A day late and a dollar short

But there's a reason for it. I couldn't really post this before I had watched the show.

Last night, Myles and I sat down and watched the 102 Minutes show on the History Channel. I thought it would be interesting to watch and see footage from a non-news aspect. Wow, it gave me a whole new perspective on things.

I know a lot of people compare the attacks of 9/11 to that of Pearl Harbor. I wholeheartedly do NOT agree. The 9/11 attacks were MUCH worse. When Pearl Harbor happened, they attacked a military post with military people, people who signed up for a job, knowing there was risk such as that attached to said job. It was also a time of war (Yes, I know, we weren't in the war yet, but it was inevitable and everyone pretty much knew it at the time). 9/11 was none of those things. It was during peacetime and it was to everyday, innocent people. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that the people at Pearl Harbor weren't innocent, but I think you know what I mean. The people who lost their lives during 9/11 were non-military people.

Watching that show last night really made me think more about 9/11 and what the people were going through, and I don't think the news has ever really shown that aspect of it. These were people on the streets as it happened, regular people, who were there as it all went down. You are seeing peoples' reactions as the events happened, in real time. You are feeling their panic and terror, and I had a hard time keeping myself from tearing up as I watched part of it.

In one part there are two college girls taping it from their apartment window, before the second plane struck, and one of them notices "things" that are falling faster than the other debris, and she is hit with the epiphany that those are people. In this footage, you can see the people jumping and freefalling, you can see the people on the top floors, above the impact area and fire, hanging flags out the window, leaning out of their broken windows and yelling for help. And you know, these people you are watching, they're all dead now. None of them lived through the collapse.

I think what got to me the most was the reactions and the expressions on the firemens' faces. Many of them are walking toward the building resolutely, scared shitless, some with tears in their eyes, but they are still going willingly. That is such bravery and courage, and I have even more respect for them than I had before, and my respect for them has always been very high up there. You can see the reactions of the firemen as people who have jumped or fallen land on the ground in front of them. And you can see how dazed, confused and utterly helpless they are after the collapses. You can see that they simply didn't know what to do at that point.

I know a lot of people don't like to hear things like what I've said, and they choose not to pay attention to that, but it's important we never forget. This was one of the worst days in the history of our country. Hell, it should be a national holiday like Labor Day and Memorial Day.

And people need to think of the many other American lives that have been lost since then, of our men and women fighting in the middle east, who were dragged into this mess. And yes, it's a mess. I may support our troops, especially since my brother is over there fighting in the Army right now, but the reason we got into this war in the first place has not been dealt with. We should be looking for Bin Laden, he should be dead already. Instead, we went over there because the president wanted to settle Daddy's old score. Saddam is NOT who commited the atrocious acts of 9/11, and the people who did are still out there, still hating America, still planning other ways to "get" us.

I know a lot of people don't agree with what I may have said, and that's okay. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and this is mine. It's something I feel strongly about. Like I said, it's okay if you don't agree with me. And no, I don't believe 9/11 was a conspiracy...that is just an absolutely ridiculous notion and has been disproven time and time and time again.