In Memoriam of 9/11

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The following three posts contain video and language concerning September 11th that could be considered inappropriate for younger or sensitive readers. 

Its been 9 years now, and I haven't heard much about September 11th this year, save for the usual "Inside 9/11!" and "World Trade: Why It Fell" kind of shows on History and Discovery Channels and such, and the "Why Is bin Laden Still Alive" program that is coming on next week.   There might be some dedications this Saturday, on September 11th, but being a football day, I'm not sure how many you'll see--don't worry, though, the tenth anniversary will come in 2011, and you'll be inundated with programs and documentaries and the like. 

And then, in 2012, 11 years after the attack, it will fade again.  But not for me... every year about this time, I get a little sentimental.  Perhaps its that I remember it so vividly, perhaps its that I was so captivated, broken hearted and involved in the event, perhaps its just that it happened when I was aware...

And what I mean by that is, when Tiananmen Square happened, I was like, 13.  When the Berlin Wall came down, I was 14.  When the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal broke, I was about 20.  I was self-involved, I was unaware of most things, I was not hip to the world news.

At 26, I was aware.  Still self-involved (that will never change), but a lot more wise to the news of the world.  And I, like you, will never forget it.  So, once per year, I get serious, and do all I can to make sure that you never forget it...

Some months after 9/11/01, HBO released a documentary called "In Memoriam".  When I saw it, I was blown away.  No narrator, it only involves some interviews, many with then-Mayor Rudy Guiliani, and is entirely made of footage taken from over 100 New Yorkers and people with cameras.

I will warn you... this is real footage.  There is some language, and though its not graphic, there are disturbing scenes.  Just the same, when Campbell Isaiah and Lorelei Addison are old enough, they'll watch it, and I'll do my best to help them understand, so they'll know what September 11th means, or at least should mean, to this country.

So, I invite you to watch HBO's In Memoriam, piece by piece, each about 10 minutes long, broken up over 3 posts, each separated by a few quotes and some contributions from a couple of friends of mine.  Here it is, part by part, each part about 10 minutes long. 

In Memoriam Part I

"A mother described to me talking to her son on the telephone when the second plane it.  And that's the last time she talked to him.  Another family described to me how their loved one had let two elevators go, because he was older. And people in the elevator were younger..."


In Memoriam Part II

"We couldn't get to the top of the roof...  I looked over and saw a partially obscured face peering out of the smoke.  He was waving a white towel and... there was nothing we could do"

In Memoriam Part III

When the building came down, I just felt a complete disconnection in my heart.  It was like everything was just ripped out of my chest.  I thought that Terry had just incinerated.  I was grabbing the dust from the ground, thinking that he was in the dust."

Sez Amy Harris, fellow churchgoer at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship).. I was just following my normal morning routine. Kate was ready for preschool and watching Arthur in the den. I went to the bedroom to walk on the treadmill and watch Joan & Charlie welcome in our day. There was a breaking newsflash that the World Trade Center was on fire… no, not just a fire, an airplane was believed to have flown into it. What on earth? I kept walking and watching. For a news junkie, this was a major event and I was enthralled. But within moments, my mind could not completely comprehend what I saw as what looked like a commercial jet flew into the second tower. I knew it was no accident. War. I stopped walking.


I stood in front of the TV glued for more details. The President spoke of a terrorist attack. I wasn’t sure what to do. It was time to take Kate to preschool. Do you take your child to preschool in the midst of a terrorist attack? I didn’t know what to do but something inside me just felt like I needed to make things as normal as possible for her. So off she went into safe loving hands for a few hours to play with her friends. I was shocked at what an absolutely beautiful bluebird day it was outside yet pure terror was occurring on American soil….what irony.

As soon as I got home, the news showed reports of the Pentagon being hit. I was worried because we had family that lived close by. Then the reports that the south tower had collapsed and now a flight was missing in midair…. what was going on? This was crazy! My mind could not begin to comprehend it all. And then I saw the live steam of the north tower as it collapsed into ashes and tears began to roll down my cheeks. I walked a few paces and literally fell to my knees.

