9.11

September 11, 2001 should have been a day just like any other, but for millions of people around the world and especially for Americans, it was not. For me, living in northwestern Pennsylvania, the day began normally enough. I went to work, logged into my computer, and started checking email. I hadn’t been there long when I received a message from a college friend saying a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York City.

I thought back to my most recent trip to NYC, a couple years earlier, when I walked past the World Trade Center. The towers were the New York City skyline, and in many ways, represented the city itself.

How does a pilot accidentally fly into a huge building in the middle of the morning? But, given the towers’ height, I also thought, “surely the towers were built to withstand the impact of a small plane?” That’s what I was thinking, that it was a small plane. When the second plane hit it became apparent that this was no accident.

We crowded around a small television at work and just stared in horror. The small plane of my mind was in reality a big plane. No one knew what to say, what to do, or where the terrorists would strike next. There was news the Pentagon was hit as well, but when we heard a plane had gone down in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania that was much too close. None of us have heard of Shanksville, but it was in Pennsylvania and that was “home”.

I left work and noticed the sky was so blue and the weather perfect for a mid-September day. I remember thinking, “how could something so horrific happen on such a gorgeous day?” There were no Hollywood special effects or warning music to indicate that today would be a day that would change all of us. The dark and frightening images I saw on tv minutes earlier didn’t fit. It didn’t “work”. It had to be a mistake.

But 9/11 did happen. Evil reigned. We saw the worst of humanity. We witnessed the senseless murder of thousands of people. We watched and those images are burned in our brains. Who doesn’t recall the black smoke rising from the towers? Who could forget the images of people falling headfirst out of buildings? Who has forgotten seeing the American flag against a backdrop of mountains of gray and swirling dust?

None of us have forgotten. . . so now we remember. 

Passengers and Crew of Flight 93

 

Crash site and yet undedicated permanent memorial (as it appeared September 3, 2011)



Flight 93 Temporary Memorial

September 11, 2001 - The Human Toll

Although the exact number of casualties as a result of the September 11 terrorist attacks will never be known, these are known details:

American Airlines Flight 11: 81 passengers, 9 flight attendants, 2 pilots

United Airlines Flight 175: 56 passengers, 7 flight attendants, 2 pilots

American Airlines Flight 77: 58 passengers, 4 flight attendants, 2 pilots

United Airlines Flight 93: 37 passengers, 5 flight attendants, 2 pilots

World Trade Center: 524 confirmed casualties, 3,822 missing

Pentagon (DOD) Building: 125 confirmed casualties