Voices, Part III

The Youngest: “On September 11, 2001, four hijackers siezed United Airlines Flight 93 and turned it in the direction of Washington, D.C…Only God knows where the hijackers would have directed their attack, or how many more innocent lives would have been lost. Only God knows what national icon would have been destroyed. Only God knows, because 40 men and women said, “You shall not pass.”, and earned a place in history next to Leonidas and the 300.”
a small victory: “no ordinary day : other voices – [A]ll of the quotes below are excerpts from comments. You can read the full comments in the post below. I’ll be adding more as the day goes on. I’ve taken some of the longer emails I received and posted them here. I encourage you to read each and every entry in full, even if you don’t do it all today. They are heartfelt and heartbreaking, they are sad and hopeful. I spent most of my night crying while I read through each one of them. Thank you to everyone who participated…”
Dr. Manhattan: “I found (via a commenter on Little Green Footballs) a television archive site which has portions of the live TV coverage of the attacks from numerous sources. I personally watched this clip from ABC’s Good Morning America. I was struck by the following two feelings: 1) How utterly shallow and stupid the show was before the news broke; and 2) Wishing that the stupidity and shallowness would continue, rather than be blown away by the intrusion of the horrible reality that could no longer be ignored…”
Eric S. Raymond: “…the war is far from over. Islamic terrorism has not been repudiated by the ulema, the college of elders who prescribe the interpretation of the Koran and the Hadith. The call to violent jihad wired into the foundations of Islam has not yet been broken or tamed into a form civilization can coexist with. Accomplishing that is the true challenge that faces us, one greater and more subtle than merely military victory.”
Scott Koenig: “I wasn’t planning to post anything on the various commemorations and memorial services today — but this morning I saw something that changed my mind. I was getting ready to go to work, just like a year ago, and the television was on. Donald Rumsfeld was giving an address at the Pentagon memorial. The camera panned through the crowd as Rumsfeld spoke of the survivors, and settled for a moment on a man wearing a Stetson hat, with scars on his face and neck. I instantly recognized him as a college classmate, Kevin Shaeffer…”