I urge readers who have not seen them before, or even if you have, to catch some of the best documentaries made about the historic attack on America on Sept. 11, 2001. They are being televised today (Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013) on the National Geographic channel.
While disturbing in their content, these are programs that should not be missed for their historic value as well as providing thoughtful insight as to why an underlying fear of terrorism, why our nation has lost many of our privacy rights and even the comforts and innocence we might have felt before the hijacked jetliners plowed into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a failed attack attempt that saw passengers of another flight take down another group of terrorists, losing their own lives as the plane crashed and was essentially pulverized in a field.
Many of today's youth were too young to understand everything that was going on at the time and why then-President George W. Bush sent us to war in Afghanistan, a conflict which continues 12 years later and threats of further terrorist attacks from abroad continue to mount.
These documentaries should be educational musts, and youngsters should be allowed to view the backgrounds and the horrors of the day that changed America in so many ways.
NOTE: The History Channel will televise 9/11-related documentaries, all worthwhile, during the afternoon and evening of Wednesday, Sept. 11.
POSTSCRIPT: Most of he documentaries are available on DVD from the National Geographic and History.com websites. Many can also be viewed on Hulu and Netflix.
The following is from my personal trivia page at www.toneyatkins.com :
--MY RECOMMENDED "MUST-SEE" DOCUMENTARIES: Ken Burns' "The War" miniseries, PBS, DVD; "102 Minutes That Changed America" (9/11 revisited, History Channel, also on DVD; see recommendation below); "WWII in HD" (documentary miniseries, History Channel, DVD; "The Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color" (PBS documentary miniseries); "The Lost JFK Tapes: The Assassination" (National Geographic TV); "Woodstock Now and Then" (History Channel documentary).
**** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED VIEWING: "102 Minutes That Changed America" -- Intense, moving, sometimes graphic documentary from the History Channel in which films, photos and recordings from unique and rarely seen or heard archives chronicle the terrorist attack on New York City's World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. There is no narration, there are no actors, just the voices and sounds of the people who were there when hell suddenly erupted. The film makes for high drama and horror, because it was real. Some of the visuals could have come from a sci-fi movie's special effects department, but these were stark reality, and the images are spine-tingling. If not recorded on DVR or VHS, this should be must viewing for the younger generation who might not fully understand the significance of 9/11/01 and those who believe that we should never forget the awfulness of those terrible minutes which changed America and the world forever. (Small children should watch only at the parent's discretion, because the images and intensity could prompt fear and nightmares.) The documentary, which is more dramatic than most fictional Hollywood movies, is occasionally repeated on the History Channel network. It is also available on DVD from the History Channel web site ( http://shop.history.com/dvds-books/index.php?v=history_dvds-and-books&fbst=80 ) and, at least until recently, on Netflix and Hulu. The movie should be in every patriotic American's library and shared with family and friends, especially students of history. -- Toney Atkins
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