Never forget the fateful attacks against our nation on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 (9/11).
I remember it like it was yesterday, and as time marches on my memories surrounding that day remain crystal clear.
Katie Couric relates details to the viewers: horrific to imagine, grievous to ignore, and important to forget.
Shared phone calls of disbelief.
Dealing with the feeling the towers would collapse based on the knowledge of detonation practices learned from studying Las Vegas hotel implosions.
Discussions with other parents about how to explain the events of the day to our children in an honest yet measured manner so as not to scare and upset their hearts and thoughts any further than the attacks in the name of pure evil this morning presented.
We regard 9/11 as a day of remembrance and reflection; a day Americans come together in reverent thought, solemn moments of silence, ringing of bells of remembrance, and prayers for comfort and strength.
Life as Americans knew it up to that point forever changed on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 at 8:46 a.m. EST.
7:59 a.m. EST– American Airlines Flight 11 departs from Boston’s Logan International Airport bound for Los Angeles with 11 crew members and 76 passengers on board.
Five al-Qaeda terrorists hijackers on board are excluded from the total numbers.
8:15 a.m. EST– United Airlines Flight 175 takes off from Logan International en route to LAX with 9 crew members and 51 passengers aboard.
Five al-Qaeda terrorists hijackers are excluded from the total numbers.
8:20 a.m. EST– American Airlines Flight 77, en route to Los Angeles, takes off from Dulles International in Washington, D.C. with a total of 59 innocents on board; 6 crew members and 53 passengers.
The 5 al-Qaeda terrorists hijackers are excluded from the total numbers.
8:42 a.m. EST– United Airlines Flight 93 departs Newark Liberty International with 7 crew members and 33 passengers on the flight.
Four al-Qaeda terrorists hijackers aboard this flight are excluded from the total numbers.
8:46 a.m. EST– American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into floors 93 through 99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 a.m. EST– United Flight 175 crashes into floors 77 through 85 of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
9:37 a.m. EST– American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon. The crash and the fire as a result of it take the lives of 59 passengers and crew and 125 people on the ground.
9:42 a.m. EST– The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounds all flights.
9:59 a.m. EST– Fifty-six minutes after impact the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses in a mere 10 seconds. More than 800 people inside the South Tower and the surrounding area of the building perish.
10:03 a.m. EST– United Airlines Flight 93 crashes near Shanksville, Pennsylvania killing 40 people on board the aircraft.
The hijackers are not included in this number, and rightfully so.
Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial
10:15 a.m. EST– The outer ring of the Pentagon collapses.
10:28 a.m. EST– The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses killing more than 1,600 both in and around the tower.
Fear came to call not expecting bravery and resilience to answer back united we stand.
Our memories will forever be filled with the events of that horrific day in our history, and even though painful to remember we should choose to never forget the attacks on 9/11.
We are the United States of America.
We differ from one another on many points, views, and opinions, but when all is said and done, we are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Never forget.