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Paris Shootings and Explosions Kill Over 100, Police Say

(www.nytimes.com)
623 points franzb | 3 comments | 14 Nov 15 00:25 UTC | HN request time: 0.461s | source
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livatlantis ◴[14 Nov 15 01:17 UTC] No.10563828[source]▶
In Paris right now. We are in shock. At both the scale and the extremely coordinated nature of the attacks on civilians at multiple locations.

I work near rue Bichat and Le Petit Cambodge, a warm little restaurant in the 10e that my colleagues and I frequent, where people were tonight killed. The Bataclan is a well-known concert venue for metal bands, where I've seen several bands play live. Les Halles is at the center of Paris. Everyone who lives here has close connections to these areas; they took place very close to our everyday lives. Even those of us fortunate enough to know that our friends are safe are reeling from what has happened.

This is the first time since the Second World War that France has declared a state of emergency.

It's too early to come to any conclusions. It's too early to talk about immediate and long-term ramifications, about connections to the refugees, how these events will make France more 'communautariste'. That time will come, but it's too early right now.

It's 2am right now, Paris is mostly awake. We mourn those who lost their lives.

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1. ianamartin ◴[14 Nov 15 03:22 UTC] No.10564284[source]▶
You have thoughts and good wishes coming from NYC and from Texas. I'm in New York; my dad is in Texas.

My dad is a WW2 veteran. He fought on the front lines of Normandy Beach, The Battle of France, and Liege, among other places like the Battle of the Bulge.

He was housed in France by people there who welcomed and supported him. He was assisted by the underground resistance. He has an enormous amount of love for the French people that he helped liberate and who helped liberate themselves.

There was a family that took him in somewhere in the French countryside and fed him the first meal he'd had in weeks that wasn't out of a can. They cooked food, washed his clothes, and gave him some wine and a decent bed to sleep on.

My dad is 96 now, and about 10 years ago the granddaughter of that family tracked him down and sent him a letter telling him how she had always heard about this man who came there to help them. He has treasured this person ever since and stayed in touch with her.

When I talked to him on the phone tonight, he was in tears about what has happened in that country he fought so hard to protect so many years ago and the people who are experiencing what you are going through.

Best wishes to you and yours. From Texas and New York, Vive la France.

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2. m_mueller ◴[14 Nov 15 04:19 UTC] No.10564435[source]▶
I'm neither French nor American nor a particularly emotional person, but your post made me tear up. We Europeans all need to be more thankful for people like your father who fought a war on foreign soil to protect a foreign culture.
3. jacquesm ◴[14 Nov 15 12:22 UTC] No.10565426[source]▶
I spent a day last year tracking down a war grave in France and was very much impressed with the absolutely incredible state of maintenance of the graves. One cemetery after another that looked absolutely impeccable and as if it had been created last week instead of many decades ago.