The next thing that happened was something I will never forget. I began to pray these words, “Praise you Jesus, Praise you Jesus. I praise you because you are a God of order and this is not the work of your hands. I know that you will use this somehow someway for good. Praise you Jesus that I serve a God of order not a God a chaos and I know that even now you are in control"  When I opened my eyes I had no idea where that came from. It seemed completely inappropriate for me yet just like something God might do. A sense of peace came over me.

What started as Good Morning America had turned to a mourning America. I literally watched TV for days as people looked for their loved ones, NYC’s finest ash covered bold heroes sobbed like babies and people all over the country told their stories. Yet amongst the rubble of the collapsed towers stood a cross… steel beams that once supported towers built by human hands now stood to support a people in need of Hope.

Nine years gone by and I wonder where are all the people who flooded the churches in September of 2001? What has happened to all those who were on their knees in prayer? I celebrate that a faithful God never left America during this tragedy, but I mourn that America is no longer said to be a Christian country. I mourn for the America of September 2010… and yet I still rejoice... inappropriate as that may seem.

Be joyful always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thess 5:16-18

In Memoriam of 9/11 Continued

In Memoriam Part IV

"Worst thing I could imagine in my whole life. I'm sad just watching it."

In Memoriam Part V

"The reality is not going to come for a couple of days, when we start putting all the names together.  [I feel] Awful.  Vengeful.  Total awe.  I mean, uh, think about it.  Look at this, and you ask yourself 'Why?'  There's no justification for this.  None."

Says My Best Mate Wookiee, aka Chris Fulaytar... September 11, 2001 started out like any other day for me. I got up, showered, dressed for work, and headed out the door for another day in the trenches at Wetumpka High School.

I was going about my normal pre-school routine thinking it was just another day in the life.

First period started as usual and I was going through the normal beginning of class routine when a colleague from across the hall came and told me that a plane had hit one of the WTC buildings. I thought that was unusual and turned on CNN really quick to see what was going on. I turned it on just in time to see plane number 2 hit the WTC.

It took few a couple of minutes to process that we were under attack. I was in absolute shock. To heck with teaching, the rest of the day, we watched the news to see what was going on. During that time we learned of the plane crashing into the Pentagon and some random plane that had gone done out in the middle of some field in Pennsylvania, We would find out later that the brave people on that plane that crashed in Pennsylvania took the plane back from their captors instead of allowing them to kill even more people.

I remember the unity and determination that ensued. For a short time in this country, there were no Democrats and Republicans, black and white, gay or straight. We were just Americans pulling together to help one another through this tragic event. American flags were everywhere. Trivial things like pro and college football were put aside so the nation could mourn. That was nice while it lasted. Before I knew it, the divisiveness was back and the American flags were put away except for the 4th of July, Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. People were back to wondering whether or not their favorite team would win that weekend and who Billy Joe Jim Bob was going to sign with to pay college football.

Every year, when 9/11 falls on a school day, I wear an American flag polo I have had since college. I take that day to tell each one of my classes what happened that day, where I was when it happened, and to remember the people that lost their lives.

Every year, I tell the kids I teach that they will probably have, in their lifetime, a moment in which they will remember where they were and what they were doing when some major event occurred. For my parents it was JFK. For their parents it was Pearl Harbor. For my generation the Challenger explosion and 9/11. When that event happens, I hope the sense of unity and determination that allowed us to forge ahead after 9/11 remains long after that event is over.

In Memoriam Part VI

"Its like searching for a needle in a haystack at this point, it really is.  I'm just praying that everything is going to be fine.  He's a very strong kid.  And he's a very loving person.  And... so we're just hoping we'll find him..."

In Memoriam of 9/11 Concluded

In Memoriam Part VII

"People from 83 different countries died at the World Trade Center, so it wasn't just an attack on America, it was an attack on much of the civilized world.  Nobody deserves to die, nobody in that building deserved to die.  I mean, they were just doing their jobs.  They were showing up, working the restaurant, cleaning the building or delivering something, or trading stocks or trading bonds.  We should consider all them heroes or patriots.  They gave their lives pursuing the American dream."

