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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums9/11: Too gruesome to ever forget
Retired New York City Police Officer recalls day of attackSOUTH GLENS FALLS Every Sept. 11, retired New York City Police Officer Hazamoon Lisa Cahill relives the images, smells and sensations of a day too gruesome to look at and too haunting to forget.
And as she recounts the details of the attack from her South Glens Falls home on Friday, she must repeatedly pause the telling to garner the strength to continue. But she does because she said the stories of the people of 9/11 deserve to be told. Must be told.
Their voices should be heard, Cahill, 45, said.
<snip>
Officer Cahill was stationed at One Police Plaza with the Headquarters Security Unit, working for the police commissioner along with her NYPD partner, Anaya Price.
Federally trained in bomb and contraband detection, she was certified by the U.S. Marshalls Services to operate a magnetometer which uses an electromagnetic field to detect metal objects, such as concealed handguns and for more than seven years she and Price protected the commissioner and other city officials.
Cahill recalls a New York Daily News story on Sept. 10, 2001. It was about a bombing in Israel. I said to someone, Thank God we dont have to deal with this on U.S. soil, she said.
On 9/11, she went to work like always: Roll Call, 0710 hours.
Much more (Including photos): http://poststar.com/news/local/too-gruesome-to-ever-forget/article_19dc93fc-91df-5b73-bcbf-6503082aafa1.html
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,878 posts)that anniversary was not observed.
Is there any chance that the continued drumbeat of remembering 9/11 is misplaced?
Rhiannon12866
(205,839 posts)I think it's important to remember - and continue to teach - our history. And I think the best reason for this is sitting in the White House right now. He has no knowledge of or sense of history - to our continual peril.
I read this in the local paper today and I thought she gave a very affecting account of what it was like for her right on the front lines. It's important to her that people not forget, so I decided to pass this on.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,878 posts)In the past we did not obsess on the anniversaries of certain events. December 7, 1941 is the best example. We did NOT commemorate that in the years after. We moved on.
We need to move on from September 11, 2001. If nothing else, we've killed far more people in Afghanistan than died in the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, or the four airplanes that were crashed that day. When should it end?
The defenders of the Confederacy think we should not forget about their sacrifice and loss. Do you agree with that? How about those who died at the Battle of Agincourt? Where should it end? Should we never move on?
Rhiannon12866
(205,839 posts)I agree that the war in Afghanistan is a losing proposition. The Russians - and President Carter - realized that long ago.
But the elements that attacked this country in 2001 are still active and working against us. I believe that we forget our history - especially recent history - at our peril. The Japanese and the Germans are now among our closest allies. Times do change, but the threats that we faced on 9/11 have not and it's something we can never forget and had better address - or it could happen again.
alicenuffer
(20 posts)Please do move on....there will be something to take it's place...just as that took the place of the Oklahoma City bombing by a home grown terrorist...and I truly get tired of people telling me to change my birthday from 9/11 to something else...
RobinA
(9,894 posts)I think it can be remembered on a small scale as a terrible thing that happened. I generally do not favor what I have come to call "grief porn," which is everywhere these days, and I think 9/11 has spun off more than its share of conspicuous remembering and grieving.
And I by no means mean that this should apply to the people who actually experienced this horror. Those people must deal with it in their own time and in their own way. Treatment for trauma can be quite successful these days, so if you are suffering, please consider the help of an experienced trauma professional.
Mariana
(14,860 posts)to adequately defend the territory and people of the United States from military or terrorist attacks. Now, we do.
The town adjacent to mine set up a memorial to the victims of 9/11, just last year. It's placed much more prominently than the town's other memorials, which name local men who were killed in the various wars. No one from that town, or any of their relatives, was killed or injured in the 9/11 attacks. It's really weird.
burnbaby
(685 posts)have to speak up when you disagree with a post. You have no point
melman
(7,681 posts)What in the fuck do "defenders of the Confederacy" have to do with 9/11?
