Home > Writings > A day which will live in infamy
We have all seen the events of September 11, 2001; the day after, September 12, I was still in shock. Fortunately, no one in my immediate family was hurt, but I began to wonder: what about all the people who read my stories, and wrote me, sending words of encouragement and praise over all these months? Were you all right?
I sent a letter...
...and a lot of you responded. Read, and learn how the events of September 11 touched so many of us. (All letters used with permission, and some e-mail address removed by request.)
Subject: A day which will live in infamy
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 16:00:24 -0700
From: "DragonessNewDBZStuff" <dbz_notify@republicofnewhome.org>
To: cyhiggin@pipeline.com
I'm still stunned by the events of Tuesday, September 11. Please...
Is everyone okay?
--dragoness
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(ANDRECA1ST@aol.com, Wed Sep 12 19:41:43 2001)
yeah...I'm still in shock a bit, but all my friends and family are okay/made it out okay.
~Carrie
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(June Vegeta <jedi_greensaber@hotmail.com>,
Thu Sep 13 18:26:26 2001)
hi... this is June from texas.. just wanted to say that we are all ok over
here.... yet we still feel the impact and pain for the loss of loved ones...
we took a moment of sclience and watched the TV at my high school in
Bryan,Texas..... we hope the best for those who have lost loved ones and we
never give up on those who are still lost in the rubble...
Texas is ready to stand behind Pres. Bush and our country, for what ever
retalliation nessicary to get compensation for this tragic act that killed
so many innocent..... God be with you
june
vegeta
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Juuchi . <cripplie@hotmail.com>, Wed Sep 12 22:38:21 2001)
I live over here in NZ, so i am ok, but a couple of people very close to me were killed.
The thing that is the hardest to understand is the firemen that lost their
lives. While those that escaped were running down the stairs, all the firemen
that went past them were encouraging and reassuring them. As soon as those
people got outside, the south tower collapsed and all those firemen died.
Its like a movie. 'cept the movies seem more real...
Is everyone else ok?
Juuchi
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Lil Shinigami <ssj3_rachel@hotmail.com>, Wed Sep 12 20:29:29 2001)
I'm just peachy. Quite a bit choked and freaked, but ready to kick some
terrorist's ass! No ones abusing My big buddy America like that *Pats
America on the ...er... shoulder*
You okay?
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Mike Hammacott <mhammacott@hotmail.com>, Thu Sep 13 12:17:39 2001)
I'm not really sure who you are, but i'm ok, I live in the UK, and don't
worry, we will be sending people the help out with the damage, and to help
get the people who did it.
Re: A day which will live in infamy (********, Wed Sep 12 18:55:46 2001) Yes, my aunt and uncle were evacuated from the Pentagon safely
Re: A day which will live in infamy (********, Thu Sep 13 20:39:14 2001) Dragoness, Hey, you emailed me asking if everyone is okay...well, all I know is that I am alright. These events are horrific and I hope there will be more people all right.
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(RS21378@aol.com, Thu Sep 13 12:17:57 2001)
I am, and thank you for your concern.
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Starsteel9@aol.com, Wed Sep 12 18:36:10 2001)
I'm okay....I still can't believe what happened....I was in school, and even
where I live, it's right across the river from the WTC. There was dust and
ash everywhere, it's all just so horrible.
-Riki
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Stormy 1x2 <dingostorm@hotmail.com>, Wed Sep 12 22:37:33 2001)
Stormy, reporting for duty! *waves*
I'm here, I'm fine - I'm in Ontario, well away from the danger!
Stormy
Re: Request permission to use your responses
(Stormy 1x2, Fri Sep 14 21:50:25 2001)
By all means go ahead! If you feel it will help in any way, even in some
small way, please use whatever of my writings/post etc that you feel
appropriate. Thank you for asking.
I'm glad to hear you're far from the danger zone so to speak - we had a lot
of polls and role calls going out Tuesday night and I am so glad people
checked in so quickly. And of course, I'm glad to hear you're going to keep
writing - its a shame people are thinking of stopping so soon. That kind of
giving in, minute in scale, is still giving a measure of victory to those
who perpetuated these acts. We have to mourn what happened, those we lost -
but we can't forget that by moving along as well as remembering, proves how
strong people really are.
