Feedback, page 4

I am relieved that all at Weatherly are safe and accounted for. It must have been a house of horrors. I had to smile, recalling how Bill would stroll in the office at 9:10am ! certainly on this day, it was a good thing.

The whole thing is so hard to believe. I have former coworkers who work at cantor fitz--and i fear for their safety. I'm sure you know some people too who might not have made it. It kind of makes the stock market seem so trivial. Still, out of the ashes, life does go on. This time is no exception.

Stay well, and thanks for the info.

Hal

I am still in shock. I still cannot fathom the devastation. I do not think I will ever comprehend the reasons, the evil, the mentality of people who could do this another human being. The stories and personal accounts are horrifying and become even worse when you realize that that is only one story among thousands of others who experienced the same if not worse.

My thoughts have been whirling these past few days. One minute I am numb and cannot move or think, staring at tv broadcasts or listening to news on the radio. Then, I am dumbfounded as I ask why? How could this happen? How could anyone do this? Then I become angry, in a rage. Mostly, though, I find myself just crying.

I do not know how to offer comfort, how to reassure anyone. I think one of the few reassurances I have right now is that our country will band together. As you said, we have wakened a giant. This act has unleashed the American spirit in way no one has ever seen - not even during our fight for freedom.

kal teksystems.com

Thank you for your moving account of your friend's experiences. You are so right- the sleeping giant has been awakened again. God Bless America.

Elizabeth

Thank you for sharing Bill's experience with the rest of us.

Sitting "safely" in the suburbs of Chicago, I can only say that I was overcome with fear and remorse as most of the nation was at the sights and sounds on the tv, radio and internet - of the unspeakable disaster unfolding before our eyes the past three days.

Reading your story helps to put "a name - a life" behind the numbers we see on the screen and hear on the radio.

Unfortunately, I sincerely doubt that it will have an impact on the people who believe what they did was necessary (the cell members still alive) - I wouldn't know how to reach those people in words - but perhaps it will help to set the resolve of those of us who read it, to apply pressure and keep applying pressure to our government to prevent something like this from ever happening to anyone, anywhere in the world ever again. Regardless of anyone's religious or political convictions, no one has the right to annihilate innocent people. Not ever.

America needs to understand the way which we are viewed outside our borders - we need to know how to change those views, otherwise we will remain the target (sitting duck?) that we are today. Maybe your story will help change someone's views.

Thank you.

Ella

Your account only fuels what terrible scenes I have in my mind, of the carnage and destruction - I can barely imagine what people have and are going thru and to offer sincere condolences is so appropriate, but seems so insignificant. I am happy that Bill escaped.

My wife Karen, our nine year old daughter Aishia and I, only left Manhattan Monday morning to return to the UK after a four day vacation - we both adore New York for its vitality, people, lifestyle and scale and we had a wonderful time.

Looking at the photos we have of our visit, especially those taken of Karen and Aishia in the Plaza and looking up at WTC, I just cannot accept what has happened in such a short moment, to all that we left behind. Of all things I cannot comprehend that the twin towers and some of the surrounding buildings no longer exist. And what of the massive loss of life?

I am not a religious man at all, but it appears that religion is part of the cause - that also I do not understand, as many races and religions have been directly or indirectly hurt by this disaster.

The Buddha once said "Evil-doers are not wicked by nature. They do evil because they are ignorant". How apt.

Our deepest regards and sympathy to all New Yorkers, Americans and all people affected by this horrific event.

Regards
Mark , lineone.net

Dear Friend:

My name is Bertha M. Chaveco. I am from Cuba and I have been living in this country just for three years. I would like to give you my condolence and I would like to let you know that every night since April 1998 I thank God for allow me to be in this great country. My husband and I we are deeply sad for what had happened.

Our thoughts are with you and we the american people.

If you want to writte me back you can

Sincerely.

