It was 20 years ago, on September 11th 2001, that my friend Olga Kristin White died.
She was sitting in seat No 21C of United Airways flight 93 when her life came to an untimely end.
Her plane crashed into a field in Shanksville Pennsylvania at 10.03.
She was one of 3,000 innocents who died that day, at the hands of Islamic terrorists.
I met her through my friend Jock Veitch, who'd been a fellow Journalist working alongside Kristin in New York. We met several times here in France, and we became very good friends. She was a lovely lady.
My sincere condolences go out to all family and friends of those who died on that terrible day. I shall certainly never forget Kristin, just as thousands of others will never forget the ones they lost.
RIP all.
30 comments:
My feelings too Cro - a day for remembering.
Dreadful seeing all those films again; it's like it all happened yesterday.
Such a tragic waste of lives, to achieve what?
The only thing it achieved was hatred; from both sides.
We all feel varied emotions about what happened twenty years ago. Jaycee sums it up with, to achieve what?
The perpetrators achieved what they set out to achieve, kill lots of Americans.
This is an unforgettable day.
May I ask why are you watching all the films again if you find it so dreadful? I have not seen any and my first comment was, in fact, to say that I had not realised the anniversary until you mentioned it. It is best to not watch these things if you don't want to see them. Turn off.
And by using American 'weapons' too. They didn't even have to buy any explosives. I wonder what the US population would have said, had they shot the planes down?
A certain percentage of the human population just love to kill.
Dreadful. The lengths people will go to, to kill each other, never fails to amaze me.
I’m sorry for all of those innocent lives taken.
Yes innocent people sacrified in part by their stupid government. How can you export wars and suppose not to be struck one day ? Remember the CIA trained Bin Laden when Russia entered Afghanistan.
Yes and why do you need to look at all those horrible films . I need no images to feel the horror.
You may know that the army instructs how to kill and torture. Would you be able to kill , if your family members were in danger or threatened ? Difficult to know . It seems that we all would be able to kill depending on the circumstances.
And no doubt you would be the same. Kill or be killed.
Which led to millions being killed outside of the USA.
I do not look at those films. I just happened to see a very short advert for a BBC programme that I expect will be aired tonight. I shall not be watching it.
I just happened to see a very short 20 second advert for a BBC programme, which I imagine will be shown tonight. A good friend of mine died in one of the 'planes; I don't see this as entertainment.
Every year, we are exhorted to 'never forget 9-11. My suggestion is always, "Can we learn from it, please?" IMHO, that would honor the victim more than any rhetoric about terrorism. We simply use the memories of that day to fuel more hate. The alcoholic across the street from me promised (on line) to shoot any 'rag-heads' he sees in our county. Need I say that he fervently takes part in these somber remembrances. He considers himself a real patriot.
Personally I am simply remembering my friend Kristin, but I understand your point.
I tuned into a film 9/11 for 5 minutes recently whilst searching for something to watch, I mentioned it on my blog at the time. I turned it off. I couldn't believe that a film as in a movie like a disaster movie had actually been made with actors. How could anyone want to do that let alone watch it?
The film was seen as a celebration of the firefighters who attended and died 9/11
I haven't seen it, and wouldn't.
If that is the case, I don't think the firefighters needed that film.
Sept. 11 is a dark and very sad day. I will never forget the meaningless loss of life and the terrorists that can and will undertake horrific acts against innocent people. RIP to all we lost on Sept. 11.
It is a strange concept, to sacrifice one's life for an act of such evil. They must have been thoroughly brainwashed.
Maybe bad people deserve the ultimate retribution but not good people like Kristin nor the hundreds of others who were murdered that terrible day. They all hold a special place in our memory.
Remembering 3,000 isn't easy, but when one has known someone personally who died that day, it's quite poignant. I remember someone phoning me and saying "Look at your TV". Of course I had no idea that Kristin was on one of the 'planes.
I was not criticizing the remembrance of your friend, cro. It is a big thing in America to commemorate the day. Social media is awash with smoke enveloped twin towers. We are reminded not to forget. With it comes the predictable discussions of muslims. It is not healthy to use the day as an excuse to bring anger to mind. The question becomes 'how do we prevent this from happening again?' As someone suggested, keeping our noses out of the affairs would be an awfully good start. No offense to your post intended. I drove through a massive memorial service at a local cemetery. It is attended by hundreds. I don't see that fervor as helpful.
I realised when I read the name of your friend Jock Veitch ,that I had an old neighbour in Paris who knew him quite well and visited his home village , I'm not sure but maybe it was St. Caprais du Lot several times. What a small world .
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