Stan,
I can identify with what you said. But it will not be business as usual for
me from now on. I am not looking for revenge. I am looking for closure.
Through my work, I will make a contribution to the preservation of freedom,
humanity, and human dignity. Yesterday gave me a reason to believe in the
work that I do. Today I go to work steeled by my belief in everything that
is good in this world. To those who brought these events about: You bombed
the wrong people... Your evil will be your "denouement"
ppro
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Stan Halpin
> Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2001 2:23 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: Relative in World Trade Center
>
>
>
> on 9/11/01 15:17, Mike Johnston at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> > My stepsister's husband arrived for work at the World Trade Center this
> > morning at 8:45. He was in the lobby when the first plane hit,
> and got out
> > quickly, but it was three hours before he was able to contact any family
> > members. It made for a very anxious morning for my stepsister
> and stepfather
> > and the rest of the family.
> >
> > All my thoughts are with families who are living with uncertainty and
> > despair tonight. It will be an inconceivably long night for them.
> >
> > --Mike
> > -
>
> As many of you know, I live in Kansas City Missouri. I work for the U.S.
> Army (and am a civilian). A few comments about our national tragedy:
>
> 1. I am in Alexandria Virginia about 2 miles from the Pentagon. I am here
> this week for a meeting; we were in a building about 3 miles
> away. We heard
> and felt the secondary explosion from the plane flying into the Pentagon.
>
> 2. It took about an hour to get through to my wife (indirectly)
> and let her
> know I am ok. Landlines overloaded, cell phones circuits overloaded.
> Everybody asking questions, nobody answering. My heart goes out
> to those who
> are still waiting for that call from their loved one. The newscast is now
> saying up to 800 dead in the Pentagon. A small number compared to the WTC,
> but the Pentagon is closer to me, and it is populated with people
> I know and
> work with. I know nothing about what has happened to any of them. I just
> heard the story of a men trapped in the WTC who called his sister via cell
> phone to tell her that he was alive under the debris and could she please
> send help.
>
> 3. We adjourned our meeting. I spent the day first with my mother in her
> Nursing Home (does that translate? "Nursing Home is the term we
> use in U.S.
> to refer to a range of elderly care facilities, for older persons
> unable to
> live on their own anymore) watching the tv. Then back to my room,
> then back
> to dinner with her. Sitting in the dining room of her Home, I was
> listening
> to these old (mostly 80+) decrepit (many physical and mental problems)
> people around me talk about the need for revenge on the criminals who did
> this. I found it very sad. It seems that fundamentalist and anarchist
> barbarians everywhere (Islamic, Christian, Secular, whoever) are
> winning the
> war against civilization. Whenever we fall back on eye-for-an-eye
> reasoning,
> we have lost our veneer of humanity and have become feral
> animals. Thousands
> of people were killed today. Let us mourn them and comfort the survivors
> before we rush to judgment and revenge.
>
> 4. Back to the Pentagon. Someone commented that this is not really a
> "civilian" target. I don't know the proportions, but there are
> many like me
> who work there, civilian employees of the military. By all civilized
> standards of conduct, we are not valid targets of a military
> operation. Only
> uniformed military are. But the rules are changing, and I for one don't
> think I will be too sympathetic to future complaints from the bad
> guys about
> collateral damage they have incurred. (I have volunteered and requested to
> go to conflict zones, request denied; if I had made it, then if I had been
> killed in an act of war, so be it. But, until now, the U.S. was not a
> theater of war.)
>
> 5. Daphne, Lasse, Fritz, Gianfranco, all of you from outside the
> U.S. whose
> honest and heart-felt concern came through in your messages, thank you for
> caring. We are still very much in shock. In times of crisis it is good to
> reach out and hold hands with friends and loved ones. Thank you
> for offering
> a virtual hand to hold.
>
> 6. Tomorrow we will go to work, "business as usual", to
> demonstrate that we
> will not let the bastards get us down. I expect that it will not
> be business
> as usual for a long time, if ever.
>
> Thanks for listening.
>
> Stan
> -
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