Tragedy met the country on this day 22 years ago, September 11, 2001 when terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger planes in a carefully coordinated attack by the extremist terrorist group Al-Qaeda that destroyed both towers that made up the World Trade Center in the heart of New York City. The attacks, which spanned across the East Coast of the United States left 2,977 innocent Americans dead when four hijacked planes crashed at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, New York’s World Trade Centers and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.
These infamous and heinous attacks forever changed the state of National Security and left a haunting scar on our country’s pride. Furthermore, the horrors that occurred on September 11, have become an integral part of our country’s history and the legacy of those who were lost will continue to be remembered for generations to come.
According to an article in the Associated Press, two decades after that fateful day, Americans still maintain the tradition of reflecting on the tragedies that occurred that day and those we lost. All over the country people remember loved ones through a variety of ceremonies such as moments of silence, candle light vigils, and other traditions. Through this tragedy, America has managed to find light in the darkness by honoring the legacies of the fallen ones and reminding ourselves to “never forget” what transpired that day.
The shifts from 9/11 were felt all across America from the newly created TSA to the newly launched war on terrorism. The devastating attacks left Americans hungry for war, this resulted in congress giving the president the power to use military authority without the consent of congress. These actions eventually led to the assassination of Al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, who was behind the horrors of 9/11. This was met with nationwide appraisal and offered some small closure to those who lost loved ones by knowing that the monster who had plotted the attacks was brought to justice.
Each plane that was hijacked that day harbors its own individual story. According to the Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial cite, Flight 93 was hijacked by terrorists who had one goal in mind; to kill civilians by crashing their plane into the nation’s capital in Washington D.C. However, due to the bravery of the 40 passengers and crew members aboard the flight, the plane never made it out of Pennsylvania. The brave citizens aboard the plane managed to best the hijackers and save countless lives. Unfortunately, the passengers and crew members were all lost when the plane crash landed in a field in Shanksville, PA. Without the sacrifice of each and every one of those innocent souls, thousands more would have been lost.
American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were the two planes that subsequently crashed into the World Trade Center which then led to both towers. The hijackers, as we now know, had no remorse for human life, and their mission was to do as much damage to America as they could, for they felt several injustices had been committed against them as followers of the Islamic faith. As an extremist religious militant organization they felt that these attacks were necessary and justifiable because of how America has treated their fellow Islamic people. This reasoning is true for the plane which crashed into the Pentagon American Airlines Flight 77, which killed 189 people.
