It was 8.46 am, when it should have been a time for morning coffee,
weekend stories and e-mail, that the first plane hit the World
Trade Center.
On that seemingly ordinary day in Fall, American Airlines Flight 11, carrying 81 passengers and 11 crew members, began its run as the first coordinated terrorist attack on September 11. It slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, casting a deathly shadow of disbelief and outrage. It was followed 15 minutes later by United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the south tower with 56 passengers and nine crew members on board. By 10.30 am, the famous twin towers would end their existence in a shower of debris and a plume of thick dust, taking with them thousands of innocent civilians, as well as brave rescue teams manned by hundreds of firefighters and police officers.
The American people were faced with one of the most devastating emergencies their country had ever seen. In New York, more than 10,000 rescue personnel rushed to the scene. Thousands more volunteers, many who drove through the night from all reaches of the US, arrived to help search for survivors. Lower Manhattan was evacuated. The US Stock Market closed. Disney closed its parks for fear of being targeted in further attacks and, for the first time in US history, the Federal Aviation Administration shut down air traffic nationwide.
The tragedy stretched far beyond the bustle of busy New York. Other than Americans, nearly 2,000 people from more than 60 countries became victims of the World Trade Center atrocity. It was an attack that touched the very core of fear across the world. As President George W. Bush would describe in his address to the nation "acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat … terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."
The President remained defiant, vowing, "This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world."
September 11 2001, was to be a day of shock, horror, grief and heroism - a day, that like Pearl Harbor, 60 years before it, Americans will forever remember.
On that seemingly ordinary day in Fall, American Airlines Flight 11, carrying 81 passengers and 11 crew members, began its run as the first coordinated terrorist attack on September 11. It slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, casting a deathly shadow of disbelief and outrage. It was followed 15 minutes later by United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the south tower with 56 passengers and nine crew members on board. By 10.30 am, the famous twin towers would end their existence in a shower of debris and a plume of thick dust, taking with them thousands of innocent civilians, as well as brave rescue teams manned by hundreds of firefighters and police officers.
The American people were faced with one of the most devastating emergencies their country had ever seen. In New York, more than 10,000 rescue personnel rushed to the scene. Thousands more volunteers, many who drove through the night from all reaches of the US, arrived to help search for survivors. Lower Manhattan was evacuated. The US Stock Market closed. Disney closed its parks for fear of being targeted in further attacks and, for the first time in US history, the Federal Aviation Administration shut down air traffic nationwide.
The tragedy stretched far beyond the bustle of busy New York. Other than Americans, nearly 2,000 people from more than 60 countries became victims of the World Trade Center atrocity. It was an attack that touched the very core of fear across the world. As President George W. Bush would describe in his address to the nation "acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat … terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."
The President remained defiant, vowing, "This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world."
September 11 2001, was to be a day of shock, horror, grief and heroism - a day, that like Pearl Harbor, 60 years before it, Americans will forever remember.
