At the Twin Towers, cops and firemen showed they really were New York’s Finest, New York’s Bravest.
From the very first moments of the World Trade Center horror, the valor and élan of New York’s firemen, together with that of the city’s police and emergency forces, have transfixed the whole nation—especially us in rural America who rarely see the real Gotham. Danger was nothing to them, courage and honor everything. They responded instantly to the explosion and fire, all drawn to, rather than repelled by, the inferno—and without regard to their own safety or the consequences of their possible incineration upon their loved ones at home. We now know their last radio cries: “Move away from the towers! Everyone move away from the towers!” Silence. . . .
President Donald Trump sent a message of support and criticism to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
“For the great people of our country this is a very sad day,” Trump said at the start of the minute-and-half long video shared online. “September 11 represents great sorrow for our country.”
911 will never be forgotten. We hope. The lessons it should have taught us are being lost thanks in no small part to an elite bent on civilizational murder, ours not theirs. The MSM and our political class sings their song at every opportunity – Islam is the religion of peace. The smart money knows it’s not no matter how many Magic Totem Malala’s they trot out.
I remember where I was. The first reports I heard spoke of a “small plane” crashing into the World Trade Center. I made my way to a nearby hotel and picked up a corporate rep for the software I sold and we headed to Vancouver’s airport for a meeting with a client.
That meeting never happened. On our way into the airport traffic had already backed up. The only things moving were the Black SUV’s, all unmarked that roared past us.
Soon we learned the airport had been closed down and on our way out, still lacking details, we marveled at the number of passenger jets being “parked” side by side.
At a nearby hotel we stopped for coffee and watched CNN as events unfolded. I still remember the stricken faces of the American’s I spoke with. Bewildered shock and anxiety overwhelming us all.
Fast forward a decade and Kathy and I were off to attend the 10 anniversary of 911 in New York. The pic above is one I took from West Broadway.
911 was for me a painfully significant eye-opener to the wickedness of this world if not a watershed moment in my life. For Kathy it marked the dividing line that spawned the woman so many of us came to admire, an event that blessed us all.
Kathy and I made the pilgrimage to Manhattan for the 10th. We attended the SIOA rally featuring Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Ezra Levant and many others as featured speakers. It was a passionate event well attended and well worth the trip to NYC alone.
Kathy and I stayed at the Wall Street Inn, a boutique hotel near to the anniversary memorial grounds. Kath was great at picking hotels, we enjoyed our stay and Kathy loved nearby Stone Street, essentially an open air restaurant featuring multiple establishments and good eats.
It was a whirlwind of activity and I remember how tired we both were but we never stopped. We didn’t have clout to enter the official seating area so we gathered as so many others to pay our respects in the surrounding streets. And this gave rise to Kathy’s encounter with the execrable “Westboro Baptist Church” protesters and the memorable photo below of Kath flipping them the bird as they walked past. Moments afterward she attempted to trip one of the Westboro loons who made a snide comment. He was a pretty big guy too. That’s my gal.
My beloved at her best.
It may seem a bit off to speak of good memories from attendance at such a sad memorial but they are my history with Kathy and sacred for that. Here’s Kathy and Terry Jones, I recall how pleasant he was to chat with and how charmed he was by Kathy.
I still chuckle at Kathy naming this “Doggie Of The Cross”. He was the companion of the street person who carted the cross around, guess his owner was getting a coffee.
A few have remarked that Kathy’s service was scheduled for September 9th at 11 am – 911. The choice of that time and date was entirely accidental on my part and frankly I did not note its significance as I busied myself with arrangements.
On reflection I suspect this was Kathy’s hand at work. Perhaps reminding us to pick up the torch.
She was always one step ahead me. Good on ya Shortcake.
A West that thinks it deserves to be attacked cannot defend itself.
As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, we are being confronted once again, on news broadcasts, in documentaries and online, with that footage. With the images of those planes striking the Twin Towers, of survivors covered in blood and dust, of heroic first responders saving the lives they could amid unimaginable carnage. It still shakes us to this day. But amid all the acts of commemoration and remembrance one thing risks getting lost. That in the wake of that act of barbarism, an attack not just on New York and DC but on the West and what it stands for, there were many members of the British intelligentsia who, after the dust settled, were struck with more or less the same thought: maybe America brought this on itself.
We were promised an era of heroism — so where did it all go wrong?
