creative writers' blog

on this day in history ~ “a date which will live in infamy”

 abuse

I borrowed that quote in the headline from our distinguished 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

On 11 Sep 2001 during a picturesque Tuesday morning, my wife, coworkers and I were watching the Today Show in between customers at our hardware store in Selma, NC as we did every morning along with some of our regular customers. At approximately 8:50 AM they broke into the show to announce that smoke was bellowing from the Twin Towers but no one knew why. As we watched in anticipation we saw what appeared to be a jet circling around the Twin Towers and our first thought was that it was a military reconnaissance plane and just a few seconds later it suddenly turned and crashed into the south tower, at that instant I knew that our country was under attack.

On that beautiful picturesque Tuesday morning at 8:45 AM an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110 story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in higher floors. As the evacuation of the tower and its twin got underway, television cameras broadcasted live images of what initially appeared to be a freak accident. Then, 18 minutes after the first plane hit, a second Boeing 767 United Airlines Flight 175 appeared out of the sky, turned sharply toward the World Trade Center, and sliced into the south tower at about the 60th floor. The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and the streets below. America was under attack.

They were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist organization, they were allegedly acting in retaliation for America's support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War, and its continued military presence in the Middle East. Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a year and had taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schools. Others had slipped into the U.S. in the months before September 11 and acted as the "muscle" in the operation. The 19 terrorists easily smuggled box-cutters and knives through security at three East Coast airports and boarded four flights bound for California, chosen because the planes were loaded with fuel for the long transcontinental journey. Soon after takeoff, the terrorists commandeered the four planes and took the controls, transforming the ordinary commuter jets into guided missiles.

Nationwide we watched in horror as the events unfolded in New York, American Airlines Flight 77 circled over downtown Washington and slammed into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters at 9:45 AM. Jet fuel from the Boeing 757 caused a devastating inferno that led to a structural collapse of a portion of the giant concrete building. All told, 125 military personnel and civilians were killed in the Pentagon along with all 64 people aboard the airliner.

About 15 minutes after the terrorists struck the nerve center of the U.S. military, the horror in New York took a catastrophic turn for the worse when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke. The structural steel of the skyscraper, built to withstand winds in excess of 200 mph and a large conventional fire, could not withstand the tremendous heat generated by the burning jet fuel. At 10:30 a.m., the other Trade Center tower collapsed. Close to 3,000 people died in the World Trade Center and its vicinity, including a staggering 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers, and 37 Port Authority police officers who were struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save the office workers trapped on higher floors. Only six people in the World Trade Center towers at the time of their collapse survived. Almost 10,000 other people were treated for injuries, many severe.

Simultaneously, a fourth California-bound plane, United Flight 93, was hijacked about 40 minutes after leaving Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Because the plane had been delayed in taking off, passengers on board learned of events in New York and Washington via cell phone and Airfone calls to the ground. Knowing that the aircraft was not returning to an airport as the hijackers claimed, a group of passengers and flight attendants planned an insurrection. One of the passengers, Thomas Burnett, Jr., told his wife over the phone that "I know we're all going to die. There's three of us who are going to do something about it. I love you, honey." Another passenger, Todd Beamer, was heard saying "Are you guys ready? Let's roll" over an open line. Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and explained that she had slipped into a galley and was filling pitchers with boiling water. Her last words to him were "Everyone's running to first class. I've got to go. Bye."

United Flight 93's passengers fought the four hijackers and are suspected to have attacked the cockpit with a fire extinguisher. The plane then flipped over and sped toward the ground at upwards of 500 miles per hour, crashing in a rural field in western Pennsylvania at 10:10 a.m. All 45 people aboard were killed. Its intended target is not known, but theories include the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, or one of several nuclear power plants along the eastern seaboard.

That entire day, President Bush was being shuttled around the country because of security concerns, returned to the White House at 7:00 PM. At 9:00 p.m., he delivered a televised address from the Oval Office, declaring "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve." In a reference to the eventual U.S. military response he declared: "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."

Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. led an international effort to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin Laden's terrorist network based there, began on 07 Oct 2001. Although the Taliban is no longer in power, fighting in Afghanistan continues, and Osama bin Laden is still at large.

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IN HONOR OF ALL THE ANGELS

As we remember our thoughts of seven years ago

sadness still lurks in the solemn shadows below.

As those towering inferno’s fell to their death

the hero’s within them drew their last breath.

It was a very sad ending to such a beautiful day

all of those people had died in such a horrible way.

The story’s now history as we try to move forward

a hard thing to do when you think of the martyred.

As we remembered our thoughts of seven years ago

those people who jumped from a sky high window.

The ones in the buildings who were trapped by the fire,

the ones on the planes who never knew what transpired.

Police and firemen who climbed those stairs to rescue

anyone who had survived, no matter how few.

Their day had just started and little did they know,

they were the victims of a cowards evil deathblow.

In honor of those hero’s who went in our place

we will never forget you, you’re forevermore embraced

by all of the Americans and the whole human race

as we try to move forward at a slow steady pace.

Each one of you died as a hero on that infamous day,

rest assured that your memories will never fade away.

In the land of a free democracy and in honor of our brave,

we fly Old Glory today and forevermore she’ll wave!

Click HERE to watch a touching video.

Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."