Writes Amarilys Barnett, aka Amarilys By Morning (up from san antone) On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was working from home. I had seen a couple of headlines online about a plane crashing into one of the Twin Towers but frankly, had not paid much attention. Until my then-boyfriend-now-husband, Rhett, called to ask if I was watching tv. I raced to the television just in time to hear and see the news about a second jet plowing into the towers.


No one knew what to make of it. There was a collective haze across the country that was clearing up with every second we watched those plumes of smoke to reveal the fact that we were being attacked. It was a stunning revelation. Attacked? On our own ground? Not even in our wildest dreams and yet here we stood. Stunned.

I remember watching the towers collapse live on television. I wept. At the time, we thought that the casualties would be in the tens of thousands so I wept for the people that I watched die in real time right there on my television. My mother called and I was crying. It was literal disbelief over the events being broadcast.

The world stopped. At least in the United States. I didn’t work the rest of the day or even the rest of the week as I recall. I simply watched television and scoured the internet for updates. I talked to friends who did much the same. It was impossible to get any work done without thinking of those images. Images that are seared in my brain for the rest of my life.

The planes crashing. The towers collapsing. The United flight crash site. The Pentagon rubble. Pictures of Osama Bin Laden. Chilling scenes of jumpers. It was and still is beyond comprehension.

I was scared. No one knew what was happening. What else did these people have planned? More planes? A ground attack? Where would they strike next? Another major metropolis? It was a troubled time, indeed.

It took months before our lives would bear any resemblance of normalcy. That normalcy could be better described as a new normal. A normal that included new airport security measures. National Guardsmen carrying their weapons for all to see. A heightened sense of awareness for your surroundings. My husband and I even reported a moving truck parked next to the water works in our area because it looked abandoned. …and now, that new normal has evolved in just our normal. I hope we never have to get used to another new normal. God bless America.

So, that's it for this go-round... I was wondering today how many more years I'll do this on my website.  Not that I don't want to discuss it, that's not it at all, but there's only so much that can be said before I start repeating myself (which I'm sure I've done ad nauseum). 

However... if you, the reader, ask for it, then I shall continue.  Thanks for remembering with me.

(thanks to Amy, Wookiee and Amarylis by Morning (up from San Antone) for contributing)

September 11th, 2001 As It Happened

Facebook users... this post is heavy on video, which you will not see if you are viewing this in Facebook. Please click over to http://broadwaydave.blogspot.com to see the entire blogpost.

To see previous thoughts, essays and recommended September 11th material, click here (or scroll down a few posts)

And friends of the blog and/or mine--The Official Clouds In My Coffee Ombudsman Brad Latta, Erin the Marine Wife and Kris "Buble" Dekker--gave me their thoughts and experiences on 9/11, so scroll to the next post, or click here, to read those. My intent was to inter-sparse their writings with what I was doing here on this column, but it didn't flow well, and I didn't want to edit what they had to say, so I made them their own post.

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Alright, after a week or so of trying to decide exactly what I wanted to do with today's post, because I knew I wanted to do something for today (September 11th) and the 8th anniversary of the attacks, I thought the best thing to do was just... well, go through the morning. I hate using the phrase "the best thing to do" because really, its not pleasant. Its not comfortable. It's really not fun. But its is important.

I'm steering clear of any political rhetoric (and I ask you do the same) and I'm hoping you don't find this particular blog as an exploitative veering towards such a thing--its not intended to be. Its just intending to give you--and me--a reminder of what happened that morning, as it happened.

None of the videos that have been posted are set to music, or have encouraging and faith filled songs in the background--I've disabled the music playlist (you're welcome, Lily) and only put Alan Jackson's "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" on the list itself--you'll have to scroll down and click to hear it. Why? Because I like that song, that's why.

Don't worry, I'm not becoming all serious and such--on Monday, the regular Clouds banner will return, and I'll probably have a Billy Ocean/Billie Jean/Corey Squared-less playlist to post (sorry, Lily) but for the weekend, this is my nod and paid respects to everything that happened.

Some of the video you'll see is hard to watch, so use your best judgement. Also, just a note, all times mentioned are Eastern times, and much of the text is taken from CNN's timeline.

Tuesday September 11th.

8:45am...