When the dotcom bubble burst in March of 2000, it was a minor ripple in a sea of American optimism. The headline on a 1999 Pew poll captured the pre-millennium spirit: “Optimism Reigns, Technology Plays Key Role.” The crash was only a temporary setback, the price for getting too far out ahead of the wave of unstoppable progress.
Meanwhile, the members of an al Qaeda cell were plotting.
Saturday marks twenty years since Islamic jihadis attacked New York City and Washington, and the establishment media is doing all it can to ensure that Americans grasp the true significance of those attacks: not that America was hit by a global jihad that has only gained in strength since then and could hit us again, but that Muslims were and are the true victims of that fateful day. In the last few days, the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press have published lengthy pieces to that effect, and more in this vein is certain to come this week.
New doc shows moment couple with baby struggle with decision to flee or stay put as dust and debris envelops their building six blocks from Ground Zero
A new 90-minute documentary for British network ITV unveils unseen footage from families in Manhattan, including a young couple with a new baby, during the 9/11 attacks.
Anthony and Kyra Paris, with their new baby Daschiel, were at their apartment six blocks from Ground Zero when the twin towers were struck.
Video newly released by the Paris family shows their panic as bodies all from the World Trade Center and debris begins to envelope their neighborhood.
The man accused of hatching the devastating plot to fly hijacked passenger planes into US landmarks 20 years ago is locked up awaiting trial. But could he have been stopped years before?
“He was my guy.”
Frank Pellegrino was sitting in a hotel room in Malaysia when he saw the television pictures of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers. The first thing he thought was: “My God, it’s got to be Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.”
The target and the ambitions were a match and Pellegrino was in a unique position to know.
The former FBI special agent had pursued Mohammed for nearly three decades, yet the alleged 9/11 mastermind is yet to face justice.
At least two of the 9-11 hijackers probably had a U.S.-based support network, according to a former FBI agent.
Danny Gonzalez worked on “Operation Encore,” the still-secret investigation into the two Saudi hijackers who were based in San Diego. Gonzalez told CBS News he’s confident the records of that operation will show the hijackers had help.
“19 hijackers cannot commit 3,000 mass murders by themselves,” Gonzalez told the network.
The Taliban blames America for the 9/11 hijackings in a newly-released video that was aired on Afghan television. The production, “Victorious Force 3,” is the latest in a series of short films celebrating the Taliban’s “martyrdom-seeking” squadrons — that is, the units responsible for conducting complex suicide attacks.
The nearly 40-minute film, which was broadcast on Afghanistan’s national RTA television station, is intended to commemorate the Taliban’s victory over the U.S.-backed government and Western forces. The Taliban describes America as the true “terrorist” party, while blaming the U.S. for the 20-year war.
On Thursday, the Virginia Department of Education published a video entitled, “Culturally Responsive and Inclusive 9/11 Commemoration,” detailing how Virginia public school teachers should handle the upcoming twentieth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 jihad terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. The emphasis on that day and thereafter must not be on the ideology of the attackers or the ongoing jihad terror threat; rather, the focus is entirely on acknowledging and eradicating what the video calls “anti-Muslim racism.”
Spike Lee says he believes 9/11 conspiracy theory: ‘I got questions’
Spike Lee is living up to his outspoken reputation again. The controversial filmmaker is dropping bombshell statements about 9/11 conspiracy theories while on the promotion trail for his new HBO documentary series, “New York Epicenters: 9/11-2021½.”
The “Do the Right Thing” director has now admitted that he doesn’t buy into “official explanations” of the terrorist bombings that devastated the world on September 11, 2001, while speaking with the New York Times on Monday.
In addition to the usual talking heads — Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Chuck Schumer, frontline workers — the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s new four-part docu-series also features full-blown conspiracy theorists who profligate the notorious notion that jet fuel can’t melt metal beams.
As the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack looms, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum is crying poverty for the second year in a row. This time, it says it can’t afford to mount special exhibitions planned to mark the two-decade milestone.
In 2020, the twin-beam “Tribute in Light” was canceled only to win a last-minute reprieve after soon-to-be-ex Gov. Cuomo pitched in state resources. But no such bailout appears in the offing this time.
They probably don’t want to draw attention to Biden’s Afghan Bug Out.
President Joe Biden issued a statement on Monday saying that he “welcome[s]” a “fresh review” of certain documents by the Justice Department after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced it closed part of an investigation regarding the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The families of victims who died during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking his administration to declassify evidence about the incident.
Nearly 1,800 victims who survived, first responders, and family members of slain victims said they want the White House to declassify federal government-held evidence that they believe shows a link between Saudi officials and the assailants.
