9/11: Too gruesome to ever forget
Retired New York City Police Officer recalls day of attackSOUTH GLENS FALLS — Every Sept. 11, retired New York City Police Officer Hazamoon Lisa Cahill relives the images, smells and sensations of a day too gruesome to look at and too haunting to forget.
And as she recounts the details of the attack from her South Glens Falls home on Friday, she must repeatedly pause the telling to garner the strength to continue. But she does because she said the stories of the people of 9/11 deserve to be told. Must be told.
“Their voices should be heard,” Cahill, 45, said.
<snip>
Officer Cahill was stationed at One Police Plaza with the Headquarters Security Unit, working for the police commissioner along with her NYPD partner, Anaya Price.
Federally trained in bomb and contraband detection, she was certified by the U.S. Marshall’s Services to operate a magnetometer — which uses an electromagnetic field to detect metal objects, such as concealed handguns — and for more than seven years she and Price protected the commissioner and other city officials.
Cahill recalls a New York Daily News story on Sept. 10, 2001. It was about a bombing in Israel. “I said to someone, ‘Thank God we don’t have to deal with this on U.S. soil,’ ” she said.
On 9/11, she went to work like always: Roll Call, 0710 hours.
Much more (Including photos): http://poststar.com/news/local/too-gruesome-to-ever-forget/article_19dc93fc-91df-5b73-bcbf-6503082aafa1.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
I think it's important to remember - and continue to teach - our history. And I think the best reason for this is sitting in the White House right now. He has no knowledge of or sense of history - to our continual peril.
I read this in the local paper today and I thought she gave a very affecting account of what it was like for her right on the front lines. It's important to her that people not forget, so I decided to pass this on. 
I agree that the war in Afghanistan is a losing proposition. The Russians - and President Carter - realized that long ago.
But the elements that attacked this country in 2001 are still active and working against us. I believe that we forget our history - especially recent history - at our peril. The Japanese and the Germans are now among our closest allies. Times do change, but the threats that we faced on 9/11 have not and it's something we can never forget and had better address - or it could happen again. 
and wanted to support the brave New Yorkers who were still in shock many months later. The cab driver who took me to the airport shared his story from that day when his cab was parked at the towers when the first plane hit. What he saw and experienced were beyond awful.
"the horror, the horror"
It's a way of dealing with it - and it's important to them that people know what it was like. I'm in New York, but pretty far upstate - just north of where this policewoman lives now. But I knew people who knew people who were there, I think it affected the entire country to a profound degree.
I was actually in the dentist's chair - just getting X-rays or something. But the dentist had the TV on CNN and I remember seeing footage of that second plane hitting over and over and over. It scared me witless, I was sure the world was about to end. I'd always voted, but that was a wake up call for me. I realized I didn't know enough about what was going on in this country and the world. So I started reading and taking a serious interest - and eventually found my way to DU. And, so far, I've worked on three congressional campaigns. Once you're aware of what's going on, there's no going back. 
It. President Obama didn't assume office until 2009, but he knew that it was important to follow up - or he wouldn't have gone after bin Laden. This is still an ongoing threat and we need to keep up - which is one reason Trump scares me. He doesn't keep up - barely knows what's going on - and we need to remain aware and proactive.
That's the reason we need a smart and proactive president - like Obama or Clinton or Carter - who understands what's going on in the world and is closely involved in what the intelligence services are learning and doing.
I didn't post this to debate 9/11, I just found her story very affecting. Part of it I think was her photo. She looks so young and dedicated. I would have included it in the OP, but I can't use Photobucket like I used to for posting pix on DU and the photo used in the article is too large.
It's the story of a brave young woman who suddenly became a first responder. People are still being affected. First responders continue to die every day - as a result of what they endured that day - and for weeks afterwards. This woman survived and I thought her story was worth passing on.
