SOME OF THE BEST 9/11 DOCUMENTARIES

By Toney Atkins
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

LET OUR VETERANS KNOW THEY'RE APPRECIATED

By Toney Atkins
(c) 2009

On Veterans Day 2004, my late father was surprised and amazed when he opened his front door to discover several members of the church that he frequently attended.

That might not seem to be particularly noteworthy, except for the fact that they were carrying red, white and blue balloons, food, goodies, a card and a cake emblazoned with the words, "Thank You."

What I've been told is that tears were rolling down his face as the church members entered the living room. Each person in the group thanked him for the service he gave to his country, fighting in the European Theater during World War II.

My father was quoted as saying, "No one has ever said that to me before."

That day meant a lot to Dad, and I was to look back on it a year later as a kind of omen that he would not live to see another Veterans Day -- but he had experienced a very special one. In a telephone conversation afterwards, he only recounted to me that the people had performed the very kind and wonderful act.

Others in his neighborhood expressed the same sentiment during his last year. Some encouraged him to share his wartime experiences with a local television station that was making video diaries of area veterans, but he declined. He was a humble man who told me that he didn't do anything special and that he didn't feel comfortable doing a TV interview.

I was born during the war when he was overseas. He earned several awards for marksmanship and a purple heart for injuries he suffered. However, for some still unknown reason, he never wanted to talk about the war with me, so his history that he chose to share with some people was never shared with his only son. I only knew that he suffered horrible nightmares and occasionally terrible back pain that worsened with age. Watching a movie about the Vietnam War rattled his nerves and nearly sent him into a major panic attack, he told me about 20 years after that evening at the theatre. I had not been aware that it affected him.

I tend to believe that after the aforementioned initial encounter with expressions of appreciation and gratitude, Dad opened up more about his experiences on the battlefield, especially in Germany, to some neighbors, church members, friends and even to the employees of the funeral home, where he made his burial arrangements. The folks who shared this information with me said that he was animated and excited when he told those stories, and that the listeners were always enthralled. I wish I had been among them.

When the wars in Afghanistan after 9/11 and then in Iraq began, not knowing what conditions the troops would face or their trials and tribulations, Dad often said sadly, "I feel sorry for those boys," perhaps reflecting upon the dramatic changes he experienced between leaving a small Georgia town to train for a war and then fight it and the time he returned to the U.S. with many memories of occasional unspeakable horror, the screams of the wounded and the silence of the dead and experiencing injury himself.

For the sacrifice made by my father and many other fathers, young unmarried men and some women made in serving in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Operation Desert Storm, Afghanistan and Iraq, it shouldn't take much effort on the part of the average citizen -- who may never have seen a battlefield or known the terribly dangerous blasts of bombs or the deadly sounds of gunfire from an enemy except in a movie -- to be grateful for those sacrifices that keep freedom ringing.

Based on my father's reaction several years ago, I would like to suggest that each of us who has a family member who is a veteran of any war, a neighbor or friend who has served, make a special point on this Veterans Day -- and on other days as well -- personally thank that veteran (and this includes the young and not-so-young soldiers of today) for his or her life, courage and sacrifice. You may never know how important that such a gesture could be and how much it would mean, not only to the veteran, but to you as well.

My father, Charlie Jackson Atkins, passed away on Aug. 22, 2005, his 84th birthday. I'm thankful for those who loved and appreciated him and told him so. I wish that I had known him better.

God bless our troops, and God bless the United States of America in these troubled times.