9:03 a.m.:

The video at the 6:29 mark is incomprehensible and will give you goosebumps. Next, at the 6:51 mark. Jean Cochran is speaking for NPR in a typical NPR monotone, unemotional voice. When the second plane hits, she screams and suddenly becomes filled with the emotional we all shared at that very second.

Also, this very moment is the moment when four words come to mind... "This is no accident"

9:17 a.m.: The Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New York City area airports.

9:21 a.m.: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey orders all bridges and tunnels in the New York area closed.

Sometime during the morning


9:30 a.m.: President Bush, speaking in Sarasota, Florida, says the country has suffered an "apparent terrorist attack."

9:40 a.m.: The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports, the first time in U.S. history that air traffic nationwide has been halted.

9:43 a.m.:


9:45 a.m.: The White House evacuates.

9:57 a.m.: Bush departs from Florida.

10:05 a.m.:

Peter Jennings asks, “We now have… what do we have?” He has to ask several times about whats going on, even though the reporter is speaking very plainly... Jennings, like us, cannot even fathom the idea that the entire building... just came down.


A view from the street

10:08 a.m.: Secret Service agents armed with automatic rifles are deployed into Lafayette Park across from the White House.

10:10 a.m.:


10:10 a.m.:



10:13 a.m.: The United Nations building evacuates, including 4,700 people from the headquarters building and 7,000 total from UNICEF and U.N. development programs.

10:22 a.m.: In Washington, the State and Justice departments are evacuated, along with the World Bank.

10:24 a.m.: The FAA reports that all inbound transatlantic aircraft flying into the United States are being diverted to Canada.

10:28 a.m.:


10:45 a.m.: All federal office buildings in Washington are evacuated.

10.46 a.m.: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cuts short his trip to Latin America to return to the United States.

10.48 a.m.:


10:53 a.m.: New York's primary elections, scheduled for Tuesday, are postponed.

10:57 a.m.: New York Gov. George Pataki says all state government offices are closed.

11:02 a.m.: New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani urges New Yorkers to stay at home and orders an evacuation of the area south of Canal Street.

11:18 a.m.: American Airlines reports it has lost two aircraft. American Flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles, had 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard. Flight 77, a Boeing 757 en route from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles, had 58 passengers and six crew members aboard. Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.

11:26 a.m.: United Airlines reports that United Flight 93, en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California, has crashed in Pennsylvania. The airline also says that it is "deeply concerned" about United Flight 175.

12:04 p.m.: Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of three of the crashed airplanes, is evacuated.

12:15 p.m: San Francisco International Airport is evacuated and shut down. The airport was the destination of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.

12:30 p.m.: The FAA says 50 flights are in U.S. airspace, but none are reporting any problems.

1:04 p.m.: Bush, speaking from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, says that all appropriate security measures are being taken, including putting the U.S. military on high alert worldwide. He asks for prayers for those killed or wounded in the attacks and says, "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."

1:27 p.m.: A state of emergency is declared by the city of Washington.

1:44 p.m.: The Pentagon says five warships and two aircraft carriers will leave the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia, to protect the East Coast from further attack and to reduce the number of ships in port. The two carriers, the USS George Washington and the USS John F. Kennedy, are headed for the New York coast. The other ships headed to sea are frigates and guided missile destroyers capable of shooting down aircraft.

1:48 p.m.: Bush leaves Barksdale Air Force Base aboard Air Force One and flies to an Air Force base in Nebraska.

2:30 p.m.: The FAA announces there will be no U.S. commercial air traffic until noon EDT Wednesday at the earliest.

2:49 p.m.: At a news conference, Giuliani says that subway and bus service are partially restored in New York City. Asked about the number of people killed, Giuliani says, "I don't think we want to speculate about that -- more than any of us can bear."

4:10 p.m.: Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex is reported on fire.

5:20 p.m.:


7:02 p.m.: CNN's Paula Zahn reports the Marriott Hotel near the World Trade Center is on the verge of collapse and says some New York bridges are now open to outbound traffic.

7:45 p.m.: The New York Police Department says that at least 78 officers are missing. The city also says that as many as half of the first 400 firefighters on the scene were killed.

