die killing someone else is OK, in the name of religion. We have exposed them more intently to OUR religion. But we DO NOT hate that side of the world.

I wear a Flag pin on my collar EVERYDAY, no matter wear I go. My favorite, is an American Flag, crossed with a Marine Flag. I pin it on every morning..... and remember. And everyone that meets me, and sees it..... remembers.

A 3x5 Flag hangs on the wall over my 'little cubicle'. You cannot enter my space, and NOT see it. I will fly a Flag wherever I work from now on.

I fly alot with my job. I am more cautious, and notice more. I have watched where people sit on the plane, and I request to be on an aisle seat.

Yhea, I've changed. My life has changed. My world has changed. My family has changed. BUT I WILL NOT LIVE IN FEAR, and neither will my family.

THAT is the terror, that we take the FREEDOM away from ourselves.

God Bless America, land that I love..........

Gods Speed

Terry

Barndog
09-04-02, 10:06 AM
Indeed it has changed. I used to basically let everyone get along as they did - you know....... life is and that's it. Not anymore. The weapons are still loaded since 9/11. I don't own a hangun - don't feel a necessity. I, however am deadly with my framing hammer - from a fair distance too. I donated money for the FDNY shortly after things went down, got myself a small flag for my truck, next to the Marine Corps sticker on the back. USMC emblazons the front. It happens to be red and gold also..........
I still don't take sh!t from anyone, and even more so now. I've had to apologize at the e-club (bar) a couple of times for those 'drill instructor loud' outbursts at some a-hole that needed an attitude adjustment. Since I got the old 'high and tight', people see the USMC on my truck and have a whole new attitude when the look at me.

Damm right, they'd better. For hell knows no fury like a p!ssed off Marine.

Semper FI

Barndog

USMC-FO
09-04-02, 11:48 AM
Great comments by all !

I have always had a flag posted outside my home--usually the only one in the neighborhood--but now there are many more so maybe I helped others come to appreciate their country.

I have always had a USMC "Eagle Globe and Anchor" on my cars/trucks. I now have two more--division stickers--and an American Flag on the truck. Civilians notice this and other Marines respond to the stickers with lots of "Semper Fi's".

I donated more $$ to the September 11th fund than I ever previously donated to any one fund.

My son--9 yrs old--went with me to the 226th at the Memorial and to the Wall in DC last year, and we'll go again this year. He is learning first hand about honor, duty, committment and fidelity. Frankly not something lots of youngsters see often enough these days.

There is a flag in my office.

I fly often enough that I spend more time looking at the other passengers--I profile--and I pay attention to where any young "Arab appearing" males are parked in the plane.

I donatate more of my time around town and with the local youngsters and Vet assistance groups.

I went to the local MC HQ and tried to back on active duty--did that Sept 15th--but at 58 things are not what they used to be. But at least I made the effort.

I am prouder of being a Marine than any other time I can recall. I left active duty in 66 and things were different for vets back then.

Semper Fi !!

LongShot
09-04-02, 01:09 PM
I can't say that my life, in general, has changed very much. Like SparrowHawk I too was in the shower when my wife turned on the news and came running in to tell me we were under attack. At first I had no idea what she was talking about. But when I stepped out of the shower and saw the Towers on fire it hit me all at once.... I was angry. I still am. I too recorded much of the news and photos and have them stored to show my children later. Like most of us here on this site I was a Marine long before this happened and my home, car, office, and haircut bear testament to that fact. You cannot be near me for long without realizing that I am a Marine. I may have added a few new stickers to the Xterra, one is a picture of the Towers superimposed over the Petagon with the words "We Will Remember", and we will.

As for my life in general, I have alway been security minded, I always have my eye on the "other guy" and have alway "profiled" while on a plane or other form of public transportation. Prevention is better than intervention. After 9/11 I may take a longer look at those around me but I was doing that before. I am still a Marine and I am still an American, that will never change.

As 9/11 approches I wish you all well and hope that the changes to your life have not been too hard on you. Stand strong, hold you heads high, and yell at the top of your lungs, "I am an American, I am a Marine". Semper Fi!

LadyLeatherneck
09-04-02, 01:41 PM
I can't really say my life has changed since 9/11. I didn't
go out and buy weapons. I didn't go out and buy a flag
(already had one). I think if anything 9/11 made me realize
(more like confirmed) the fact that we are no one. One
minute we're here and tomorrow we may be gone. If anything
it made me appreciate my loved ones more since sometimes
we seem to take for granted those closest to us. Unfortunately
I think the only ones that have control of a 9/11 not happening
again is our government but then again this wasn't the first
time we were attacked (Pearl Harbor) and I'm sure it won't be
the last. This is LIFE my brothers and sisters. We breath, we
experience pain, happiness, frustration, suffering, love, the joys
of a life and the sorrows of a death. Without all this it wouldn't
be LIFE!

God Bless America!
Semper Fi!

BeirutMarine1
09-04-02, 08:06 PM
Whats Changed?

Can't say I can answer that one. My thoughts are plain and simple. The other shoe dropped on the 11th. That's the way I felt walking the five blocks to Ground Zero on the 12th. The smell of burnt steel and death drawing me back to Beirut 18 years earlier. Thought I would never smell that again. So strange, IT WAS THE EXACT SAME SMELL! I didn't get it out of my clothes for days and I can still smell it as I type.

We never completed the job in the "Lebanon War" as former Regan Cabinet member Alaxander Haig put it.

Its funny, but I knew in the back of my mind, deeply hidden, that this would happen to us (9/11).

Now many people forget and its only been a year. So sad.

Semper Fi