A September 11, 2001 Timeline
On September 11, 2001, the world changed forever. Hijackers took control of four airliners and changed course to hit the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon and White House in Washington, DC. Three of the four planes hit their targets, while the last was stopped before it could hit it's intended target. Thousands died that day. Hundreds were wounded while millions were impacted by the horror and terror of that morning but moved and inspired by the heroism and patriotism that came out of that awful morning. Below is a timeline of the events that look place that morning. As a nation we made a vow that very day to never forget. Well, five years later, we still haven't forgotten.
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
The day was like any other. No national holiday, nothing. Just another day of school, another day to go to work. Many people walked into World Trade Center 1 & 2, the New York landmark "Twin Towers". 9/11 was declared an International Day of Peace by the United Nations. It was a very peaceful day in lower Manhattan, with "severe" blue skies, when the United States was ultimately plunged into a war like no others. The following is a time-line of the events that have happened. Most events are right on time, though some you might find a one or two minute difference, due to different clocks.(All times: EDT) 5:45 AM - Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari pass through a security check in Portland, Me., preparing to board a flight that will take them to Boston.
6:00 AM - President George W. Bush awakes at the Colony, a tennis resort in Longboat Key, Florida.
6:00 AM - Primary Day election polls for mayor and other positions open in New York. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani cannot run again, owing to term limits.
6:32 AM - The sun rises over New York City, with blue skies, and slight wind. The temperature was about 66 degrees, and would stay there from pretty much the rest of the day.
8:14 AM - United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 departs from Boston to Los Angeles, with 56 passengers, 2 pilots, and 7 flight attendants. It will fly west-south-west into Connecticut then south towards Washington, D.C.
8:00 AM - American Airlines Flight 11 departs from Boston to Los Angeles with 81 passengers aboard, with 2 pilots, and 9 flight attendants aboard. It will fly west out of Massachusetts and north-west into New York, in the direction of Albany.8:13 AM - Boston Control Center makes radio contact with American Flight 11: BCC: “AAL11 turn 20 degrees right.” AAL11: “20 right AAL11.”font> BCC: “AAL11 now climb, maintain FL350[35,000 feet].” BCC: “AAL11 climb, maintain FL350.” BCC: “AAL11 Boston.”’ont>
8:14 AM - Boston Control Center: Controller A: “AAL11, ah, the American on the frequency, how do you hear me?” Controller B: “This is, uh, Athens.”
A: “This is Boston. I turned American 20 left and I was going to climb him. He will not respond to me now at all.”
B: “Looks like he’s turning right.”
face="arial">A: “Yea, I turned him right.” B: “Oh, O.K.” A: “And he’s only going to, um, I think 29.” face="arial">
B: “Sure, that’s fine.”
A: “Eh, but I’m not talking to him.”
B: “He won’t answer you. He’s nordo[no radio] roger. Thanks.”
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8:24 AM - Boston Control Center is contacted by the hijackers who took over American Flight 11: “We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you will be O.K. We are returning to the airport. Nobody move, everything will be O.K. If you try to make any moves, you’ll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet.”
8:25 AM - The control tower notifies several air traffic control centers that a hijacking is in progress. 8:25 AM - American Flight 77 is instructed to climb to 27,000 feet.
8:28 AM - American Airlines flight 11 takes a sudden turn south of Albany. This is probably the point were the hijackers took over control of the plane.
8:31 AM - United Flight 175 makes contact with Boston control center.
8:33 AM - Hijackers voices on Flight 11: “Nobody move please, we are going back to the airport. Don’t try to make any stupid moves.”
8:35 AM - The Federal Aviation Administration alerts NORAD that American Flight 11 has been hijacked after taking off from Boston.
8:37 AM - A flight controller ask pilots to look for a lost American Airlines plane: “Do you have traffic? Look at, uh, your 12 to 1 o’clock at about, uh, 10 miles southbound to see if you can see an American seventy sixty seven out there please.”
United Airlines 175: “Affirmative. We have him, uh, he looks, uh, about 20, yeah, about 29, 28,000.”
Controller: “United 175, turn 5 turn 30 degrees to the right. I [want to] keep you away from this traffic.”
8:37 AM - American Flight 77 is instructed to climb to 39,000 feet, but the pilot request and is granted a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet.
8:39 AM - Two F-16fighter jets are scrambled from Otis Air Force Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Though they are airborne by 8.39 they had only six minutes before impact - not enough to intercept the kamikaze aircraft piloted by John Ogonowski, 50, a Vietnam veteran, and Captain of Airlines Flight 11. They scramble because Captain Ogonowski had the ability to activate a "push-to-talk" button intermittently so that the authorities on the ground can listen to the horrific events unfolding on board.
8:41 AM - UA175: “We figured we’d wait to go to your center. We heard a suspicious transmission on our departure out of Boston. Someone keyed the mike and said, ‘Everyone stay in your seats.’ Did you copy that?” The airplane turns toward the southwest, with clearance from air traffic control.
