I'll never forget.....9/11 & 5/17

I have just been on Main Street Memories blog where her little granddaughter Ella Ireland, signs the beam and says in her childish voice " Never Forget"

I'll never forget the day it happened. I was on my way to the shops when the program on the car radio was interupted for a newsflash... One plane...then A second plane. I raced home to the TV and stayed with it. I shared the horror of what was happening. I saw people running....I was sick to my stomach.

At age nineteen, during the "Troubles" here in Ireland, in 1974  I saw a terrorist bomb go off in Dublin City Centre's Talbot Street.... and the awful aftermath of it.  Most of the bombs at that time were in the North of Ireland and we, in the south, really never understood what the people of Northern Ireland had to live with daily. We found out that day.

Three bombs went off in  Dublin City within minutes of each other on 17th May 1974 - catching people as they fled for their lives. I fled too, all the time thinking "I want to live"  and "am I running into the next one?" I know what it is to feel the terror that they want us to experience. That is another day I'll never forget.....5.30pm, 17th May 1974.

I saw them running on 9/11 and I knew their terror, I knew their thoughts. I ran with them. I was with them.

The photo on left shows people running from one bomb perhaps towards another. I am in that crowd somewhere.

The Dublin Monaghan Bombings is based on interviews with the families of those who were murdered on May 17th, 1974, when three bombs exploded in Dublin wrecking the capital and innocent lives. The suspects are known, but, 27 years later, the biggest mass murder in the history of the Republicof Ireland remains unsolved.

 ...and the second one shows the memorial to the dead of the Talbot Street bomb,  It includes John O'Brien (25) Anna O'Brien (22) Ann-Marie O'Brien (5 months) and Jacqueline O'Brien (17 months)  The whole family wiped out. I saw Ann-Marie as she was taken by a fireman from the grating in the ground through which she had been blown. Her soother (dummy or comforter) was hanging, swinging from her little cardigan where her mam had pinned it that morning.

 

 

This one -though... 9/11, 2001  was a world changing event. Iwatched them running and  I remember thinking  "I want to get off this world"

Of course I didn't get off this world....What I did do - is get off the fence. I no longer had the luxury of being "Neutral" ...I finally had to take sides. I did.

 

Comments

[Colleen]

My eyes are filled with tears. Thank you for letting us all know that pain, fear and sadness are indeed worldwide and that we are "All God's Children" - the death of any man diminishes us all...
Blessings my friend,
Colleen

[Sweet Repose]

I remember watching the events in Ireland on the news and remember thinking, why can't people get along, why does religion have to pit brother against brother...so many wars fought in the name of it...who cares if you're Protestant, Catholic, Muslem...WHATEVER...we are all human beings and that is that. Worship who you will and let the rest of us be...it all boils down to money and power,we have learned that from history...lessons never learned.

Wonderful post Pam, glad you are here to tell us about it and my heart goes out to those that still suffer with the incomplete picture. We are just the ants under the boots of the bullies...our governments.

Thank you friend,
sharon-from across the pond

[eve]

Tragedy brings us all a little closer and we realize there is no diffrence in the things we hold dear. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness are still the most important things.

[Sweet Cottage Dreams]

I cannot agree with you more in your sentiments. It is so sad to know there are people who actually share our world but do not share our views on love, peace and treasure life as we see it. It does make me want to run away, too. Our countries, as others, cannot escape these acts, however our governments are doing the very best they can to help battle the evils of the vultures who seek death and destruction.

Have a beautiful day my friend!

xo
Becky

[sharie]

Must have been a very scary time for you. So many lives lost during these troubled times and at the end of the day what is worth the life of a loved one?

[Lace hearts]

What a moving post. How awful that time must have been for you, and the memories it evokes over the passing of time. It is so sad that people are brought into this world and know nothing but hate. The strength comes from the message that has clearly arisen from the ashes of these events. Blessings. x

[angie]

I remember that day well i was at home with ma and da we had no phone so could not be contacted and we were worried sick all my sisters were in the city that day,I am so very glad ALL my sisters returned home that day love you each andevery one of yiz xxx

[angie]

I remember that day well i was at home with ma and da we had no phone so could not be contacted and we were worried sick all my sisters were in the city that day,I am so very glad ALL my sisters returned home that day love you each andevery one of yiz xxx

[Tanya]

I was pregnant with my one and only child when 9/11 happened and just kept thinking to myself "what have we done, why are we bringing a child into this world?!". Still think we're idiots but wouldn't trade her in for anything. Will tell you and any male naysayer that you want hell on heels just release a group of protective moms. We'll rip your heads off. grrrrrrrrr

Is 5/17 what U2 wrote their song Sunday Bloody Sunday about? I know it was about a really horrific date in Ireland's history of bombings and so forth but the dates escape me. I always horrid about dates.