A Day to Remember
September 11, 2020
“Where were you...?” There have been only two meaningful events in my lifetime where these words have been uttered. One was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (November 22, 1963), which I lived through, however I was only 5 1/2 years old, and the other was the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. This was a day I wish I could forget, but to forget would be to do our country an injustice. We must never forget what happened that day. (The historical details are outlined below.) I was substitute teaching the 4th grade at St. Roberts Catholic School in Omaha. Sometime after 9 a.m., my cell phone in my purse was buzzing with messages being left. Someone from the school office got on the intercom and asked that we all pray with the school. Confused, I went into the hall, and we were being told to have the students stay in our classroom and that there was some alarming news that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers in NYC and we could be under attack. I was also told not to discuss this with the students. People in the office at St. Roberts were crying. I had a call from my husband and my mother, leaving messages on my cell phone. (Which I returned during the student’s lunch break). Ed was in Chicago at the O’Hare Marriott airport, and all flights out were canceled. He said that all flights around the country had been grounded at the moment. He was able to get a rental car and was planning to drive home. He said he arranged this immediately when he heard of the NYC attack and was lucky enough to get a car. Many were unable to secure transportation and it was a very chaotic scene as there was a fear that Chicago’s Sears Tower might be attacked. My mother spoke frantically and said she witnessed on television the crashes into the North and South towers and was worried we might be at war. She listened to accounts where several planes may have crashed. It was horrifying day. Never before had we experienced such travesties in our lives. Teachers at the school later said they heard and saw Air Force One (The President’s plane) fly overhead. It was obvious to them as all air traffic across the country had come to a halt. Locally, in Omaha, SAC headquarters was the apparent choice for President Bush to be located during one of the most devastating days of our lives.
“Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward,” President Bush told the world, “and freedom will be defended.”
It was reported that after boarding Air Force One once again (after leaving Florida while on an education mission with a school and going to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. (to address the nation), the president’s leadership team decided to make one more stop before heading back to the White House. This time, it would be to Offutt, home of U.S. Strategic Command and the 55th Wing.
“USSTRATCOM’s communication abilities, location, and overall security made it a very desirable location for the president.”*
I turned my attention to where my children were at the time. Jake was at Iowa State in his freshman year of college. Josh was a freshman at Skutt Catholic High School. My youngest son, Jaime, was a 5th grader at St. Geralds Catholic Elementary. I so desperately wanted to flee and pick them up and take them home. I did reach the two oldest by phone and was assured that they were fine.
The news was coming across the television screens and news on our computers. I looked at the children in my classroom and could not help but think that these innocent children might be entering a world unseen by this generation where war (on the soil of our country ) was a possibility and threats to their future as they knew it was imminent. The coverage of the Twin Towers (of the World Trade Center) crashes and the Pentagon’s crash left an imprint that would haunt our minds leaving many unable to sleep for many days to come. Why would terrorists do this? How could this unconscionable act happen? I could not wait to get home to my children. We continued to watch the coverage of television until it was too much to endure. It was as if we were in a nightmare of terror. I don’t think I had many words available to comfort my children. For months, I was afraid to leave my house. I was afraid to drive and specifically to fly. There was a void in my heart for all the lives lost and the suffering of the nation. Eventually, I did fly. Ed had a meeting in NYC three months after the incident. I went because I felt like we couldn’t let the terrorists win. I wanted to show my family that we could resume our lives and treat each day as a blessing from God. I was so nervous to fly. I did not let go of my rosary on the entire flight. Ed and I visited “Ground Zero” on December 1, 200,1 close to noon. There was still smoke coming from the ground. It was eerily quiet. And “sacred”. All spectators and people werereverentt. It was as if the souls lingered amongst us that visited. I cried and prayed as we walked quietly amongst the ruins. I walked into a few little markets near the sit,e and the disgusting soot of the previous “inferno” still layered the shelves of store “snacks” not yet removed in the abandoned little stores.
Ed did not want his photo taken, but I told him we should (needed to) so we can never forget that we were here and cared about our country and those whose lives were lost and sacrificed. This happened in our lives, and we should not “erase” it from our memory. Despite this tragedy, the presence of God in our lives became more obvious, and people came together to recover and help each other. This caused us to pause, teaching us not to take a day for granted and to love each other more fervently. I believe that the only way to defeat such hate is with love. And remember that for the 3000+ people who on Sept 10 went to sleep for the last time on earth, a new day was not completed, and we are not promised this. When September 11 comes up each year, I try to reflect on the happenings of that day and make a solemn promise to myself to NEVER FORGET.
I couldn’t stop crying and silently praying.
Ed did not want this photo taken.
“Ground Zero. ” Site of what was left of Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
Photos taken 12/1/01 - Eerie scene. Smoke was still smoldering three months after the tragedy.
The ACCOUNT OF September 11, 2001 as provided by History.com:
On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which triggered major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defined the presidency of George W. Bush. On September 11, 2001, at 8:45 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning, an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashed 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 near the 60th floor.The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and onto the streets below. It immediately became clear that America was under attack. The hijackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by the al Qaeda terrorist organization of Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden, 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 country 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 early-morning 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 ordinary passenger jets into guided missiles. As millions watched the events unfolding in New York, American Airlines Flight 77 circled over downtown Washington, D.C., before crashing into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters at 9:45 a.m. Jet fuel from the Boeing 757 caused a devastating inferno that led to the structural collapse of a portion of the giant concrete building, which is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense. All told, 125 military personnel and civilians were killed in the Pentagon, along with all 64 people aboard the airliner. At 10:30 a.m., the north building of the twin towers collapsed. Only six people in the World Trade Center towers at the time of their collapse survived. Almost 10,000 others were treated for injuries, many severe.
Meanwhile, a fourth California-bound plane—United Flight 93—was hijacked about 40 minutes after leaving Newark Liberty 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.” The 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 near Shanksville in western Pennsylvania at 10:10 a.m. All 44 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.
A total of 2,996 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks, including the 19 terrorist hijackers aboard the four airplanes. Citizens of 78 countries died in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. At the World Trade Center, 2,763 died after the two planes slammed into the twin towers. That figure includes 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. At the Pentagon, 189 people were killed, including 64 on American Airlines Flight 77, the airliner that struck the building. On Flight 93, 44 people died when the plane crash-landed in Pennsylvania.
At 7 p.m., President George W. Bush, who was in Florida at the time of the attacks and had spent the day being shuttled around the country because of security concerns, returned to the White House. At 9 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.”
*Source: https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-attacksAcces s DateSeptember 11, 2020PublisherA&E Television NetworksLast UpdatedSeptember 11, 2020Original Published DateFebruary 17, 2010 BY HISTORY.COM EDITORS
