First responders decry exclusion from 9/11 ceremony

reply to post by billy197300


Thank you, why do they need permission?
I believe they earned their right to attend!

reply to post by Spinster


It may be one of many reasons they do not want them there.
And hey you are right we the people will never forget, but they do deserve to be honored and treated for what has happened to them because of 9/11. Us remembering them, will not heal and save them now.

reply to post by mike dangerously


Another spot on reply here!
It definitely would ruin a great PR moment and make them look pretty bad. They definitely can not let that happen, oh no.

reply to post by HomerinNC


No offense, but check the dates when threads are started before you post something like that. Mine was posted a week before yours.
Cheers!

I had the opportunity to go to New York last year. My husband and I made a special trip to 'ground zero' for personal reasons. I was disgusted.

First, let me say that every store-owner, etc. we asked for directions all asked "Why would you want to go there? There's nothing there"

When we DID get there....it was hard to tell we had arrived, because it is basically a few square city blocks surrounded by storm fencing with plywood over it so you can't see through. We walked the perimeter, looking for a memorial that wasn't there. Finally, we reached the firehouse next to it. They had some stuff out and a wall memorial for their own fallen. A little ways past that was the one and only "official" attraction. I call it an attraction, because that is what it was. The front part of the store had some memorial items on display, but the main part of it was nothing but a souvenir shop. It was disgusting. T-shirts, post cards, pencils.....you name it, you could buy it. I bought nothing. It made me sick that someone was profiting from it.

SO...that was my experience with 'ground zero'. A souvenir shop.

The commericals I am seeing for the discovery channel make me very uncomfortable. It seems so commercialized and that is just.....wrong.

The way this has all been created....it isn't right. Now, instead of recognizing the real heros of that day and the real survivors, instead they will make this grand parade and show and make as much off it as they can. It's all wrong.

reply to post by theUNKNOWNawaits


Exactly!
Nad if you think about it , the footage of the ceremony will be on a loop all day (probably for a couple days) internationally.
Do any of the politicians want the entire world to see the condition these brave men and women are in?
Or interviews with foreign reporters basically explaining to the world how badly they've been treated?

Ground zero will be absolute centre of attention on 9/11 this year, especially because it is 10 years on.
Pictures of first responders suffering in wheel charis, on inhalers , with crushed limbs and other diseases would be a PR nightmare for the administration.
Added to that the interviews that these first responders would give to foreign journalists , could be catastrophic for the administrations image.

'We'll never forget' will be proven to be just another 1 liner from politicians to boost the ratings.
Most of us here know it, but if they let this get out on international tv , 'we'll never forget' will be proven to be a big fat lie.

Also , everytime a speech is made about 9/11 ALWAY the phrase come,
' those who lost their lives, and the brave men and women from the police + fire dept.'

Now 10 years on , the first responders are shoved to the side and argh this just pisses me off so much...

Good thread!

reply to post by theUNKNOWNawaits


This here enrages me as a first responder myself, I know what it is like to run in when everyone else is running out and risk it all to save a stranger. it is normal for first responders to be overlooked and most dont mind because we choose to remain in the background anyway. Thi, however is going way overboard. yes I understand and sympathise with the victims and victims families, but in all actuality the first rsponders are victims as well. They have to live with the horrors of what they saw and the memories of those that they couldnt save and that part right there will take more of a mental and pshycological toll on them than anything and is something that the other victims will not have to live with. To have their sacrafices ignored is one thing, to not even be invited to the memorial service of the event that you risked your life and health to save others, in which i might add you lost 343 of your brothers (i know police and port authority lost too but dont have totals) is just ridiculos. especially when they cite "space restraint issues" as the pathetic excuse for you being excluded while they bring in a whole buttload of politicians not directly related to the event. I mean honestly, where was osama, er... i mean obama? where was bloomberg? where were all these other politicians when TSHTF????? hiding like scared rats having their @$$es holed up and protected by secret service and homeland security agents thats where. how many of them got within 10 miles of ground zero let alone take lend a hand or God forbid get their million dollar suits dirty to do anything positive for those who were suffereng, yet they get invited and treated as "guests of honor" while those who gave of themselves are excluded and left out in the cold, and who i am willing to bet will barley even be mentioned to the crowd gatherd. i apologize for the rant but it is ridiculos how screwed up this nation is when it comes to these things.

RIP the FDNY 343, brothers who paid the ultimate price. YOU ARE GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN!!!!!

reply to post by JROCK2527


Amen,
Your not the only one unbelievably annoyed about it, and I dont even live in the country.

Added to that , I dont have the perspective you have , being a first responder.
I can only imagine you have a much better handle on what these poor men and women went through and are going through now.
So if I had that experience I believe my head would just explode with anger.

If its any consolation, To the politicians this is just another PR excersice, but the people who actually give a dam the first responders will never ever be fogotten, and their actions and heroism always remembered.

reply to post by westcoast


I find that disgusting that they would ask you why you would want to go there, why would you not want to go there to honor those that died?
And yes I too have visited a few times when I lived in New Jersey and agree there is not much to see with it all blocked with fencing and sadly not really anything memorial like there too honor those that died and that day.
I do not remember seeing the souvenir shop when I went, but I find that too extremely disgusting that their are people making a profit like our government of off such a horrible and tragic event/day. Though at the same time I am not surprised as it is America nowadays.
Yes, it has been extremely commercialized and it is taking away from the real purpose of remembering that day.
It is extremely wrong and sad to which it has come to.

reply to post by Jeluzifus


Yes, it would be catastrophic for the administrations image. Well what is left of it, so no they do not want any of them there so the world will not see what is going on. Though the world needs to see this and be outraged at how they are treating those who risked their lives for their fellow people.
Yes, sadly "we'll never forget", will be used not in the right way.
Thanks, I think it is an extremely important issue that more people need to see and realize at the horrors going on.

reply to post by JROCK2527


No need to apologize for the rant as it is necessary for such an outrage to those who risked their lives for their fellow people. Thank you for being a first responder. I definitely understand that you would feel even more anger at seeing what is going on since you know what they would be going through.
One would think that if you put your life on the line for your country, you would be taken care of. Well apparently it is sad to say that in this country it is not so.
Their excuses for not allowing them there are transparent, ridiculous, and sad. It is so easy to see through them and see why they really do not want them there.
More people need to realize this and stand up and say how ridiculous this is how they are being treated, they are victims of that day as well!

You gotta wonder how just after all the firefighters and EMTs went inside the buildings all the firefighter radios were sabotaged (somehow) and the chief couldn't get his men out in time. It's almost like TPTB wanted firefighters and police to be casualties as well in order to add more anger to the war effort.. I know it sounds horrible but someone who would want to kill their own people for geopolitical reasons would not stop at anything.

reply to post by theUNKNOWNawaits


This saddens me so much. It reminds me of what has happened in my own country of Norge to a lesser degree. My personal belief (which could be wrong) is that the first responders are not wanted, because their testimony would most likely differ from the 'official story'.