Bertha & Carlos
netzero.net

Barry, I am Gloria, close friend of Barbara and Bob. Barbara sent me your article and I was so moved. I am grateful for the opportunity to have read this and compliment you on what has to have been exceedingly difficult to write about. I wish you and Wendy a good and peaceful New Year. Aol.com
Your article on your friend's personal experience was excellent. I also very much appreciated your page on "how this came to be". Thank you for taking the time to do both pages.

I do hope none of us ever have to share this type of experience again. You stated you were safe and sound ......... so was I (all the way in Wisconsin), but in reality this tragic effort has certainly made us all realize none of us are really safe and sound. We just happened to not be "there" at that particular "time". But what is the potential of a "next time"? Where will we be then?

Mary Williams
Wisconsin

We have followed these historical events. Our deep sympathy for the American friends will certainly bring all of us together in out fight against terror.

Hans, Netherlands

Barry & Wendy,

We are so glad to hear that you two are OK. I hope that all of the folks from your main office are OK as well, but it will be quite a challenge trying to get back to "normal" (if we are ever "normal" again).

Please keep us up-to-date about how you're doing. A bit of good news from us, Tom and I are going to have another baby in April. We're excited, but a bit apprehensive as well. It's hard to bring a child into such an unstable world.

Stay Well
Cathy, Boston

Thank you so much for posting this. For you and Bill, I hope you know how many of your fellow Americans are with you in spirit. We are shocked and saddened by it all and most of us cannot find the words to express it. Our thoughts are with you and everyone back there having to deal with it in your front yard.

Teresa Zieminski-Myers
Sunnyvale, CA

So glad to hear you are all right. Cathy and I had just returned from vacation when the mayhem started. Kaho made it out but I'm afraid there are other former Liberty Mutual co-workers who are among the missing.

Tom in Boston

Eileen Walters sent me your amazing story. Thanks for writing it. Hope tomorrow and the markets go well for you tomorrow. pla u.arizona.edu

My brother's name is Barry also, so I actually double-checked to see if that was your name before responding! That's fun!! Onto the more sobering issue, I don't know why I'm even doing this, I guess I just want to say I'm so happy for your friend. Also the contrast between the two meetings of Arabs is astonishing! My husband and I spent our first year of marriage in Israel, and had neat connections with Arabs (and I'm Jewish!- though I am a Messianic Jew-if there is hate it will be twicefold for me!!) We did also have some scary occurrences as well.

Anyway, I grew up in NY, and I guess we're all horrified no matter where we come from! I hope that you can come to know peace in the midst of the craziest storm, this side of the holocaust.

God richly bless you and your family with Himself,

Another Mourner, Leah,

I work in Irvington, New York right on the Hudson and saw the first building come down... The whole office complex on Bridge Street was is shock. People from every type of business looking directly at the devastation down the Hudson river and at the same time hovering by nearby offices to peer in office windows and screen doors, in huddled masses to hear the news on television. Mexican construction workers, Russian programmers at IWON.com, graphic designers and restaurant chefs...looking at what was, and shall forever be, the most devastating act of cruelty and terrorism on our beautiful country.

Yesterday my school mate Maria's brother Will came to my office for help. Their brother Joe worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, on the 104th floor. They believe he has perished. I scanned a photo of him and Photoshop'd his daughter out of the photo...we agreed taking his daughter out of the photo would help in keeping the focus on him. We debated this...but the resolution was clear. We are not trying to evoke a sense of sadness, we are desperately trying to find Joe...there is enough sadness already. It finally hit home...someone in White Plains was affected... and I could finally help. I spoke to Joe?s Mom on Thursday Morning...She was unintelligible and crying..My heart just broke. I could not bare to think what a mother who had lost a son was feeling. Having Will and his friends there in my office on Friday hovering over my desk and Art Directing me an Art Director of all things was beautiful. The message on the flyer was clear.. Line one read..."Missing" (these were words of hope) Line two read ..."World Trade Center, Building One, 104th floor" These were words of reality, for we all know in our hearts that Joe may in deed be gone. The photo may be missing his daughter...but his daughter will be missing a loving father forever.