*hugs* Thanks for the check in!
Stormy
My site! http://stormyfics.homestead.com - for fics and fan art!
Join my ML! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stormysupdates
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Re: A day which will live in infamy (*******, Wed Sep 12 21:20:24 2001) OK physically; still in shock. Worrying about my military husband, nephew & friends. Keep calm and keep safe..... Ysabet
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Angela Chang <bishonen_no_miko@hotmail.com>,
Wed Sep 12 23:25:17 2001)
Yeah... I'm still shocked at what happened, too. I jsut hope that this
doesn't turn into a WW III or something.
Re: A day which will live in infamy (********, Thu Sep 13 18:03:58 2001) To Cynthia - Thanks for asking. We are just sick about this. Our publisher was speaking on the phone to my husband at the time of the first crash - he'd decided to get some work done at home before going into the office that morning. His office (our publisher's) is right across the street from the WTC, or I should say was, because it's gone now. We would have lost him, and he's been a good friend to us for years. His nephew goes to school a few blocks away and the entire school was evacuated before the second plane hit. As of this writing, the school is still covered with debris, all the kids got away okay. This is so horrible, it's hard to believe someone could hate so much, and be so blinded by it. I am trying to function, but I can't write, I can't think. (remainder omitted by request)
Re:A day which will live in infamy
(Hana Noir <hana_noir@fangirl.org>,
Wed Sep 12 21:48:57 2001)
It was a horrifying, terrible tragedy, and it's still not quite real
to me yet. I guess this is because I live so far from NYC. The part
that made it hit home for me, is that my husband is in the Nat. Guard
and I had to go and pick him up from work because all active Guard
have to be near home in case they are called up. That, and today, we
drove past Ft. Polk and all the roads into the base are being guarded
by teams of armed MPs. That made it all much more real...
My thoughts and prayers go with everyone,
Hana
Re: Request permission to use your responses
(*******, Sun Sep 16 16:41:28 2001)
John generally gets up before I do on a workday. On Tuesday morning,
I decided to doze for a while instead of getting up to exercise to the
radio as I usually do. The shower stopped and the TV started; I
expected that John would be catching the morning headlines on CNN, as
usual, but it seemed like some kind of movie was playing, a big
disaster flick like _Pandora's Clock_ or _The Towering Inferno._ The
actor/announcer, doing a very good impression of a CNN anchor,
reported something about a passenger airliner hitting the World Trade
Center. _This is a movie, right?_ I thought foggily. _If a charter
jet or something went off course, oh, that's too bad. They'll have to
evacuate like they did the Empire State Building back in
whenever-it-was._ But the headlines continued to unfold. I padded out
to ask John what he was watching and was transfixed by the sight of a
huge ball of dirty flame belching grotesquely from the businesslike
facade of the great skyscraper. The horrific events we all know
marched onward: Sirens. Screams. More gouts of smoke and flame. The
towers seemed to withdraw into the earth, like two dragons gone into
their hellish caves, taking human beings with them . . .
I work for a financial planner on Kodiak Island, in Alaska. He
converted part of his home to an office. He was on the mainland when
the planes stopped flying and all circuits were busy. Luckily, we
have e-mail at work. At his direction I spent the rest of the week,
late into the evenings, trying to reach his nationwide clientele by
phone and e-mail, to reassure them that the terrorists were _not_
going to succeed in their obvious goal, among others, of toppling the
economy of the most powerful nation of the Free World, that the
economy would implode only if individual investors panicked, that we
were on the job. My boss's family left CNN running all day, and I had
our local public radio station playing. There was not a break in
coverage by either for days. In the meantime e-mails began arriving
from our head office, naming personal friends among the missing,
passing along prayers and calls for action both personal and
corporate, as well as attempts to grasp the chaos and put it into some
kind of order we and our clients could perceive. There were several
PowerPoint slide shows of news photos taken in New York and
Washington--photo albums of horror--a way to put a face on the
monstrous incidents, to name the unnameable.
