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Post by Yla on Sept 12, 2011 7:32:58 GMT -5
It was the first day of school after the summer, and when I came home, everyone stood in front of the TV (which was only rarely switched on otherwise). I remember the news being essentially on a loop, occasionally updating when the towers fell or other noteworthy things happened. I don't recall how my reaction or attitude was. I also recall that we talked with the teacher about it in Religious Ed. the next day.
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Post by Ranger Joe on Sept 12, 2011 10:46:57 GMT -5
I was at Ft. Bragg, NC waiting for my time on the range. Then base alarms went off. Prior to that, we watched the towers get hit, collapse, look at each other and say, "Holy shit, we are going to war."
Then it was a flight across the pond.
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Post by Ranger Joe on Sept 12, 2011 10:48:29 GMT -5
You'd probably break your hip trying. ::shoulders his M4:: Get the fuck off my lawn. |
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Post by Ranger Joe on Sept 12, 2011 11:09:01 GMT -5
Hugh Thompson, Jr., a US chopper pilot who disobeyed orders and threatened to open fire on US soldiers who were slaughtering the people of My Lai in Vietnam. If there is anyone who earned the Medal of Honour it is him (he, of course, did not get it). Because, while his actions were valiant, they don't meet the requirements for the issue of the Medal of Honor. The guy was ::definitely:: in the right, but I wouldn't call his actions heroic. Praiseworthy? Yes. Morally strong? Definitely. |
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Sept 12, 2011 12:17:41 GMT -5
Giving your life to prevent countless deaths isn't heroic?
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Post by MaybeNever on Sept 12, 2011 12:54:11 GMT -5
He didn't give his life, and while that isn't necessary for the medal of honor, it probably does strengthen recommendations.
Makes me think of the Victoria Cross, which requires three witnesses. So when one guy goes Rambo, he isn't eligible for the honor. One rather interesting case from World War 2, that of British Lieutenant Commander Gerard Roope, had one of the recommending witnesses be the German Captain Heye. After a fight which killed Roope and sank his ship, Heye was so impressed by his enemy's bravery and skill - Heye's ship was heavily damaged and forced into port by a far inferior vessel - that he sent a letter to London recommending the award.
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Post by scotsgit on Sept 12, 2011 13:13:52 GMT -5
He didn't give his life, and while that isn't necessary for the medal of honor, it probably does strengthen recommendations. Makes me think of the Victoria Cross, which requires three witnesses. So when one guy goes Rambo, he isn't eligible for the honor. One rather interesting case from World War 2, that of British Lieutenant Commander Gerard Roope, had one of the recommending witnesses be the German Captain Heye. After a fight which killed Roope and sank his ship, Heye was so impressed by his enemy's bravery and skill - Heye's ship was heavily damaged and forced into port by a far inferior vessel - that he sent a letter to London recommending the award. The downside to that story is that it was ship's captain (Roope) who got the award, albiet posthumously. His crew, who also fought valiantly, got nothing. |
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Post by MaybeNever on Sept 12, 2011 13:18:25 GMT -5
The moral here is that if you're going to die fighting the enemy, make sure you're the CO.
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Post by Ranger Joe on Sept 12, 2011 13:21:29 GMT -5
Giving your life to prevent countless deaths isn't heroic? As a soldier, it's part of our job descriptions to give our lives. This isn't special. It's what we accept when we raise our right hands and take the oath. I'm sorry if I sound cold here, but after four deployments into hostile territories during the worst part of the fighting in the US's two wars, the one thing I've found is that there are thousands of soldiers who wouldn't (and didn't) have any problems giving their lives for the sake of their fellows. The entire purpose of the Medal of Honor is when people do things above and beyond the normal scope and range of expectations of a soldier. The chopper pilot, in this case, did exactly what a soldier was expected to do. Threaten to take whatever action was neccissary to prevent the deaths of innocents. This is a case of a damned good soldier, and a bunch of piss poor shitbags. |
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Sept 12, 2011 13:23:21 GMT -5
Bleh, I'm an idiot -- for some reason, I thought Joe was referring to one of the passengers from flight 93, rather than the chopper pilot.
My bad.
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Post by verasthebrujah on Sept 12, 2011 14:25:10 GMT -5
You'd probably break your hip trying. ::shoulders his M4:: Get the fuck off my lawn. Note to self: don't go to Maryland. |
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Post by A Reasonable Rat on Sept 12, 2011 14:36:56 GMT -5
I was sleeping in, it was about 9am when I got a phone call from my mother. I expected to hear a cheery 'Happy Birthday!', but instead I get a dismayed, 'TURN ON YOUR TEEVEE!! New York's been destroyed! It's all gone up in smoke and fire! Someone's attacking, world war 3 is starting and we're all going to die!!' (paraphrased for memory lapse.)
As we were both watching the news, I was sitting in my living room with the phone in my hand as the second plane hit, and as reports were coming in from the other attack sites, we actually were wondering if America might be about to get nuked - which would possibly put us in the path of destruction, being a large western city not far from the US border.
Hours pass... things calm down somewhat. We're still alive. So I ask, 'well what do you want to do now?'
She tells me, 'I made reservations at Tony Roma's for your birthday and I don't care if the world ends, we're going to Tony Roma's for your birthday!!'
So we went. There was only us, 2 waiters, and the cooks in the whole restaurant. It was pretty awkward. The food was okay, I think the chef wasn't up to his usual game that day. Wonder why...
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Sept 12, 2011 15:06:08 GMT -5
I was sleeping in, it was about 9am when I got a phone call from my mother. I expected to hear a cheery 'Happy Birthday!', but instead I get a dismayed, 'TURN ON YOUR TEEVEE!! New York's been destroyed! It's all gone up in smoke and fire! Someone's attacking, world war 3 is starting and we're all going to die!!' (paraphrased for memory lapse.) As we were both watching the news, I was sitting in my living room with the phone in my hand as the second plane hit, and as reports were coming in from the other attack sites, we actually were wondering if America might be about to get nuked - which would possibly put us in the path of destruction, being a large western city not far from the US border. I remember early on, there were all kinds of rumours about everything from vans exploding outside of malls to high levels of radiation being detected off the east coast of the US. Even respected news networks made a ton of erroneous reports (which was understandable, given how quickly everything was happening -- nobody knew what the hell was going on). |
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Post by Ranger Joe on Sept 12, 2011 15:16:03 GMT -5
Honestly, the fact that the planes were hi-jacked with box cutters frustrates me to hell. It's a goddamned box cutter. I am willing to bet both testicles and my dick (and I'm fond of all three) that if it's either get cut by a box cutter or kill this dumb fuck so he can't get to the pilot, the answer is clear.
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Post by Ranger Joe on Sept 12, 2011 15:17:04 GMT -5
::shoulders his M4:: Get the fuck off my lawn. Note to self: don't go to Maryland. Some folks rather like it here.  |
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