Memorial: September 11

[pegkerr]

Here's a powerful article in Esquire on the famous photograph of the Falling Man.

Comments

[sparkyred.livejournal.com]

That is an amazing piece. Thank you for showing it.

[aki-dreaming.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for sharing that article.

[cindysilver.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this.

[rachet.livejournal.com]

....speechless.

What an amazing article.

[tinymich.livejournal.com]

That was amazing.

Peg, I'm going to link to this on my own journal, if you don't mind?

[perimyndith.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting that link.

[cheshyre]

Wow.
and, as others have already said, I'm speechless and thanks for sharing the link.

[dustybinx.livejournal.com]

Whew...

[dorotea.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing that article. It's a very moving piece.

Dor

[dancingrain.livejournal.com]

Wow. That is powerful indeed.

I always viewed the jumpers with a certain amount of pride, as well as horror. I've always known that had I been faced with their choice, it's what I would have done. There's some kind of courage that goes beyond what is normally ever required of a person when they are forced to make that choice, to choose the manner of their own death. To me, in jumping, each of those people reaffirmed the life they were about to lose. They made an active choice, and for the last moments of their lives, they were allowed to fly.

Thank you for linking this.

[siriologist.livejournal.com]

I heard the NPR piece on this issue and they must have been interviewing the author of this piece, because the way the "Falling Man" was described sounded familiar. I enjoyed the article more, as it went into more depth and reasoning.

I really didn't follow the news coverage of 9/11 so I didn't realize it was a concious choice by the media to stop showing the jumpers. I do remember seeing them in the initial coverage and wondering why they weren't shown in subsequent coverage. Now I know and I'm not sure whether I agree with the decision or not. I tend to think while we see too much violence today, we don't see enough actual death to feel like it is a part of life. I know that sounds macabre and weird (and I don't want to see people dying violently, but our ancestors saw death much closer and I think were more accepting of it as a conclusion to life)...but...its a difficult thing to explain.

It is a bit of a shock to realize these falling people are *not* stunt people in a movie somewhere, and we do have to respect the people who believe that this was suicide and therefore an impediment gaining a blessed afterlife, but at the same time, is it really sick for me to cheer for these jumpers just a little bit. They had to feel there was no hope of survival and as we all know there really wasn't. What an act of courage to take that step and meet death on your own terms. That said, they didn't give much thought to the people on the ground that they might hit or just how damaging it would be to actually see something like that. Devastating to say the least.

I also have to admit I've always had a small fascination with jumping off a building and wondering what that feeling would be like to fly. That said, there is nothing on this earth that could entice me to take up skydiving. Go figure.

Anyway, great article, thanks for the link. SO full of contradictory feelings...It gave me so many things to think about. Hope these comments weren't too inappropriate for the day and while I'm thinking about it for you in your situation with Rob's dad. Urgh...maybe I'll rewrite and say thanks for the link...

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this. It helped articulate my experience and that of those around me. Because I was in Canada on That Day, I watched both Canadian and American coverage, and only saw the footage of people jumping from the buildings on the American stations. Until they stopped showing it.

When I have told this story to friends, several times I have been shushed and told to stop telling the story of people jumping. I always insisted that my experience that day was valid, and mine, and told my story anyway. But this article helps me understand the discomfort others felt which caused them to not want to hear what I had to say.

K.