Open Thread – Ground Zero
On my recent trip to New York City, I stopped at the Ground Zero site. It was hard. I’d been in the towers many times. Some of my favorite memories of New York were eating at the restaurant Windows on the World, in the World Trade Center. I remember clear as day sitting by those huge windows, looking out over the Hudson River across to New Jersey and realizing with wonder that you could actually see the curve of the Earth. Many people who worked there never made it out alive on 9/11.
I stood on the street by a big blue barricade and I looked at the hole that used to be the towers, and that would some day be a memorial of water that would cascade down into two square depressions and disappear into the ground. I looked up into the sky and tried to imagine where my special place would have been. The buildings had been so huge. For the first time all week, it began to rain. I didn’t want to take a picture of the hole. I took a picture of the sky, instead. It came out completely white.
There isn’t anything to do when standing, looking at that place other than cry. So, I did. For the staff of Windows on the World, for all the people who worked in offices, for the first responders, and the good samaritans, for those lost in Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, and for the hundreds of thousands lost in Afghanistan and Iraq, and for our own troops lost in those wars. For the families and friends of those gone, and for those who suffer medical problems and injuries. I cried for the kindnesses we show each other in times of desperation, and for the lies and the fear that make us do terrible things.
The best and the worst of humanity comes out at times like those. We humans are a paradox. We were the ones who risked our own lives to help others. We were the ones using our last calls on cell phones to leave messages of love on answering machines. We were the ones flying planes into buildings full of people. We were the ones storming the cockpit. We were the ones lying our country into war. We were the ones afraid enough not to question it. We were the ones who volunteered to serve our country. We were the ones profiteering from war. We lit candles, we dropped bombs. We humans.
After a while I wandered down the street to St. Paul’s church, like so many thousands of others had done. Standing since the 1700s, surrounded by huge skyscrapers, it is a small patch of ground, frozen in time, immune to the development of the last two and a half centuries. It now houses a dozen or so makeshift shrines that honor those lost, and those who took on the sad and emotionally devastating work of the days and weeks and months following the tragedy.
The place still felt raw. Eight years later, and the feeling that this had just happened is palpable. Some day all of those who remember that day and its aftermath will be gone. And 9/11 will be out of living memory and relegated to the history books. And like the worn gravestones outside of those who lived through the Revolution, the memories of those lost in 2001 will become rounded on the edges, and give themselves up to the peaceful sleep of history.
~~A life-sized bronze relief on the firehouse across the street from Ground Zero. A ring, and other jewelry were left on the hand of one of the firefighters and remained untouched. Lit candles, a bundle of letters, and fresh flowers rested on the sidewalk close by.
~~The firefighters who lost their lives.
~~Old graves from the 1700s. Alexander Hamilton is buried in this church yard.
~~In St. Paul’s – police badges sent from around the world.
Tens of thousands of origami peace cranes sent from Japan. Many were folded by survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There was a small sign in English and Japanese hanging with the cranes. It said “No More War.”
Featured prominently at one of the shrines were these tokens from the students and staff of Crawford Elementary School at Eileson Air Force Base in Alaska.
~~The memorial altar.
~~Old glass, new world.
You can’t see the curvature of the earth until you’re at about 50,000 feet. Definitely not from any man made structure. Not even from Mt. Everest.
there will be an answer, let it be let it be
#44 Big Slick
I read Schaeffer’s article and found it chilling. If you haven’t read his last book yet, it is worth the read. He also has another coming out very soon.
OT Your post on another thread about your experience on 911 was very compelling. Thank you for sharing it.
@BigSlick – Thanks for the link it was a great article and scary. This is why I believe Sarah Palin was tapped as the VP candidate not to get the vote of women but to help set up a Theocracy. Nothing would have opened that door faster then a man in his 70’s having some cancer history becoming President. The “Family” was in GWB’s pocket for the last eight years, they have no foot hold on the White House and its different branches any longer and the more they feel their dream slipping away the angrier they get. I also believe that the reason Bush was so supported about the bailouts was not only because he thought the economy would collapse but because a lot of the corporations, banks and insurance companies are run by members of the “Family”. So Bush used taxpayer dollars to keep them rich and powerful like Jesus wants them to be.
