 |
| The now iconic image of firefighters George Johnson,
Dan McWilliams and Billy Eisengrein raising the U.S. Flag at Ground Zero in New York City after the deadly terror attacks on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The scene was immortalized by photographer Thomas E. Franklin of The Record newspaper of Bergen County, New Jersey. |
Twenty-five years ago today on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, radical Islamic militants carried out the deadliest foreign terrorist attack on American soil to date. Nineteen al-Queda militants hijacked four American airliners. It was to date the deadliest foreign attacks on the United States since the Imperial Japanese bombing of the U.S Naval Stations at Pearl Harbor during World War II.
Two of the airliners were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center trapping people in the 110 story buildings unable to escape. Within a couple of hours the towers both collapsed and covered New York City in smoke and debris, killing not only those trapped inside the towers but also many of the police and emergency service personal that arrived to help rescue wounded civilians.
 |
| The World Trade Towers on fire after the attack seen with the Statue of Liberty in the foreground. In less than an hour both buildings would collapse. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press. |
The third hijacked plane hit the Pentagon building in Washington D.C. while the fourth crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, another potential attack on D.C. that was thwarted by the passengers themselves who sacrificed their lives to prevent another deadly strike.
Nearly 3,000 people, including citizens from 78 countries, died that day. Thousands more were wounded and the families of those who perished would never be the same again.
Our world would be changed forever.
World Trade Center: 2,763 Killed (including 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 police officers, 37 port authority personal, and the 87 people aboard American Airlines Flights 11 & the 60 people aboard United Airlines Flight 175).
The Pentagon: 189 Killed (including the 64 people aboard American Airlines Flight 77).
United Airlines Flight 93: 40 Killed among the passengers and crew.
None of us who lived through that morning will ever forget how we felt that day, and a quarter of a century later many of us will still never forgive those who brought terror to our shores.
But like all acts of terror, this one had the opposite effect than the one intended by those who perpetrated it: it made Americans more defiant and resolved to say to those who would use fear and murder as a weapon that we are not afraid and we will never back down.
Every year on September 11th, the United States of America honors Patriot Day in memory those who lost their lives during this day of national tragedy. Their memories will never be forgotten.
 |
| Every year on September 11th New York City lights up two towers of light to mark the spot where the World Trade Towers both stood in the city's skyline. Photo courtesy of facebook. |
