"lonely, ten second journeys...the only visible fatalities in a day that claimed thousands..."

such beautiful words to describe such a horrible event.

i can only hope that those ten second journey's felt like pure, conscious, accepted freedom.

The most terrible day I can remember. I was in such shock I wanted to block out what was happening. You never forget the moment you find out about these things, they're etched in your brain for eternity. For me it brought back the day president Kennedy was assassinated like it had happened the day before. This video was done beautifully.

I would like to think that the falling people's last remembrance was a few short seconds of September sunshine.

I don't know if I can watch this video. I saw too much of this live.

I can also remember that morning with perfect clarity. The falling bodies was always the thing that bothered me the most.
I'm still kind of surprised that we don't have a national day of remembrance or something on this date.

I was thinking the same thing today.

I think what happens to national days of remembrances is that they turn into holidays...which turn into picknicks...which turn into BBQ's... which turn into national days of forgetting.


...a very sad day indeed.

Ditto.

Working for the government, our next holiday is Columbus day.

For most us, 9/11 has more significance. I know I will never forget 9/11.

I feel like if we make it a national day, then we are giving those terrorist b*****ds more to brag about. Not only did they hit us hard, not only is it still a sore spot for many of us; but there's a holiday too. So if we had a holiday vote, I'd vote no.

{{HUGS}}

There's no "day off" holiday, but September 11 is labeled as a day of remembrance, and it's marked on calenders as Patriot Day. We're supposed to fly flags at half mast, and recognize a moment of silence at 8:46 AM.

I think that's appropriate.

Not all of the time, Hoosker, not all of the time. Our Remembrance Day is a sombre day of quiet reflectance and thankfulness to our veterans. If this did turn into a national day of forgetting I don't think it would happen for a several decades, perhaps when nobody living would have been at all affected by Sept. 11.

This is true. Some people have tried to schedule Veteran's day (Remembrance day) so it would fall on a Monday (thus giving everybody a 3-day weekend).

The reason it falls on November 11th is in remembrance of the Armistice being signed (ending World War I) on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.

Wow. Just . Wow. I remember that day. I dont live anywhere near New York. I was in college that year. A friend of mine was walking towards the school and he was on his cell phone. I looked at him, and joked with him about it "Oh, you think your so cool talking on your cell phone". We always joked like that. Thats when he told me what happened. He was trying to get a hold of a friend, or family member (I cant remember now). I never did find out if he got in touch with who he was looking for. We werent friends, so much as acquaintances.

I didnt hear about 9/11 until the towers fell. I didnt turn on the TV before I left home. Didnt have the radio on. I was listening to a CD. I went to the lunch room and they had a TV on. Thats when I saw it.

So many people lost their lives. So many firefighters, and cops gave their lives. This video captured the emotions of the day.

One thing though. The Hernandez family was worried about the guy being their family member because that would mean he committed suicide. I dont view the people who jumped as suicides. These people knew they had 2 choices. Die slow, or quick. Rather than taking their life, they merely chose how it would end. Its not much different, really, than someone who has a terminal illness deciding to not get treatment. They know they are going to die, they just chose to not prolong it. (I mean the choice isnt different. I know the situations are very different, but, you know...)

While watching this, I tried to think about what I would do in that situation. I dont know what I would do. Would I be brave enough to make that leap? Would I sit, huddled in a corner praying for it to be over? I dont know.

This video opened up so many questions for me. Hard questions. Questions that I cant, and dont want to, answer.

I don't know that I can watch this either. I wasn't there...I was in CA. It's true. I remember it so vividly. At first I thought a building was being demolished. Then, I watched in horror as I realized exactly what was happening. I still feel sad on this day. And I know, my children will never fully understand what happened this day. I can talk about it, and answer any questions they have, but it won't have the same impact.

Thank you, Muppet for posting this. I will try and watch it.

Very powerful. I watch so I can remember. Thank you for posting. God Bless Jonathan Briley if in fact he is the falling man.

I say, God bless him whether or not he is the falling man. God bless all the people who lost their lives on 9/11. God bless the families as well.

This film was really well done and I'm glad I just watched it, but one point of contention I have is the guy making a point that the city was saying "nobody jumped" because they were trying to forget that part. I think it was more that they wanted to make sure the families of the people who jumped didn't have trouble from the insurance companies saying "well, he jumped, so it was suicide, and we don't cover that..."

Good point!! I wonder if the insurance companies would have tried that. Wait, its an insurance company. They dont want to pay anything.

I honestly think it is a little of both. It is hard to face the reality that some people had to resort to desperate measures when the firefighters and police were powerless to help them. It raises the question of why couldnt they be saved? Why did they have to die?

While, rationally, we know there was nothing that could have been done, we still want to believe that there could have been some miracle that could have saved everyone. It leaves the survivors feeling a bit guilty that while they escaped, many more died and there was nothing that could be done for them.

I'm watching this on Discovery at the moment. I've seen this powerful documentary before and will watch it again. Whoever that falling man is, he shows the world how bad it was up there and that he had no other choice but to suffer or go on his own terms.

Funny, I took it to mean a different thing completely. I'm not sure I can verbalize it sufficiently, but I'll try.

I think what the coroner's office was trying to say is that even though people obviously did jump, it wasn't of their own volition. They were "forced" out. I think that was the word they said she used. I don't think it was so much that they were trying to live in a little peaceful bubble of ignorance, so much as they were trying to dignify what those souls felt they had to do given the circumstances. In other words, no one actually chose to jump, even though technically they did.