8:30 p.m.: President Bush addresses the nation, saying "thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil" and asks for prayers for the families and friends of Tuesday's victims. "These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve," he says. The president says the U.S. government will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed the acts and those who harbor them. He adds that government offices in Washington are reopening for essential personnel Tuesday night and for all workers Wednesday.

9:22 p.m.: CNN's McIntyre reports the fire at the Pentagon is still burning and is considered contained but not under control.

Thank you for indulging me. And here's how I want to end:

9/17/01


And part 2


Opening photo: "End of serenity." A plume of smoke rises from the crash site of United Air Flight 93 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Photo credit: Al Pacelli, presented by The September 11 Digital Archive.

Where They Were

As I've done in years past, I've asked a few readers and friends to chime in and tell me about their September 11th memory and experiences. With apologies to all three, I changed the format at the last minute.... I had intended on inserting these in the midst of the planned-9/11 column I was going to do (and will do next) but after reading these, I think they deserved their own column so they can remain uncut. Had they known that, they may have written more, so I hope they are okay with what will be.

The following is unedited, with the exception of the first non-essential sentence of the first write-up.

I was at Alabama on 9/11/01, rooming with Drew [Morris]. We had undoubtedly stayed up late the night before playing Ken Griffey Jr.'s baseball game (well, not HIS game, but the game he is featured on...) and so, as college students, the 8-9:00 hours were just not something we were terribly interested in. I remember my mom calling my cell and telling me to turn on the TV, that something was going on in New York. At that time, reports were coming in that a plane had hit one of the towers, and so everyone thought it was a tragic mistake, pilot error, one of those twin-props that fly around and hit stuff. I stood there for probably 30 minutes as me and the newscasters all started to realize that the flaming hole in the building was much larger than a twin-prop plane, and that no respectable commercial pilot could ever, or would ever, land a plane into an occupied building. I think it was at this point that I woke Drew up, and we stood in silence as we watched the second plane hit. We were still half-asleep and groggy, but just sort of looked at each other, silently understanding the magnitude of what we were seeing.

The rest of the day is a blur. Phone calls to family members, getting gas because of the shortage we thought would come, finding out if classes were canceled, making plans. I remember sitting on my apartment steps and talking to Matt, at Lee, and we compared stories and just were family for a while. I told him that I didn't want to go to war. The sun rose the next day and life went back to the new normal we were all subject to.

Eight years later, so much has changed, but one truth remains: America is a great place, and Americans endure. Through fire and death, torture and heartbreak, families missing parents, bodies never recovered, and flags on cars, we got through it, and every day forward is another step in the process of recovery. --Brad Latta

Brad is considered "the Ombudsman" of the Clouds in My Coffee website, usually offering up great counterpoints to my political ideology and opinions. A practicing attorney, you can find his information here.

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On the morning of 9/11/2001, I arrived as usual at Briarwood Christian School where I was a band director. I was there early enough that the events in Manhattan had not yet begun to unfold. I continued my prep and setup for my first class, pretty much sheltered off in the band room from news and information. As the first kids started filing in, a couple of them asked if I had heard the news about the airplane crashing into the World Trade Center. At the time, of course, it sounded like some bizarre accident from an old made for TV “Airport ‘77” kind of movie. The information had little context and came in the form of a fairly casual question from the student, so I assumed there was not much to it and proceeded to teach my class.

After that first class, I had time to go to my computer and try to get more information. By that time, two planes had crashed into the towers, and they were jet liners (not little private planes as I had assumed). “Terrorist attack” was now being bandied about as an explanation.

I had to commute to another campus for more classes, listening to the radio and stopping in the teachers’ lounge where a TV was on. I was now seeing actual video for the first time, and I think that is when it began to sink in. Still, it kind of felt a bit sterile to me, a little bit distant, a little bit forensic in all of its surrealism. The video was not yet personal, the news coverage seemed cautious, and it was something everyone seemed reluctant to process.

I think it finally hit home with me when they started showing video of people leaping from the towers, choosing to throw themselves to certain death rather than deal with the terror of the fires and the inescapability of their circumstance. I could not imagine the choice. I could not imagine the final calls home. It was then that I started putting actual people in the seats of those jets, actual people in the towers as they collapsed, actual people committing heinous acts so far outside of the realm of humanity that it could not be believed. It was no longer forensic and distant. It was real, and it grabbed me.