I hit my limit on Friday afternoon. As my job demands, in my boss's
absence I was checking his e-mail and saving items for my boss to look
at later. The last slideshow to arrive was set up to run
automatically when opened. I downloaded it, opened it to make sure it
worked, and there, one after another, were photos, mercilessly clear,
of people who had decided that hitting concrete from a hundred and ten
floors up would be an easier death than burning away bit by bit or
choking on poisonous smoke. There they went, one spread out like a
parachuter, another--unbelievably--in a perfect backward somersault of
a dive with arms clasped behind his head and legs properly straight as
if to enter water toes-first when his revolution was complete, another
tilted and flailing. I could see colors and styles of clothing,
almost colors and styles of hair. A wife who remembered what her
husband had worn to work might recognize that man in the pink Oxford
shirt . . .
I went home early. John picked me up and we got takeout, pouring
bills and coins into a Red Cross jar along the way. We clung to each
other through the weekend, praying, crying, talking, shouting. We
gathered for our regular games night with our friends and managed, for
a few hours, to help one another forget. At church this morning we
prayed the Great Litany, asking God to inspire the President to act
with justice and mercy; this afternoon I have chosen to let
Beethoven's grandeur and Chopin's sorrow fill the house and leave CNN
and NPR silent. Tomorrow I go back to work and face Tuesday's
consequences yet again.
I did not, thank God, lose anyone on Tuesday. But I will not forget
those who died in the sight of thousands who were helpless to break
their fall, those who were forced to choose between death and death.
I pray for anyone whose last sight of a loved one will be one of those
pictures. I pray for the dead, and for those who may still live,
trapped. I pray for the rescuers, laboring on in defiance of
devastation and despair. And as my faith requires, I pray for the
murderers--and for the flimflam artists and demagogues who rushed to
make hay from the bloodshed, in some cases within hours. With God's
help I may even learn to pray the last with a sincere heart.
Jenny Islander
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Maurice Brown <saiyian_1999@yahoo.com>,
Fri Sep 14 05:28:35 2001)
I'm ok
but I'm checking for a friend of mine who came from Japan and was
visisting the area with her mom I know she wasn't on the planes but I
can't contact her so I'm worried
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Smcow911@aol.com, Thu Sep 13 06:00:28 2001)
Well my uncles friend hasent beenfound yet all we can do is hope....so
im a little more then shaken.
Yasia
Re: A day which will live in infamy (*****, Sun Sep 16 23:39:05 2001)
I am fine. I pray for all those who died on that day. It makes me
really angry to know that people, human beings, could do this. It was
a cowardly and stupid act. And personally I hope those terroists burn
in hell for what they did. Killing all those innocent people was
wrong.
I am in total shock that anyone could be that
cowardly. They're(terrorists) are a disgrace to the human race!
I give my condolences to anyone who as lost a friend or family member
in the attack. Be strong the people who did this will get they're
dues.
**--SAIYA**
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Vegeta000007@aol.com, Wed Sep 12 22:00:42 2001)
we all will not forget 9/11/01
vegeta000007@aol.com
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(WldWldWolf@aol.com, Thu Sep 13 20:52:29 2001)
i just wanted to let you know that i am doing quite well and i
appreciate your concern.
Peace!
Mirai Catarina
Re: A day which will live in infamy (*****, Thu Sep 13 00:15:31 2001) Thanks for your concern. I'm okay down here in Louisiana, but, like you, just stunned by the terrible events of September 11. I pray for all the victims and for their families, for all involved in rescue/recovery efforts, and for all involved in tracking down those responsible for these vicious and cowardly attacks. And I pray our nation can heal from this, and that we'll find a way to end terrorism - wherever it rears its ugly head - once and for all. Cheryl Olivier
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Oxyjulis@cs.com, Mon Sep 17 21:11:40 2001)
Dear Dragoness,
Thanks for your so much query and that your concern about your
readers. I haven't checked my email for awhile so please forgive my
late response. I live in California and did not know anyone in New
York personally. However, this is not to say I was not affected; I
think we all were. The following was something I posted on one of the
ChickClick message boards - which was quite scary to read - people
were posting as things were happening.