Thanks for the link, Irishgirl @39. A very important and thoughtful article.
Nice pictures and post, AKM.
This is an excellent read if you want to understand why the Right won’t sit down and shut up and let our duly-elected President have his turn at leading the nation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/glenn-beck-and-the-912-ma_b_284387.html#postComment
It seems the rules don’t apply once they begin to lose.
Gramiam Good thinking Too bad you don’t know a voodoo Queen who could help you.Those plans sound worse than any I have heard so far..I hope the people in your state see what is really happening.big insurance companies making more money off of people with sometimes no recourse for consumers.I have heard that Arizona and Florida are two sates that have little protection for consumers as far as the insurance or any other industry is concerned.Just what I have heard from people that lived their.
I am making a wax doll in her image and hunting for my nice long hatpins as we speak, Aussie. I works better here because I am closer to her. LOL!
BTW – Treehouse is open!
State lawmakers try to halt health care changes
“It became very clear that the direction for what they call health care reform at the federal level was putting at risk our health care freedoms, and we need to move quickly to make sure citizens are protected,” said Republican state Rep. Nancy Barto, sponsor of a measure in Arizona.
Lawmakers in eight states, only half of which are controlled entirely by Republicans, have filed proposals this year to ask voters to amend state constitutions to prohibit what they bill as restrictions on a person’s freedom to choose a private health care plan, mandatory participation in any given plan and penalties for declining coverage. Similar measures were considered in two other states, though they wouldn’t have been decided by voters. And lawmakers in three other states say they plan to file similar ballot proposals in the coming months.
[snip
As far as ballot initiatives, Arizona is the only state so far to put the proposal on the 2010 ballot. The Arizona measure began to take root more than three years ago, when Republicans still controlled Congress and a health care overhaul was far from imminent.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_pushback
Another AZ politician who needs to go.
Yes a lovely tribute & an insightful perspective. So Sad!!
A must read!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/glenn-beck-and-the-912-ma_b_284387.html
Interesting read: (found while scouring the interwebs because I’m so furious about this march today)
http://preview.tinyurl.com/okwyse
http://www.cranesforpeace.org/
Here´s where the cranes come in…..
We wiped out entire cities….
The March of the Lemmings in DC today…where were all these “Day-Late and a Dollar short” people when Bush was running rampant with the budget and soldiers’s lives ????
#9 Lani Formerly Bash Budweiser Palin
Thanks for the link. I was just explaining the other day to a coworker about the 9-11 fund and first responders. I’ll forward her the link.
@Star…..it was satire. 🙂
Found the “Cure for Health Care? ” video.
http://www.foxbaltimore.com/newsroom/features/healthcare_reform/index.shtml
Only running on Fox stations and I’ve only found a few that have it in the schedule. My guess is that most stations slipped it into the lineup today , just like my local station did. And I’ve, so far, Only found it running today.
Omigawd – I really, really loathe Fox.
If anyone can stomach watching it , let me know if you get the same take as I had @30
sorry – @30 – the Fox program is called “Cure For Health Care? “
Before posting the factoid below, I just want to thank you, AKM, for a thought-provoking and beautifully written post. As usual, you are an inspiration to us all.
**********************************************************************************
The Republican “Dumbass of the Week” award goes to Rep. Addison Graves (Joe) Wilson of “You lied” fame.
Seems our boy voted FOR reimbursing hospitals for treating illegal aliens. Fancy that!
http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/1219-Joe-Wilson-Voted-to-Provide-Taxpayer-Money-for-Illegal-Immigrants-Healthcare
Has anyone else seen this Fox “special report” called “Cure for Health” ??
