Tuesday, 11th September 2001 started off as any normal day for most people in the world. Of course, some were waking up to greet their birthday or wedding anniversary or with contractions indicating that their baby would enter the world that day, but very, very few people had any idea it would be a day and a date etched on the memory of the world – perhaps even the perpetrators didn’t really understand quite what they were creating.
Eleven years on, the whole world still remembers that day – most people, not just Americans, remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the stunningly dreadful news.
Image credit: Bigstock
9/11: A Tribute
Early on that fateful Tuesday morning, 19 hijackers took control of four commercial airliners after take off. Those flights were:
- American Airlines Flight 11: Boston to Los Angeles – 11 crew, 76 passengers
- United Airlines Flight 175: Boston to Los Angeles – 9 crew, 51 passengers
- American Airlines Flight 77: Washington to Los Angeles – 6 crew, 53 passengers
- United Airlines Flight 93: Newark to San Francisco – 7 crew, 33 passengers
At 8:46am five hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the World Trade Center’s North Tower. This was initially thought to be an accident, but less than an hour later, at 9:03am it was obvious it was no accident as another five hijackers flew United Airlines Flight 175 into the South Tower. That is the point at which the whole world really sat up and took notice, and the point we will all remember as our hearts sunk and a feeling of helplessness consumed us. We now had a dreadful fear of the unknown – but we knew for sure it wasn’t good.
For the ones who can’t forget…
After burning for 56 minutes following the impact of the aeroplane, the South Tower collapsed at 9:59am and the North Tower collapsed at 10:28am after burning for 102 minutes. Some of the debris fell on the nearby 7 World Trade Center building, starting fires that burned for hours. The building collapsed at 5:21pm.
Five hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon at 9:37am, and United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania at 10:03am after the passengers fought the hijackers – the target was believed to have been either the Capitol building or the White House.
These attacks resulted in the death of 2,996 people.
Life as we knew it had changed – of course, life had to go on, but some things would never be the same and our memories would always be fresh, along with our sympathy for the victims and their families. This series of incidents brought home just how senseless terrorism and war are and how the innocent become the main targets.
We Will Never Forget
To round off this article, we bring you a beautiful poem:
9 11 Poem
Conclusion
No matter where in the world you live, you could not help but be moved by the horrendous outcome of just a few hours of mindless terrorism. America stands strong and prays that this will never again happen to them or to any other country in the world.