Remembering 9/11

It’s been quite a day watching all of the programs on 9/11. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m glad I did it. We must never forget, not ever.

I didn’t watch the tributes/memorials all day. Just a little bit in the morning. It was good to watch. We talk to our kids every year about 9/11. It is important for them to know about it.

I didn’t watch any of it. That doesn’t mean that I don’t care, it was a terrible thing to happen and we should certainly remember it and we should learn from the mistakes that led up to it (and the mistakes that were made because of it). Here in UK we had at least a fortnight of coverage of the anniversary of 9/11, sure we should remember, but that amount of coverage is unhealthy and unhelpful.

We will always remember, but as far as I was concerned there was too much media coverage.

I’ve seen a lot of programs on it over the past decade, but I didn’t watch the coverage on 9/11.

It was also my grandfather’s 85th birthday, so we went out to dinner and had some cake. Just a small family thing. (We originally didn’t want to go on 9/11, but Sunday was the only day we were all free on.)

I don’t think there could be “too much” coverage. For America, anyway, this was the single incident to touch us since Pearl Harbor. I think it was Tom Brokaw who said that someday 9/11 will just be a date on the calendar again, but for those of us who lived through it, it will never again be just a date.

No it will certainly never be “just a date”… I’m surprised anyone like Brokaw would say that. I didn’t watch a lot of the coverage this year because it’s just always too hard on me. My dearest friend was on the way to the Pentagon for a meeting that morning and being reminded of that day of horror all day long wasn’t a good idea this year. I DID commemorate it in my own way, though.

For me it was too much coverage because it seemed like cheap lazy journalism. Much of it was just re running old footage and news reports. By all means show respect for the families, honour the dead, mark the anniversary, but how often do we have to watch endless footage of bodies falling from the towers and other harrowing pictures. It can’t possibly help the families to have that sort of coverage every year.

I think Deltic has more or less expressed my thoughts on this. I don’t mean any disrespect to the dead, of course they must be remembered, but I worry about what impact some of the coverage has on the families.

How so, Just? Little kids still shouldn’t see the images of people jumping out of buildings, but I’m curious what negative impact is being considered here.

You really can’t see what I mean? How odd. I have suffered two tragic losses in my life, admittedly not on the scale of 9/11 but to me and my family just as devastating. We have had to find our own way to cope with our grief and to mark anniversaries. I know that it mattered very much to us to heal in our own way and in our own time and to mark anniversaries in our own way. In time we were able to remember the people we mourned as they lived rather than as they died. I know that seeing images on the television and in newspapers of the time that they died and the circumstances of their death would be hurtful and damaging to me and my children. The families of those who died on 9/11 must have tortures themselves thinking of how their loved ones met their death and exactly what happened to them. Seeing the same images every year and having people talk constantly about it on TV around the anniversary must bring the horror and perhaps the nightmares back to the surface. Having said all that my criticism is of the constant replaying of harrowing images, I make no criticism whatsoever of the memorial service held each year to remember the dead which I am sure many families find helpful.

What happened on that day devastated a nation and impacted on the rest of the world. However all those people who died were individuals and their loved ones need to heal in their own way as individuals. I agree with Justontime that the needs of the bereaved may be forgotten (or ignored) in much of the coverage. I can understand what Justontime is saying about renewing the nightmares over and over again.

I think people handle loss differently. Let me take it to another public type of level. Some friends and I are very big fans of Patrick Swayze who died 2 years ago this month of pancreatic cancer. We were fortunate to meet Patrick and spend some quality time with him. He was a big part of our lives. Remember, we are mature women, not teenagers or young adults in our 20′s. We’re all older. Anyway, his death was devastating. Some of my friends still can’t watch his movies, not even Dirty Dancing. For me, though, his work is his legacy. Yes, sometimes it’s hard; sometimes I cry, but his gift to his fans was the book he recorded and wrote before dying and the work behind. I treasure it, so while there are tears sometimes, I have watched his movies. A couple of my friends have only just begun to watch a few things again; others still can’t. It’s too painful. So, here we are, all handling our grief in 3 ways.

I do understand that Orry Main. I think in those circumstances people would eventually find comfort in watching his films and remembering happier times. I think the difference with the 9/11 families is that while I am sure they want to mark the anniversary, it would be healthier for them if the TV didn’t keep making them re-live the horror of their deaths. Most people find comfort in remembering the life of someone who has died, not the death itself.

I agree with you justontime. I think that families affected should be respected properly. Everyone heals in a different way and the focus should be on healing and moving forward. Remembering that past and looking to the future with hope.