I have since been to the site of the WTC. New construction has begun; life has moved on – as it must and as it should. Still, I don’t think I can forget that day. I hope none of us do. -- Kris Dekker

Kris is the music minister at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) and choir director, and is skilled at over 153 different musical instruments. Or seems that way. His website is called The Left Brained Artist.

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There are a few moments in America’s history that I remember with vivid detail. I recall watching the Challenger explode on National TV at a babysitters home when I was a young girl. I remember hearing the news that the Gulf War had begun as my parents drove me home from taking high school band pictures. And even though it was 8 years ago, I will never be able to erase the memories from 9/11. It was the day that I can honestly say my role as a military wife changed forever. It was the day that I realized we were no longer just a family that would have to deal with training exercises, frequent moves and military protocol. We now would have to face the grim reality of war. A war that would induce stress and worry that none of the young military wives I knew had ever experienced. A war that would take our husbands away from our children, so they could fight a battle that none of us really understood, but feared with great intensity.

On September 11, 2001 my daughter was just 3 months old and we were in Alabama on her first vacation. That morning we left very early to go fishing at a remote location. It was a beautiful morning with Daddy, Mommy, Papa and Morgan on her very first fishing trip. After piling into the car, my husband turned on a CD and we began our travel down the dirt road to town. My father-in-law pulled us over frantically and implored us to please turn on the radio. What we heard was hard to comprehend as the news radio tried to explain to its listeners what the rest of the world was watching unfold on TV. Still in a state of confusion, none of the events really registered with me until we got to the house and joined the rest of the family watching those horrifying images on TV. I wept and shook as I watched the planes slam into the buildings over and over again. As I imagined the fate of those people on the planes and in the buildings I sobbed violently. And then as the initial shock wore off, I was crushed by what I knew this meant for our family. President Bush had not announced it yet, but I knew that America was going to fight back, and my husband would be going to war.

War. For the generation before 9/11 we didn’t really understand what that word meant. Sure, there was the Gulf War, but that was short compared to anything in our countries history. And we had all seen images of Vietnam, Pearl Harbor, World and Civil Wars. But in an age where Hollywood controlled most of those images, it was easy to let ourselves be lulled into a sense of security. Certainly those things were in our past, not our future. Even as a military wife, I never really thought twice about my husband’s safety because most of his job was spent in the states or on occasion in countries such as Spain where they simply participated in training exercises. But on September 11th I understood that war was in our future, and while I had no idea what to expect, I was scared out of my mind.

We returned to base after our period of leave and I was shocked at the changes at the Air Station. Our base housing was actually not on the physical base and therefore had never been guarded, but as we drove up to our neighborhood we noticed that the streets were barricaded and there were Marines carrying M-16’s at the newly erected gates that now safeguarded the families. Those kids didn’t look a day over 17. I was used to the image on young men in uniform, even to seeing weapons and tanks on base. But this show of force took my breath away. On base, you could no longer park your car anywhere near a building and it took forever to get through the gates. They stopped many cars, Marines, wives and children waiting while military police randomly searched their vehicles. Even though it was an adjustment and a shock, I was proud of The Marine Corps for making these changes in such a short period of time. It gave me a strange sense of comfort.

Friends who were actually on base when the country was attacked talk of being beside themselves as they rushed to remove children from schools. Living on base was terrifying because rumors were flying about military bases being the next to be attacked. Many Marines were not in contact with their families for hours as they were called upon to enact emergency security measures. Wives huddled together in each other’s living rooms, holding on to the only other people who could understand the chaos that was all around them. They struggled to explain what was happening to small children, and to ease the growing fears of older kids as they too realized the Nation would soon be involved in a fight that would certainly involve their beloved parent.

For months, no one knew what, when and where our military would be called into action but we all knew it was just a matter of time. Families did not have much communication with commands who were busy with the important task of preparing their Marines for battle. Rumors of chemical weapon attacks coupled with the new gear that was now sitting in our living room gave me a sense of dread I will never forget. We were told that when the Marines did deploy to never send them religious material, for if they were captured, being a Christian could be a death sentence. Every day that passed became more anxious as we awaited news of a now almost certain deployment to war. And when that phone call came, in the middle of a steak dinner, my husband was told to get his gear together, he would be leaving in days. As the steak sat uneaten on the table, we started the packing process. My daughter was just 7 months old.

