Semper 9/11
Condolences to everyone who had a friend or relative murdered on 9/11 for Allah, and to all of those heroic people who lost their lives trying to save those who were murdered.
Marine Dave Karnes heard about the WTC attack while working at Deloitte Touche in Wilton, Connecticut, writes Rebecca Liss in a worthy reprint on Slate, and ended up finding two of the only 12 9/11 survivors pulled from the rubble:
When the second plane hit, Karnes told his colleagues, "We're at war." He had spent 23 years in the Marine Corps infantry and felt it was his duty to help. Karnes told his boss he might not see him for a while.Then he went to get a haircut.
The small barbershop in Stamford, Conn., near his home, was deserted. "Give me a good Marine Corps squared-off haircut," he told the barber. When it was done, he drove home to put on his uniform. Karnes always kept two sets of Marine fatigues hanging in his closet, pressed and starched. "It's kind of weird to do, but it comes in handy," he says. Next Karnes stopped by the storage facility where he kept his equipment--he'd need rappelling gear, ropes, canteens of water, his Marine Corps K-Bar knife, and a flashlight, at least. Then he drove to church. He asked the pastor and parishioners to say a prayer that God would lead him to survivors. A devout Christian, Karnes often turned to God when faced with decisions.
Finally, Karnes lowered the convertible top on his Porsche. This would make it easier for the authorities to look in and see a Marine, he reasoned. If they could see who he was, he'd be able to zip past checkpoints and more easily gain access to the site. For Karnes, it was a "God thing" that he was in the Porsche--a Porsche 911--that day. He'd only purchased it a month earlier--it had been a stretch, financially. But he decided to buy it after his pastor suggested that he "pray on it." He had no choice but to take it that day because his Mercury was in the shop. Driving the Porsche at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour, he reached Manhattan--after stopping at McDonald's for a hamburger--in the late afternoon.
His plan worked. With the top off, the cops could see his pressed fatigues, his neatly cropped hair, and his gear up front. They waved him past the barricades. He arrived at the site--"the pile"--at about 5:30. Building 7 of the World Trade Center, a 47-story office structure adjacent to the fallen twin towers, had just dramatically collapsed. Rescue workers had been ordered off the pile--it was too unsafe to let them continue. Flames were bursting from a number of buildings, and the whole site was considered unstable. Standing on the edge of the burning pile, Karnes spotted ... another Marine dressed in camouflage. His name was Sgt. Thomas. Karnes never learned his first name, and he's never come forward in the time since.
Together Karnes and Thomas walked around the pile looking for a point of entry farther from the burning buildings. They also wanted to move away from officials trying to keep rescue workers off the pile. Thick, black smoke blanketed the site. The two Marines couldn't see where to enter. But then "the smoke just opened up." The sun was setting and through the opening Karnes, for the first time, saw clearly the massive destruction. "I just said 'Oh, my God, it's totally gone.' " With the sudden parting of the smoke, Karnes and Thomas entered the pile. "We just disappeared into the smoke--and we ran."
They climbed over the tangled steel and began looking into voids. They saw no one else searching the pile--the rescue workers having obeyed the order to leave the area. "United States Marines," Karnes began shouting. "If you can hear us, yell or tap!"
Over and over, Karnes shouted the words. Then he would pause and listen. Debris was shifting and parts of the building were collapsing further. Fires burned all around. "I just had a sense, an overwhelming sense come over me that we were walking on hallowed ground, that tens of thousands of people could be trapped and dead beneath us," he said.
After about an hour of searching and yelling, Karnes stopped.
"Be quiet," he told Thomas, "I think I can hear something."
He yelled again. "We can hear you. Yell louder." He heard a faint muffled sound in the distance.
"Keep yelling. We can hear you." Karnes and Thomas zeroed in on the sound.
"We're over here," they heard.
They saved two Port Authority police officers.
Watching the live video coverage, particularly at 9:03am ET brought everything back again.
Robert W. (Vancouver) at September 10, 2010 11:49 PM
Have you forgotten how you felt that day?
Remember that we didn't ask for it -- and nine years down the line they want to build a fracking mosque in honor of the terrorists -- no punks -- that did the damage.
Jim P. at September 11, 2010 4:21 AM
Murdered for Allah? That's debatable. Murdered by a terrorist plan that had nothing to do with Allah or anyone's notion of God. The pawns may have thought they were doing it for Allah, but the acts were devised by just plain evil humans.
Elizabeth M. (Michigan) at September 11, 2010 9:19 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2010/09/11/semper_911.html#comment-1753394">comment from Elizabeth M. (Michigan)Murdered for Allah? That's debatable. Murdered by a terrorist plan that had nothing to do with Allah or anyone's notion of God. The pawns may have thought they were doing it for Allah, but the acts were devised by just plain evil humans.
Elizabeth M., that spoken like somebody who has no understanding of Islam. And you don't, and I do. Turn to Sura 9 (Chapter 9) and you'll find the commands in the Quran to convert or kill the infidel for Allah.
Amy Alkon
at September 11, 2010 12:01 PM
Elizabeth, no one is saying that all Muslims are terrible, nor that all Muslims were in support of what happened on September 11th, 2001. But your ignorant denial of what happened that day is beyond the pale. I realize that psychologically you may have spun this alternate reality in your head because you can't cope with the fact that this murderous act was absolutely done in the name of Islam but expressing it as you have is very offensive.
Robert W. (Vancouver) at September 11, 2010 12:16 PM
Here's a first hand account of what happened on that terrible day.
Robert W. (Vancouver) at September 11, 2010 12:17 PM
Yes, Elizabeth the correct term is murdered and at Allah's command. I am sorry that you want to stick your head in a hole and pretend that these people don't seek our deaths as a result of direct commands from their religious leadership but that is the reality.
I notice that she says she is from Michigan. Makes me wonder if she isn't an American convert to Islam. You know, one of those stupid American women who think the hijab is really "freeing" and has liberated her from Wester ideas of beauty. I notice that those women are usually the women who least need to worry about covering up their "beauty".
sheepmommy at September 11, 2010 1:58 PM
um.. sheepmommy, I'm missing your point on why her stating she's from Michigan makes you wonder if she's an American convert to Islam? You know Amy's from Michigan too, right? I don't understand the correlation.. please explain.
Angie at September 11, 2010 2:38 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2010/09/11/semper_911.html#comment-1753459">comment from AngieThere are a lot of Arabs in Dearborn, perhaps that's what she's getting at? Still, it's a very small population relative to the population of the state. Very, very, very, very small.
Amy Alkon
at September 11, 2010 2:47 PM
Angie, look at her signature, after her name she put in "(Michigan)"
lujlp at September 11, 2010 3:35 PM
Elizabeth - Please look into the history of those who commissioned and committed the atrocity at WTC.
All of them did it for the glory of Islam in the name of Allah. It was intended to destroy our economy and make Americans turn to Islam for comfort and forgiveness.
It was (at the time) the latest salvo fired in the war of Islam against Western Civilization. This war has been going on since the 8th century.
@sheepmommy - I don't think her location has anything to do with it. There are three types of people (in my experience, YMMV) who minimize 9/11: Two honest: those who haven't recovered from the shock, and those who refuse to believe that organized evil could exist at any level higher than a few random pricks. One dishonest: those who believe we had it coming.
I cannot say which Elizabeth is.
brian at September 12, 2010 6:29 AM
Yeah, luj, I saw the signature, I just don't understand why Sheepmommy thinks that means she's an American convert to Islam. Reread what I wrote.
I don't know Amy, seems like quite a jump, but perhaps that was her thought process.
Angie at September 13, 2010 7:52 AM
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