How Should We Be Commemorating 9/11?

Brian - I agree, I don't think a day of service is quite fitting.  Service is good, but it really should be a day of memorial and reflection.

Brian, that is why I will not watch the news on any channel but Fox News. 

They started very early in the morning interviewing family members who had lost loved ones, people who were on the scene right after the crashed, Bush advisers (Andy Card and Ari Fleisher who explained why Bush did not jump up and get hysterical in front of the children and why he did not fly back to WA DC which he has been criticized for;  survivors, one woman who was pulled out of the rubble after 27 hours.  They had reporters on the scene at the Pentagon, Shanksville, and Ground Zero.  Relatives announced the names of every person who was killed, and they were honored in a very nice way.  I believe everyone on that TV Station thinks Sept 11 is a sacred day for Americans. 

One of my liberal acquaintances asked me just last night if I thought Fox News was fair and balanced, and I said no, they talk about what I want to hear, conservatism.  But they do not leave out any news, its just not slanted or ignored as the whole Acorn fiasco of the last few days has been ignored by the mainstream press.  Sorry to be so wordy. 

This day means a lot of different things to different people. But as an American you are so right and I think we should do some community service and I hope our military is blowing up a few in Afganastan and Iraq to to make that point.

How about a community service project that involves gathering signatures for a recall of the president.

Brian, I think you asked/stated the point perfectly. I think a community service day is great for other important days, but not on Sept. 11th. It would be like FDR asking to plant trees to commemorate the attack on Pearl Harbor.......it just doesnt' feel right. You all have great points. And Hugh, I saw a sign that said "to bad we don't have a presidential Lemon Law" the other day, toooo funny!

Patrick Johnson, Windermere RE

Bellingham Wa.

Brian - We as a nation have aloud the press to stop showing footage of 9/11 for fear of offending someone.

Meanwhile, we have lost our soul because we keep silent when we should speak up.

People say that there are to things we should not speak about in public, religion and politics.

Well, if we don't speak of our religious convictions, we will loose our souls and the souls of the hearers.

If we keep silent about politics, someone else will speak but perhaps it will be too late.

Nazi Germany, Communist Russia all started when good people stood silently.

Brian

I am making myself watch the videos again today .  It is a necessary part in the rememberance process for me personally. There was so much and it was overwhelming.

The day it actually occured we watched it in our conference room at the office. We were all just blank faced.

I don't understand the day of service thing myself .Ii want to mourn and be silent.

Brian,  FOX news carried both the current events of the day and specials where they re-ran most of the important coverage from that day.  Interviews with survivors who had incredible stories of little known heroism. Interviews with Norad who received mixed messages that day.

The entire program was re-run at 11pm.

The coverage was not sensational. It was reverent and appropriate.  It made you cry all over again.  We need to be brought back to reality least we are lulled into complacency again.

It is a CRIME that NYC has not been able to re-build the WTC in 8 years * the Pentagon was rebuilt in 1 YEAR * it's not the $$$ * it is the POWER STRUGGLE between the various entities and agencies not to mention the poorly specified design contest

I vote for a National holiday, perhaps to honor all those who have died at the hands of both domestic and foreign terrorists.

Wow! I didn't see any dilution at all out here. I watched many, many, many hours on MSNBC and The History Channel. What I really liked was that MSNBC had live interviews with many of the survivors, especially those who are now suffering from various diseases caused by inhaling all that dust, much of it composed of various substances known to cause cancer, like asbestos. The History Channel had the best historical footage of events that happened that day and in the following 30 days during rescue and cleanup but no live interviews with anyone other than "live" within those 30 days.

I don't know what the other channels might have shown because I was tuned in to MSNBC and The History Channel. When it comes to history, they are my two channels of choice.

I may have a unique perspective as I have a client who escaped from Tower 2, walking all the way to New Jersey that day, and my assistant is an American Airlines flight attendant. We watched the American Airlines plane hit Tower 2 as we stood glued to the tv in a new listing on tour that day.  Someone suggested that she should change her voicemail immediately to reflect the date and that she was, in fact, at home.

For many this is a very personal and emotional day and replaying the footage all day long on every single channel is deeply painful. They prefer to spend quiet time with loved ones or those similarly affected. I think people should spend the day doing whatever they feel is appropriate for themselves and their loved ones.