Never Forget the Attacks on 9/11

Shall we never forget the fateful attacks against our nation on Tuesday,  September 11, 2001 (9/11).

Has it really been 20 years?

I remember it like it was yesterday, and as time marches on my memories surrounding that day remain crystal clear.

Katie Couric relating to the viewers details too horrific to imagine, too grievous to ignore, too important to forget.

Shared phone calls of disbelief.

Telling Dave the Builder I knew the towers would collapse based on the knowledge of detonation practices learned from studying Las Vegas hotel implosions.

Discussions with other parents of how to explain the events of the day to our children in an honest yet measured manner as not to scare and upset their hearts and thoughts any further than the attacks in the name of pure evil this morning presented.

Twin Towers NYC

We revere 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.

never forget twin towers after being hit 9/11

Biography

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.

Pentagon during 9-11

9:42 a.m. EST– The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounds all flights.

9-11 from Jersey City

Flickr

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.

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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.

FDNY

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.

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We are the United States of America.

world-trade-center-city

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.

15 Years Later: Never Forget 9/11

9/11/2016 marks the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks waged against our nation on September 11, 2001.

9/11 will forever be a day steeped in raw emotions.

Sheer disbelief.

Shock.

Fear of the unknown and sorrow of the now known.

We watched and listened as graphic carnage and deliberate decimation unfolded before our eyes in real time with no filter, no delay button, no censorship.

I wandered aloud “my God, is this our new normal?”

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The Sept. 14, 2001, cover of TIME

I have a hard time remembering what I did yesterday, but I will forever remember every detail, every phone call, and every emotion I experienced that fateful September Tuesday morning in 2001.

I bet you do too.

9/11 flag

9/11 will forever remain the day our nation felt a collective numbness out of shock and sorrow for the innocent and the innocence killed in the terrorist attacks.

Gladys Knight’s beautiful version of “The Way We Were” and the haunting lyric “Try to remember the kind of September When life was slow and oh, so mellow” never fails to turn my thoughts to the morning of September 11, 2001.

What’s too painful to remember we should never choose to forget.

Never Forget 9/11.

“In time, perhaps, we will mark the memory of September the 11th in stone and metal — something we can show children as yet unborn to help them understand what happened on this minute and on this day.

But for those of us who lived through these events, the only marker we’ll ever need is the tick of a clock at the 46th minute of the eighth hour of the 11th day. We will remember where we were and how we felt. We will remember the dead and what we owe them. We will remember what we lost and what we found.

And in our time, we will honor the memory of the 11th day by doing our duty as citizens of this great country, freedom’s home and freedoms defender.”

-George W. Bush

The World Will Always Remember 9/11

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National September 11 Memorial South Pool

Evil acts tested the stamina, fortitude and resilience of our nation, her citizens, the brave men and women of our military, police, fire and medical departments and city, state and national officials.

We are a changed world.

We may carry and live with the scars, but one thing is certain- The United States of America will never be broken.

Bumped, and perhaps even bruised, but never, ever broken.

We mustn’t allow that to ever happen.

Together we are better.

pentagon-memorial

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.

Strong.

United.

Free.

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Flight 93 National Memorial

Through trying times and the best of times, Dave and I never lose sight of our freedoms and how proud we are to be Americans. May God Bless this great nation we call the home, The United States of America.

In Memoriam- September 11, 2001~2011

“Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow
Try to remember, and if you remember
Then follow”  (Tom Jones)