**********************
I'm currently on maternity leave with a 3-week old daughter. She
nurses every 2-3 hours or so, so things have been feeling a bit
surreal to begin with from lack of sleep. My mother-in-law woke me up
Tuesday morning and told me to turn on the TV. "The WTC buildings have
collapsed. They were both hit by planes and so was the Pentagon." I
watched in horror until my two little boys woke up and I changed the
channel to cartoons - a 2 and 3 year old do not need to see people
jumping out buildings even if they don't understand what is
happening. The oldest saw pictures of the explosions later in the
evening and said "Fire's bad - firemen save the city" (Oh, honey, if
only they could have). I had to explain to him that some bad people
had done a very bad thing and hurt a lot of people. Then he asked if
monsters had done it (he likes the Powerpuff girls); and I told him
unfortuneately the monsters were human.
What I have been feeling the last few days must be how my parents felt
during the Cuban Missle Crisis, with the added feeling of terrible
grief for all the lost lives. One of the things that affected me most
was a woman's voice I heard on the radio that afternoon, as I was
pacing back and forth in the living room trying to soothe my daughter
to sleep. She was in tears, trying to get out Manhattan and back to
her 2-month old daughter she had left in daycare that morning. "Will
she even have a tommorow? What kind a future is she going to have
now?" I just burst out sobbing; I felt exactly the same way. I
couldn't get to sleep until 3am the next morning; I heard jets flying
over and assumed they must be military.
I agree those responsible should be brought to justice; however, I
fear any retaliation the US performs will only bring more retaliation
from other terrorists. It will just start an endless cycle. They are
spread out across the globe, and we can't hope to get all of them at
once. One madman will eventually be replaced by another. I am more
saddened than angry that people can be so filled with blind hatred
(here as well as overseas - the poeple shooting up mosques and
businesses are just as bad). I know, however, it is mostly extremists
that feel this way. I was touched to see the emotion expressed by
Yassir Arafat and suprised to hear on the news the same sentiments
expressed by Khadafi in Libya.
And to the people who were castigating the girl who said "life goes
on" in the previous thread (one of whom I noticed had the same three
words in her signature-from a quote by Robert Frost) - yes it does,
though we still feel pain and grief. Though I've been crying on and
off since Tuesday, the sun is still rising and setting, I still had to
get through a job interview yesterday, there were meals to be prepared
and the baby still needs to be fed (and speak of the devil, she's
waking up again). In the end, a semblance of normalcy and routine will
be what keeps us all sane in this crazy world.
*******************************
I'd also like to say "Thanks so much" for for your stories; at a time
like this some pure escapism is truly needed. I only wish Goku,
Vegeta, and crew really existed so they could prevent incidents like
this. Where are the superheroes when you need 'em? Hell, I'd even
settle for the Powerpuff Girls.
Leeanne (aka Senoritafish)
P.S. Also many thanks for bringing Radditz back to life. I liked his
hair, too, and how could any member of Goku's family be completely
evil?
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(ChaoticSerenity3@aol.com, Thu Sep 13 13:32:17 2001)
I'm okay, Dragoness. At least, I think everyone in my family is okay.
Thanks for asking. I hope everyone else is too, and my condolensces
to anyone on this list who has lost someone, including you.
-Chao-chan
Infamy (Karanakid@aol.com, Sun Sep 30 22:54:59 2001) Dragoness, I know this is a bit late, but I'd like to put my comments up. My father has a friend who was at the pentagon, but he's okay. When I found this out, I was in shock almost all day. I have a friend who's Native American. I am also Native. NO RACIAL COMMENTS PEOPLE!!!!! But, I was in school when this happened so I was barely able to concentrate on my work. I only found out in second period, so for the rest of the day I was surprised. Good night and God bless. Verona-chan
OK down here...how about yourself? (Matthew Peeler, Thu Sep 13 19:47:17 2001) 9/13/01 mpeeler@salisbury.net Hello! Just logged on and checked the e-mail. We're ok down here. How about yourself? Being in North Carolina, we were pretty far away, physically, that is. It's tragic. Our office got together and went to one of the local blood drives yesterday. By the way, there's a very beautiful and poignant picture on our netserver's homepage. Go to: www.salisbury.net/ Take care and stay safe! Sincerely,R. Peeler
Re: A day which will live in infamy
(Rosana Reyes, Thu Sep 13 16:13:23 2001)
I live on the West Coast in Bakersfield, CA, so I'm
okay. I hope everyone else is, too.