I’m absolutely speechless. This “special” was not even on the tv schedule. It just sort of showed up at 3:30. It looked like a “60 Minutes” sort of thing so I left it on. I came in after the beginning so didn’t really know what it was. They were talking about health care.
Suddenly, something was sounding and looking really fishy. It began feeling like one of those infomercials that are made up to look like a serious news piece.
This thing is SooOOOooo entirely a propaganda pice that was made to for stations to sneak into their lineup on the day of the tea baggin’ nonsense. There are no words at the moment to describe how I’m seething. They’re very cunningly making it sound like they’re covering both sides and at times it almost sounds like they’re favorable to the reform. It is pure evil genius. I can see the Beck fans thinking that they’re watching honest to goodness , well researched documentary.
I can find next to NOTHING on a google search other than a few local Fox stations mentioning it. ‘
I’m livid. Please check to see if it’s running in your area on your Fox station. I’m going to call my station to ask why it wasn’t listed in the lineup and why they ran it today.
OMG Irishgirl….Couldn’t read the whole thing…Unfriggen believeable
“And so we lament a missed golden opportunity. And we miss all the Tina Fey sketches we’re not going to see. And we deny that our desire to see Palin empaneled on Idol has anything to do with our desire to keep her too busy to pursue the White House in 2012.”
http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b143518_ellen_shmellensarah_palin_was_robbed.html
Thank You AKM…Like so many others, we will not forget ..God Bless ya..
Ah AKM – Knocked it out of the park again! Such photos and thought-provoking words. I remember when we’d travel from SC to Maine – the towers were always there as a guidepost that let us know we were on the right highway to make our connections. Thank you.
POTUS just finished his speech in Minneapolis – what a speaker! Loved his *fired up* and *are we ready* story and chants.
People were lined up at 8PM last night and spent the night waiting to get in. Still haven’t heard a number of attendees, but it was a full house.
Samper – total agreement with you – living with fear and tension isn’t good for anyone and we’ve got to get back to a sense of calm and peace. Great words. Sorry you couldn’t bring back some Greek wine – have to find yourself some at the local package store!
Mark Bavis and Ace Bailey… onboard Flight 195.
These lyrics are from the Dropkick Murphy’s tune, Your Spirit’s Alive, written in dedication to these two Boston-area hockey pro’s.
“ We are the ones who will never be broken
We are the ones who survive
This is the sound that brings us together
You are the one by our side
[Chorus:]
And through it all, and through it all, the spirit’s alive
And through it all, your spirit’s alive
You are the memory that lives on forever
The shadow that stands by our side
This is the sound that keeps us together
We are the ones who survive
[Chorus]
Farewell my brother
You’re off to the big rink in the sky
The good lord’s between the pipes
And you’ve got Bavis and Ace on the wing
We are the ones who will never be broken
We are the ones who survive
[Chorus]
This is the sound that brings us together
You are the one by our side “
The President is speaking in Minneapolis right now..CNN and MSNBC.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574400581157986024.html
And this is the link to the actual WSJ article, “written” by ex-gino Scarah Pallin-around-with-secessionists. No word salad, more death panel nonsense, “conservative” talking points from start to finish. It’s an “answer” to Obama’s Op-ed in The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/opinion/16obama.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1
I’m one of the millions of citizens with no health insurance. I’m extremely healthy, particularly considering my family medical history. I’m also in debt (and sometimes in pain) from an accident I had nearly ten months ago. Had I required surgery (fortunately, I didn’t), I might well have joined the legion of medical bankrupts. I know I can count on my fellow mudpuppies to stay vigilant, aware, and alert to the dangers of the quitter twitter.
Flight 93… never forget.
Was just reading some of the stuff on the other site. There is a lot of praise and hope for SP. They are touting all the effects she has made since her resignation. The brilliant op-eds, etc. All of this done since she disappeared.