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Date December 7
Next time 7 December 2017
Frequency annual
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, also referred to as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day or Pearl Harbor Day, is observed annually in the United States on December 7, to remember and honor the 2,403 citizens of the United States who were killed in the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
On August 23, 1994, the United States Congress, by Pub.L. 103308, designated December 7 of each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.[1] On Pearl Harbor Day, the American flag should be flown at half-staff until sunset to honor those who died as a result of the attack on U.S. Military and naval forces in Hawaii.
Pearl Harbor Day is not a federal holiday government offices, schools, and businesses do not close. Some organizations may hold special events in memory of those killed or injured at Pearl Harbor.
Polly Hennessey
(6,801 posts)The drumbeat is becoming increasingly difficult to listen to.
BigmanPigman
(51,623 posts)and wanted to support the brave New Yorkers who were still in shock many months later. The cab driver who took me to the airport shared his story from that day when his cab was parked at the towers when the first plane hit. What he saw and experienced were beyond awful.
"the horror, the horror"
Rhiannon12866
(205,839 posts)It's a way of dealing with it - and it's important to them that people know what it was like. I'm in New York, but pretty far upstate - just north of where this policewoman lives now. But I knew people who knew people who were there, I think it affected the entire country to a profound degree.
I was actually in the dentist's chair - just getting X-rays or something. But the dentist had the TV on CNN and I remember seeing footage of that second plane hitting over and over and over. It scared me witless, I was sure the world was about to end. I'd always voted, but that was a wake up call for me. I realized I didn't know enough about what was going on in this country and the world. So I started reading and taking a serious interest - and eventually found my way to DU. And, so far, I've worked on three congressional campaigns. Once you're aware of what's going on, there's no going back.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,878 posts)An hour after the crash in Pennsylvania and the crash into the Pentagon it was obvious that the attack was over.
Notice that in all the years since there has been no attack of any kind on this country.
As I said that day, "They've shot their wad. It's over."
Let's stop fighting the last war. Let's move on.
Rhiannon12866
(205,839 posts)It. President Obama didn't assume office until 2009, but he knew that it was important to follow up - or he wouldn't have gone after bin Laden. This is still an ongoing threat and we need to keep up - which is one reason Trump scares me. He doesn't keep up - barely knows what's going on - and we need to remain aware and proactive.
Kentonio
(4,377 posts)It gives the intelligence services a perfect cover for doing basically anything they like, under the umbrella of the new powers they were given after that date. Any time anyone questions their power or over-reach, they can say 'We're the only thing keeping another 9/11 away'. It worries me a lot.
Rhiannon12866
(205,839 posts)That's the reason we need a smart and proactive president - like Obama or Clinton or Carter - who understands what's going on in the world and is closely involved in what the intelligence services are learning and doing.
burnbaby
(685 posts)sarisataka
(18,739 posts)Who else should move on? PH survivors, OKC survivors, Sandy Hook survivors?
In all those cases They've shot their wad. It's over.
Rhiannon12866
(205,839 posts)What happened that day is still claiming lives. And they were brave first responders just like the young woman in this article. This article is about her story - and theirs. I looked at her photo and decided I needed to pass on her story - people are still being affected. This article was the first one I ran across. It's from June:
9/11 still killing as retired cop and firefighter die of cancers
Two more first responders have died of 9/11-related cancers, officials said Friday.
Retired FDNY Firefighter and Brooklyn native William Gormley, 53, died following a short battle with lung cancer Wednesday, his family said.
A day earlier, retired NYPD Detective William Kinane, 60, of Breezy Point, Queens, died of a 9/11-related illness.
The two deaths threatened to overwhelm the Marine Park Funeral Home which serves both Marine Park and the Rockaways so Gormleys family was asked to move the service to another location, family members said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/9-11-killing-retired-firefighter-die-cancers-article-1.3254475
Kentonio
(4,377 posts)Never forget, we are always under attack, no matter how much time goes by, Cahill said. When 9/11 comes, I want people to remember.