God Bless Joe and his family

Paul
@earthlink.net

An open letter to a terrorist: Well, you hit the World Trade Center, but you missed America. You hit the Pentagon, but you missed America. You used helpless American bodies, to take out other American bodies, but like a poor marksman, you STILL missed America. Why? Because of something you guys will never understand. America isn't about a building or two, not about financial centers, not about military centers, America isn't about a place, America isn't even about a bunch of bodies. America is about an IDEA. An idea, that you can go someplace where you can earn as much as you can figure out how to, live for the most part, like you envisioned living, and pursue Happiness. (No guarantees that you'll reach it, but you can sure try!) Go ahead and whine your terrorist whine, and chant your terrorist litany: "If you can not see my point, then feel my pain." This concept is alien to Americans. We live in a country where we don't have to see your point. But you're free to have one. We don't have to listen to your speech. But you're free to say one. Don't know where you got the strange idea that everyone has to agree with you. There's a spirit that tends to take over people who come to this country, looking for opportunity, looking for liberty, looking for freedom. Even if they misuse it. You guys seem to be incapable of understanding that we don't live in America, America lives in US! American Spirit is what it's called. And killing a few thousand of us, or a few million of us, won't change it. Most of the time, it's a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of Spirit. Until we're crossed in a cowardly manner, then it becomes an entirely different kind of Spirit. Wait until you see what we do with that Spirit, this time. Sleep tight, if you can. We're coming....

I've heard the hackneyed excuse more times than I care to remember: These bad or sick people twisted the moral messages of Islam or Christianity or Judaism. These religions teach nonviolence, peace and love. Bullshit! The fact is that there are plenty of good religious people out there but...The good religious people are the ones doing the twisting. Here's my point: The founders of Christianity, Judaism and Islam had twisted morals and that is reflected in their religious texts - the bibles and koran. So called modern, good, religious people re-twist the meanings of these twisted texts to try to derive straight untwisted morals. This untwisting is euphemistically labeled reinterpretation. The twisted texts remain, in the perception of the religious rank and file, as god's sacred word. As long as these texts are held out to be sacred, the dangerous reality is that some read these texts and take them at their face value - the sick and twisted morals of the twisted authors/founders are thought to be god's word. Holding these twisted texts as god's word inevitably leads to horrible consequences like this past Tuesday's.

Okay, I have to jump in, here.

I'm still babbling in shock, so make allowances. (Four co-workers and a neighbor were on those Boston flights, and I watched them building those towers.)

This is NOT a war. The attacks were not an act of war.

An act of war is a strategic operation to benefit a people by those possessing a legal charter to represent those people.

These attacks were raw violence motivated by nothing more than blind hatred, instigated by those who have no charter whatsoever to represent anyone, much less those groups "designated" to rationalize the abandonment of civilization while indulging barbaric, primitive reactions.

And this has nothing to do with Palestine or Islam.

Without going into details about the history of Osama Been Lyin', I would consider that Islam is more an excuse than a cause. Islam is a convenient way to get young and gullible people to jump onto an aircraft and commit suicide "in the name of Allah".

Notice that Bin Lyin' hasn't ever gone to see Allah, hisself. But he's plenty willing to send others.

The most appropriate response -- the only one that can make a major impact on the future of terrorism, it for the world to seize this unique opportunity to build a global coalition which, more than just mouthing platitudes, would get their hands dirty joining together to apprehend and punish the guilty parties as a united whole, standing together against those who rationalize random, indiscriminate violence.

Or, in more militant terms: Drop the whole planet on them!

D, ultranet.com

Hi Barry,

Glad your friends got out OK. I enjoyed your storytelling. Amazing stuff. Perhaps almost as amazing is that you've gotten almost 51,000 hits on it in 3 days.