I am constantly reminded of the picture of Chairman Mao in a river. This photograph was published to assure the Chinese people that their leader was still alive and in charge. Everyone in the free world knew his position had been taken over by a group with immense power.
With the major changes happening because of face book and op-eds, the same subterfuge is probably taking place now with SP waiting to pose for the picture in the river. That might be the speech in Hong Kong. Ironic?
How can a charismatic “leader” be more powerful in seclusion? Is this like years of love letters that remember the great moments of the past and have nothing to do with the present and future?
http://www.newser.com/off-the-grid/post/267/sarah-palin-is-back-and-out-for-blood.html
This is the link for Michael Wolff’s warning about Scarah’s (ghostwritten) WSJ piece about health care reform.
health and peace.
Lovely tribute, AKM, thank you.
Lani, agreed.
Thanks AKM –
This is the open thread, so for those of you speaking of yesterday, it’s OT.
https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=2899&autologin=true is the link to thank the EPA for reviewing Bush-era decisions allowing mountaintop coal mining in Appalachia, and urge them not to permit this devastation. Health and peace.
AKM, Your words, as ever, are thought provoking.
Your pictures, as always, are beautiful.
What touched off the tears though, was the fragile beauty of the origami cranes and shared understandings of the memories of those who folded them. The bright hues contrast so vividly with the images of grey dust covered figures of the survivors and rescuers on that day.
My mind tuns to similar colors from days of my early childhood… flames, soot, the inability of drawing a breath that is not labored… not of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, but of a smallish port city in Northern Germany which was 95% destroyed in one 20 minute “milk run” on a night in September 1944. The furies unleashed in 1939 returned manyfold… worldwide… and for what? Aggrandizement of Those In Power for whom the powerless are mere tools.
PTSD is real, caused by those who are mad for power.
Great post and pictures. I visited Ground Zero and St. Paul’s in July. The tours are led by volunteers who are family members of victims. Not to be missed if you are in NY.
What a moving post. Thank you.
omg omg omg just found out that the POTUS will be in my hometown in October!!!!! Peel me off the floor!!
What a moving tribute, thank you AKM.
Thank you. I have not been to New York City to see it, but now I can through your remarkable camera lens.
A day of service on 9/11 honors these fallen heroes more than wrapping oneself in the flag and ranting about terrorist threats.
Eight years.
And I still cry with images such as these. And I still wonder how the Bush Administration could let this happen to us.
Lani couldn’t say it better. I am angry, also. Angry at the incredible loss of life, resources, and stability in my country. Loss of our security, loss of our confidence. Loss of our respect throughout the world for the way we reacted in war against the WRONG people. Angry that we still haven’t found that slug, Bin Laden.
A couple of subtle, but nagging recent examples of the result of 9/11 come to mind.
1. At the PHL airport, they constantly have a “Threat Level is Orange. Report Suspicious Parcels and Luggage” announcement running. By “constant”, I mean like every 10 minutes. They might have had the same at DTW, but I wasn’t as acutely aware of it.
It’s unnerving in that we are constantly reminded that even in PHL, we have to worry about our safety and the actions from 8 years ago. Never mind the new 3-3-1 liquids rule for carryons and other security check point changes.
2. In the Athens airport, I wanted to buy some wine at Duty Free to bring home. The guy in the store told me that the U.S.A. didn’t allow such things due to security measures. I thought it odd, because last year in Rome, I had no problem.
When I got to the Customs Guy in the USA, he asked if I was bringing back anything to declare… food, beverages, goods. I said, “Just a shot glass and a t-shirt, less than $150 in Euros, and empty wine bottles in my checked luggage. The guy in Greece said I couldn’t bring back a bottle of wine from Duty Free (past security) because of US Security Regulations, but I would have!.” Customs Guy told me I could have brought back X litres of wine (forget how many) or liquor, plus edible foods bought past security in Athens.
OK, I was a little miffed, because sharing a bottle of Greek wine with BF upon arrival home after the stress was really a BIG want. But after I processed the whole thing, I just wanted to scream about how things STILL affect us 8 years later.