This kind of bunker mentality will only lead to paranoia and a slide into militarism. We are NOT always under attack, and the idea of spending forever believing that we're only a moment away for extermination wil not result in a healthy country or healthy new generations.
Rhiannon12866
(205,839 posts)I didn't post this to debate 9/11, I just found her story very affecting. Part of it I think was her photo. She looks so young and dedicated. I would have included it in the OP, but I can't use Photobucket like I used to for posting pix on DU and the photo used in the article is too large.
Kentonio
(4,377 posts)She lost so much trying to save people and help her fellow Americans. I have huge sympathy for her, and hope deeply she can find a way to come through the trauma.
I just think we need to not allow that kind of comment to go unchallenged. That's no kind of attack on her, but the premise of it is something that gets repeated a lot and can very easily become accepted truth (as it already has by many millions of Americans). It's just too dangerous though to allow to go unquestioned.
clu
(494 posts)MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)If I know that time is coming up I will try to avoid looking at the clock until it becomes 9:12. Sometimes, of course, I do see it and am filled with a sense of dread, irrationally thinking it is a bad omen. I know it's illogical, but even after all these years can't shake the feeling. I doubt I ever will.
Blues Heron
(5,939 posts)MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)I'm also a phobia prone person, and know that confronting my fears is the best way to handle them. I deal with this particular phobia by giving myself a rational talk down. Usually works. The anniversary is hard though.
Blues Heron
(5,939 posts)or mentally switch the 9 to a 7 and think mmmm slurpeeee - a good thing. anything to divert from the dreaded "nine uhleven two thousand an one"
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)The mind is a strange and quite vulnerable thing. I'm not saying this particular phobia incapacitates me. It is just there.
Blues Heron
(5,939 posts)jalan48
(13,880 posts)I've seen very little debate in the major media as to why it might have happened, (perhaps blow back due to the US activities in the Middle East?). It's much easier to just blame than look further into reasons why something might have happened. Blame seems to have become endemic in our nation.
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)That's all I can say.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)jalan48
(13,880 posts)Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)jalan48
(13,880 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)soldiers as killed on 9/11 trying for retribution by invading Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis. And only God knows how what we did will impact our future.
I'm tired of using 9/11 as justification for bombing innocent people and spending way to much money on military matters when we have other needs right here.
Danmel
(4,920 posts)It was a harrowing time. I was so scared for all of the people I know who worked in the area. My son's soccer coach worked in tower 1, but didn't go in that day because he was setting up for their first practice of the year.
My parents friends, who were Holocaust survivors, lost their son, who had developmental disabilities and worked in the mail room at Cantor Fitzgerald. A friend of ours escaped from 7 World Trade Center before it collapsed.
I will never forget all of the missing posters plastered around the city. The image in my mind's eye brings me to tears.
I will never forget the constant stream of funerals, day after day for seemingly forever.
I read all of the portraits of grief, the biographies of the victims, the Times published for what also felt like forever. I was particularly struck by the memorial for a woman who switched days with a co-worker, so that she could take Halloween off to take her young children trick or treating.
In mid October of that year, I went to a Yankee playoff game at the stadium. On the subway ride from Brooklyn, we passed the pit, which was still smoldering, six weeks later. I burst into tears and a random stranger hugged me and gave me a tissue.
It's like every year it's a scab that gets picked at and starts to bleed again.
MFM008
(19,818 posts)May be 'easier' to deal with now 76 years later and
As the women and men who fought it pass away.
9/11 is still to fresh, many of us can remember much about that day.
I'll never forget because my dad died on 9-11 2000.
I think more time needs to pass.
melman
(7,681 posts)People tying to minimize it with this shit about 'move on' are infuriating.
Ron Green
(9,823 posts)It's sad that these mawkishly sentimental celebrations continue.
Rhiannon12866
(205,839 posts)It's the story of a brave young woman who suddenly became a first responder. People are still being affected. First responders continue to die every day - as a result of what they endured that day - and for weeks afterwards. This woman survived and I thought her story was worth passing on.