Warmest regards,
Danny mindspring.com

Thank God that you and your friend are safe. I am praying for a calm and measured response not only from our government but also from our citizens. May God's blessings continue for you and yours.

Thank you for sharing and thank God your friend was spared.

Robin California

Thanks, Barry. Your piece the other day was very moving.

All of my prayers go out to everyone within your company, families and friends. I am glad to hear that your coworkers survived this horrible massacre. I have a lot of friends that worked in the WTC, which thank God they are all home safe and sound.

My father is a part of New York Finest and has been at ground zero for days helping the best he can. Me and one of my coworker collected money and bought supplies for the brave men, woman and dogs at ground zero.

We brought the supplies to WBLI/WBAB last night. It was so overwhelming to see so many people pitching in and donating so many supplies. We were there for a while and pitched in our selves. Then three of us went down to Port Jefferson to sit by the water, where we met five other extremely nice people and lit candles and said Our Father's for all of the innocent people that lost the lives.

It was so touching I couldn't help but cry. Again all of my prayers go out to you, your coworkers and their families along with many others.

God Bless America!

Yours Truly
Danielle, Port Jefferson, NY

i'm thankful for people like you for sharing a story like this. I am consumed by this horror. my family and i donate gatorade, food, clothing, blood. it is not enough. when will i be rid of the guilt i feel because i can sip on my morning coffee, enjoy a hot meal, hug my children? i mourn for all the victims and their families. it is not enough. trying hard to teach my children not to hate.

candice

Dear Barry:

I am from northwestern Canada, far from the attacks. And yet, I feel like I am right next door. Your writing on the event was very well done, and I feel for your friend who was there. I have actually been to NYC, and seen the majesty of the towers, and I think the vision of them collapsing will live with me forever. It's really hard to know what to say, but please just know that Canada and Canadians share your pain and grief, and we will do whatever we can to help.

All Americans are in my prayers.

Cindy, Canada

Thank you! I broke down this morning after seeing the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald on the Today Show weep as he talked about losing over 700 of his "family." There is a grieving process that all Americans will experience in the coming months. Your writing has helped me start that process and head down the road to healing.

Thanks, Dan
Montereyinc.com I, too broke down when I saw that on CNBC. My counterpart at Cantor was a great guy named Bill Meehan. After we took opposite sides of an issue in 2 articles at TheStreet.com in late March, we were supposed to go out for a beer. We never got around to it . . . I was right for about 2 months; then it was his view that proved correct. If you are curious, my piece is at: http://www.thestreet.com/comment/techfiles/1359327.html And his is at: http://www.thestreet.com/comment/themeehannotes/1358020.html

I received this picture this morning about ten minutes before stumbling across your site.

Lisa Lawrenceville, GA 1-800-HELP NOW Red Cross 253-274-0432 NY Firefighters Fund The image I used in the piece came form Lisa . . . Thanks!

Thank you for sharing this story. Many of us see what happened on TV and can't comprehend the reality. It is like many families that know their loved one is dead but without a body can't believe it. Why people think that killing themselves and others is a better way to deal with life I will never understand.

God bless everyone! I thank God that so many people made it out safely. My prayers are filled with hope and peace for all.

Pam, Grand Rapids, MI

I agree with your thoughts. It does seem like we are all in the military. Especially the brave civilians who brought down the plane in Pa. Our world will never be the same for sure. This time, it's a wake up call that will stop terrorism forever.

Thank you for sharing your friend's plight.

Brenda, Vermont

Ritz...we weep for all of New York and Washington D. C., the dead and the families that are left behind,,,that something like this of unspeakable horrific magnitude that is man-induced comes to our very soil is way beyond comprehension...may these lunatics be meted their just destiny...NY is strong and resilient ...it will come back stronger and even a better New York.....

ArtsLogic

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