A bottle of wine isn’t the issue. It’s the RESTRICTION PERCEIVED in other countries about our freedoms to bring it back. Some think we are restricted to just the clothes on our backs and almost have an attitude that we’re crazy for all the regulations this long after 9/11.
We aren’t crazy. But we must do better. Better at establishing calm and confidence. Better with communications to other countries on what our rules really are. Better with finding ways to gradually eliminate the restrictions so we can be a little more free in our movements.
And we need to end the stupid war, find Bin Laden, and move on. Until he is found, we will never have the ultimate sense of security we had on 9/10.
I’ve been avoiding any discussion of 9/11 because I am angry that this horrible attack was used to shred our Constitution, launch a preplanned war that has killed hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, and throw away the US economy while almost taking the rest of the world with it.
And for all the flag waving and fine words about the first responders, in reality they were trashed and tossed aside to suffer and die from the toxic air they breathed.
“Hailed as national heroes at the time and since generally forgotten, many remember the $1 billion fund the government set aside for their needs. What most don’t know is that the only money spent out of this fund was for lawyers to challenge the approximately 8000 claims made. Not a single dollar went to these heroes or their survivors left with unpaid medical bills before the Bush administration ‘re-allocated’ the money.” http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/9/12/780890/-Warning:-This-One-is-Serious-
Also drove next to the fire truck from the ladder company nearest the WTC the other day. Guess they were getting it ready for the ceremony and I had never seen it before. It’s painted with incredible murals of the WTC and all the names of the firefighters who perished that day from that company alone. Their names covered the truck. I was awestruck.
If only people could envision their own faces caught up in that devastating day. Maybe, just maybe, we would all be the better for it. PEACE
I see the big, blue barricaded hole each time I drive into Manhattan, as I use the West Side Hwy. I still slow down out of respect–easier now since they are doing road construction around the site. It’s especially eerie at night, even though it’s well lit. At first there was a chain link fence all around it with astroturf hiding the crater after the cleanup was finished. I’ve always thought that while it’s a step forward to rebuild, the space would have been better and more respectfully used as a memorial park with NO new towers at all. A park would have been completed by now, I’m sure. Very sad, but it’s 16 acres in NYC, and all that “wasted” space is worth big $$$ to developers.
I spent yesterday in my 9-11 haze, trying not to let any of those memories die. Still most vivid are the acrid smell of burning plastic wafting over Brooklyn that we awoke to the next day, picking my husband and friends up at the Home Depot parking lot under the highway after the subways began to run again at 3pm on 9-11 with debris blowing around us, and hearing the second tower fall while standing outside with my neighbors. It was a gorgeous day, weather-wise, and in stark contrast, you could see the smoke billowing over the bright blue sky from our front stoop. To this day, I can’t see a cloud of smoke or the clouds of a thunderhead without my gut tightening for a second.
My granddad worked security at the Towers while they were being built in 1970, and I remember Windows on the World very well.
Well. Hell. I’d never seen the FDNY poster before. That’s like 350 people. Many who knew each other. Gone, into the fire. Because it was their calling.
Damn.
I visited NY in August too…about a week or so before AKM. I took a bus tour with my children and I made sure that we stopped at Ground Zero. There was nothing to see, just the blue barricade that AKM mentioned. We sat across from this for half an hour, I didn’t cry, but I needed to stay there and not rush away.
I saw St. Paul’s church but I didn’t realize you could go in. I wish I had now.
What a wonderful and well written post…I actually teared up! Thanks for sharing your experience.
I have been to the little church a dozen times or so between 2004 and 2006. My husband was working in NYC and his PATH train delivered him into WTC. Thank you for the pics and post. It is a good place to remember 9/11. We are now in Chicago and I can’t go to St. Paul’s as I like. Thank you again. I needed that.
Wow, just when I thought I’d made it through Friday without re traumatizing myself….