Nymysys’s OP here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=86969 - well, quite a few of the posts, but especially the OP.
I doubt I’ve written anything Teemings-worthy on the subject, but you’re welcome to use anything I posted as needed.
Fenris
Just here to echo the “If I’ve said anything of use, go ahead and use it” bit.
So if I’ve said anything of use . . .
I hereby nominate Bluesman’s impassioned calls to action (I’ll find the links sooner or later) and Chief Scott’s assertions that “we’ll (the Navy) do what must be done…”
My personal suggestion is that it would be interesting to see the section broken down by into subcategories by perspective(s):
1.) Insiders (accounts from ‘ground zero’)
2.) ‘Near-by’s’ (those in the areas or effected by friends/family at ‘ground zero,’ but not at personal risk of harm or loss)
3.) Rescuers/medical on the scene
4.) Military perspectives
5.) Outsiders - national and world reactions (obviously affected, but not necessarily having a close, personal connection to the events themselves)
Just an idea…
But if you see something you like, please, be my guest.
Okay, I’ve got a start of it posted. See what you think at Teemings : In the Wake of the Fire.
It feels unfinished to me though. I’d still like to get more in there, so please continue with your suggestions and contributions.
Also, if anyone wanted to donate the time to make some graphics for it, please drop me a line.
Thanks.
*thought
*through
[sub]just trying to help! :D[/sub]
It should read: …into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York. If I’m not mistaken there is only one World Trade Center, comprised of several buildings.
[sub] god please don’t lynch me, I could never be an editor…I feel bad doing it.[/sub]
Fixed 'em. Thanks, Cisco!
Euty, I think Shirley Ujest’s letter to her British friend is well worth including.
You may want to think of including some of the World Trade Center Memories.
You are certainly welcome to use anything of mine.
Thanks for doing this, Euty.
Euty, I don’t know if you want this or not, but I wrote this today. It’s hard to concentrate on work, still, so I took about an hour out to write. This is what I came up with. Feel free to use it, or anything else I may have posted.
Week One - Remembrance
Tomorrow will mark one week.
One week from a day that dawned bright and beautiful, heedless of the darkness to come. A day when people rose to board planes they planned on exiting 3000 miles away. A day when people awoke to finish another busy Tuesday that was supposed to be like almost every other Tuesday. A day firefighters and policemen hoped to spend peacefully, without having to answer the call they were trained for.
One week from a day when madmen entered four planes quietly, waiting for the chosen moment to strike. A day when, with the planes flying high above the ground, the madmen took over, bringing death and terror to first one tower, then the next. A day when a third plane aimed at our nation’s capital and struck at a part of our government. A day in which the fourth plane was headed on a similar course. A day when madmen planned on bringing our country to it’s knees.
One week from the day when people remained calm in the face of terror, keeping panic at bay as they emptied from the tower which burned above them. A day when firefighters and police answered the call, heedless of what may happen to them. A day when people walked back in the building to see if they could help someone else escape. A day when fear was put to the back of many minds, and helping at all costs to the forefront.
One week from a day when the men and women on the fourth plane, knowing what had already happened, declared that they would not allow themselves to be used this way, and took control. A day when they called their loved ones and said good-bye. A day when they sacrificed their own lives to prevent the loss of any more. A day when they were among the ones called heroes.
One week from a day when the stress was too much, and the towers fell to the ground. A day when a nation prayed for lives to be saved, regardless of the damage. A day when our nation had to count more missing than in any other disaster. A day when those among the missing, and those who’s fates we know, will always be called heroes.
One week in which a nation’s tears would not stop, but where their backbone strengthened. A week in which signs for the missing covered the streets and stories of bravery passed across the nation. A week in which hope began to wane for the missing, but hasn’t completely died. A week that moved slowly at the site of the terror, but quickly in strengthening our nation. A week in which promises for retribution were made. A week in which the sleeping dragon truly has risen.
This is the first week of remembrance. But it will not be the last. Heroes, we will never forget you. Madmen, we will never let you get away.
I think you should do something that captures the chaos of that morning. That first MPSIMS thread about it grew to what? five pages in a hour or two? This one:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=86458&pagenumber=1
And that showed the confusion the reigned. Planes had hit the WTC, the Old Executive Office Building, the Mall was on fire, the White House was on fire, two rogue planes were in the air, the Pentagon had been destroyed, a plane was heading for the Sears Tower, the WTC plane was a small single engine…a 727, a 767, a 737, the first tower goes down, the first tower is up, the second tower is down, people are jumping…Oh God…Dopers live in NYC…please check in…hundreds dead…thousands dead…tens of thousands dead…
All those things are in there, along with my questions about Mrs Chance in Crystal City (next to the Pentagon).
And I think it’s important, if you wish to document the event, that you not just write up the reactions afterward. Those are certainly important and meaningful, but you need to define the chaos and panic of the morning as well. Really, it starts with a statement of fact: that the first plane went in (posted at 9:03). The second post mentioned the possibility of terrorism (at 9:08) and this snowball from there. There are 19 posts in the next ten minutes (taking us to 9:19). Then at 9:40 “Possible Explosion at the Pentagon” (6 different Dopers reporting in 3 minutes).
250+ posts in less than 3 hours. 400 posts in total.
I know it’s long. But the chaos and uncertainty are still defining the event for too many people.
After reading your post I went in and edited down some comments that were made during that thread and posted them here. Euty please feel free to use it as you may. I found it pretty powerful…
You might want to include creative work (poetical/musical tributes and the like) on the page, too.
I’ve written a piece about it and I know several others have.
Just a suggestion.
Thanks, Rob, that’s great! I’ll be posting that on the site as soon as I get the chance.
Linkety link link link?
Euty, if you’d like, I’d be happy to email you the poem I wrote. I’ll try to find the threads that had people’s creative writing in them.
Here’s one, Euty. It might even be the one Nocturne was referencing.
[sub]Not that I, you know, have any interest in that thread, of course . … [/sub]
Wow. I don’t know what to say. That was just an internal primal scream. It’s gratifying to know I’m not the only one that felt it.
We’re still hanging in there. Hopefully we’ll continue to.