IN LOVING MEMORY AND TRIBUTE TO ALL THE MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ON THIS DAY IN 2001. AND, IN HEARTFELT THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO SO VALIANTLY FOUGHT TO SAVE THEM...MANY WHO LOST THEIR OWN LIVES IN THE PROCESS. WE REMEMBER AND HONOR YOU. Phones rang across the United States and the rest of the world on this day in 2001, “Turn on the TV!” It was 8:48 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. A passenger jet had just crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Flames and smoke billowed from the tower. It was now 9:06. This was no accident. Another plane just hit the World Trade Center’s South Tower. New York was under attack and this time it wasn’t King Kong. This was real. News bulletins came fast and furious. These were passenger jets, fully fueled: American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston on its way to Los Angeles with 92 people aboard and United Flight 175, same itinerary, with 65 on board. More news bulletins: 9:43 a.m. The Pentagon had just been hit by another jet airliner, American Flight 77 leaving Washington for Los Angeles with 64 people aboard. In the next 12 minutes, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. Sirens screamed. People were running, screaming, jumping to their deaths from the towers to escape the raging flames and smoke. Then the North Tower crumbled like a deck of cards. Gray, choking clouds filled the streets of New York City’s lower West end, covering people, cars and buildings with debris, fireballs of airplane fuel, desks, computers, paper, and ash. More news bulletins: Nineteen minutes before the North Tower collapsed, a fourth jet airliner, United Flight 93 with 44 people aboard, on its way to San Francisco from Newark had crashed in a field in Shanksville, PA, some 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The Trade Center was ablaze. Terrorists had struck on U.S. soil. Air traffic to and from U.S. airports was halted. The horror was being played over and over on every TV channel and on every American’s face. It wouldn’t go away and neither would the tears and the fears. What we witnessed would forever change our lives, our country and the rest of the world. 19 Muslim militants, all men, all in their 20s and 30s, members of Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda, had hijacked at least four planes all in the name of their religion: Islam. Almost 3,000 people died at Ground Zero, including 385+ firefighters and police who valiantly attempted to save the thousands in the WTC towers. The Pentagon burns. One jet destroyed a section of the Pentagon, killing 189 people. On Flight 93, the brave souls aboard tried to regain control from their hijackers. Was their plane headed for the White House? They were determined not to let this happen. Their plane crashed in a field. There were no survivors. 19 Islamic religious fanatics of Middle Eastern descent wanted to destroy what Americans stand for. They died in vain. But, the people they murdered did not. Americans are now prouder, more committed to stand together; united from Maine to Hawaii, from Alaska to Florida, determined not to let any country, religion, or people steal our freedoms. Americans will fight all evil-doers for the inalienable right to live in our democracy. The battle cry of the United States against terrorists: “Let’s roll!” (Todd Beamer’s last words as heard by an Airfone operator minutes before Flight 93 crashed.)
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 16:12:29 +0000
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