On the day that my husband boarded that bus, the families all gathered at the unit. None of us knew what to expect and not many of us could pry ourselves away from that parking lot until the buses were out of our sight. Small children cried and I remember a little boy clutching his father’s leg screaming “I don’t want my Daddy to die”! It was simply horrible. As we got in the car to leave, the radio was playing a song with the lyrics “I’m gonna get through this” but I honestly had no idea how. No war had started yet and no troops were in Iraq…my husband would be with the first group to enter the country.

I will not divulge the entire story of that deployment today, but will tell you that there were days when I was glued to the news hoping for any information about my husband’s unit because we had no contact with them for 40+ days. I will tell you that my sister Marine wives got me through that deployment which started out as a 3 month separation and turned into 8 very long and scary months. And I will tell you that when my husband got home he was safe, along with everyone else in his unit…even though they all were terribly thin, very tired and worn.

To date my husband’s unit has still not suffered any casualties, despite being the most deployed unit in the Marine Corps. And the conditions of deployment have improved greatly since that first time. But we will never again be able to go back to that feeling of security that we had on September 10, 2001. War is a harsh reality in my community now and is expected to be for many years to come. It is one that none of us like, but many of us realize as a necessity so that we will never have an attack on precious American soil…ever again. -- Erin Coates Whitehead

Erin, aka Erin the Marine Wife, is frequent mentioned on the Clouds site, and is a proud wife to a proud and brave Marine husband. Her site, Many Kind Regards, is one of my favorites, and she's also just started a website for The Brendon Scott Coates Foundation for children with cancer.

September 11th Links and Thoughts

If you are new to the blog, then welcome! Stay a while. Wanted to share a story with you:

I was working at The Most Caffeinated Place in Soho yesterday, and overheard this from a fellow barista:

"Yeah, [The Most Merciful Anointed One, Messiah] Obama is going to set a timeline for Iraq. Remember when he wanted to do it a few years ago, and everyone said he was crazy? Well, now McCain and Bush are both calling for it. And [The Most Merciful Anointed One, Obama] is also going to make us energy independent in ten years!"

He was telling a customer this, who apparently had made the mistake of either asking or referring to politics. I just smiled. I felt almost overprepared, as I pondering just going straight into him with the fact that The Most Merciful Anointed Messiah Obama's timeline is a piece of crap, and his energy independence plan has as much substance as the movie I watched a few days ago.

However, I resisted. I do realize, though, that I'm going to have to speak up pretty soon. Emmy Turnbow asked me last night when I was going to light up The Most Merciful Anointed Messiah Obama, and after a brief pause, I replied, "Soon."

There's a lot I don't like about him. I used to like the guy, at least personally, but thought he was the wrong choice for president. Now? It's a character thing. I think The Most Merciful Anointed Messiah Obama has some serious character flaws, and deep down, I believe he's not a very good person. Why am I telling you this? Just as a teaser.

BUT... it's September 11th today. And as I usually do a post that remembers this day, I don't have time for original material, as I'm headed to The Happiest Place in the Mall. But for you new Clouds in My Coffee readers, or you people who may have missed it, I wanted to give you some links to my 9/11 blogs in the past.

2005:
"Thoughts on THAT Day", a reflection on how I learned of the attacks. In Part II, you'll read about my trip to Ground Zero in 2002.

2006:
In "Five Years Later: Today's Thoughts", I listed some of my favorite 9/11 tributes and memorials.

A few days later, I posted "Five Years Later: Where Were Some of You?", where I asked for, and received, some personal thoughts from some friends of mine, including Brooklyn, P-Mack, Matta Latta and more.

2007:
And this year, I posted one of my favorite posts ever, "Rebecca Miller & the Divine Do-Over". This was not so much about September 11th, as more of an admission of grace, and how God lets us do things again. I thought it fitting.

Hopefully, if elected, The Most Merciful Anointed Messiah Obama will let us do things over again. Like pay taxes over and over. Exciting, huh!