8:42 AM - 41 minutes late, United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757, with 38 passengers, 2 pilots, and 5 flight attendants aboard leave Newark, New Jersey, for San Frisico, and is hijacked right after takeoff. It will reach Cleveland, Ohio, before turning around and heading toward Washington D.C.
8:43 AM - The FAA notifies NORAD that United Flight 175 from Boston to L.A. has also been hijacked.
8:46:26 AM - American Airlines Flight 11, with 92 people aboard, heading from Boston to L.A. plummeted into the North World Trade Center tower, one of the famous Twin Towers which loomed over New York City. A loud explosion was heard, but not seen by too many. Smoke poured out in an instant, and speculation was just a distracted pilot, who might of been busy looking at the sights around, rather than looking ahead of him.
8:50 AM - President George W. Bush arrives at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. 8:50 AM - Last contact with American Flight 77.
8:53 AM - Controller, referring to UA175: “We may have a hijack. We have some problems over here right now.” 15 planes, including Flight 93 are informed that there has been a cockpit intrusion on another United flight.
9:00 AM - White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispers word to the President of the First Plane Crash
9:00 AM - Last radar reading for United Airlines Flight 175 observed an altitude of 18,000 feet as the flight is descending at a ground speed of 550 miles per hour.
9:02 AM - On a second call to American Airlines, concerning Flight 77, the controller says, “We, uh, we lost track of the guy. He’s in coast track but we haven’t - we don’t know really where his target[radar location] is, and we can’t get a hold of him. Um, you guys tried him and no response ... Yeah, we have no radar contact and, uh, no communications with him, so if you guys can try again.”
Dispatcher: “We’re doing it.”
Controller: “All right. Thanks a lot.”
9:02:54 AM - United Airlines Flight 175, with 65 people aboard flew right through the South Twin Tower, World Trade Center 2, right on live television. Yes, right through. The nose was clearly visible right before flames engulfed it, in a horrific explosion. This explosion was caught by essentially every camera in New York City, trained on Tower 1. -
9:06 AM - Controllers talks about AAF77: “You guys never been able to raise him at all.” Another controller: “No, we called company. They can’t even get a hold of him. So there’s no, no radar, uh, no radio communications and no radar.”
9:05 AM - The President is sitting in with a second-grade class when Andrew Card whispers to him that yet another airplane has struck the Twin Towers.
9:08-9:11 AM - Departures for planes heading toward New York City are stopped.
9:09 AM - Mayor Giuliani is racing downtown in his limousine, having received words moments after the first attack. He checks in at a fire command post in the World Trade Center. Giuliani and aides then make their perilous way a block north to set up a communications center at 75 Barclay Street, but debris cascading from the ceiling forces them to seek another location. 9:12 AM - Bush leaves the school and is in touch with New York officials as well as Vice President Dick Cheney.
9:17 AM - FAA shuts down all New York City airports, in fear of other plane crashes.
9:20 AM - The FBI announces that reports of planes being hijacked are under investigation, including one that American Airlines Flight 767 has been hijacked.
9:21 AM - All bridges and tunnels leading in and out of New York City are closed by Port Authority officials.
9:21 AM - The FAA stops takeoffs nationwide, an historic move that has never before been done.
9:24 AM - The FAA notifies NORAD that a third jet, American Airlines Flight 77, has been hijacked.
9:22 AM - American Airlines acknowledges one of its flights, Flight 11, crashed into the World Trade Center.
9:25 AM - The New York Stock Exchange delays all trading.
9:25 AM - An controller observes American Flight 77 moving towards Washington.
9:27 AM - New York City airports are shut down.
9:28 AM - First audible sign of problems are heard in background cockpit noise of Flight 93.
9:29 AM - First reports of casualties indicate that at least six people are dead and 1,000 injured.
9:30 AM - President Bush is briefed by National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice.
9:31 AM - President Bush, in Sarasota, Fl, says this: Ladies and gentlemen, this is a difficult moment for America. I, unfortunately, will be going back to Washington after my remarks. Secretary Rod Paige and the Lt. Governor will take the podium and discuss education. I do want to thank the folks here at Booker Elementary School for their hospitality. Today we've had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country. I have spoken to the Vice President, to the Governor of New York, to the Director of the FBI, and have ordered that the full resources of the federal government go to help the victims and their families, and to conduct a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act. Terrorism against our nation will not stand. And now if you would join me in a moment of silence. May God bless the victims, their families, and America. Thank you very much.
9:30 AM and following - Several phone calls are made on Flight 93, informing loved ones of what is going on.
9:32 AM - The New York Stock Exchange is closed, along with all financial markets in the U.S.
9:33 AM - A flight controller informs Operational Supervisor, who in turn informs the Secret Service about Flight 77. The aircraft is observed completing a right 360-degree turn, just south of the Pentagon.
9:35 AM - Manhattan is sealed off, as a total evacuation of the World Trade Center area is underway.
9:35 AM - NORAD launches two F-16 fighters from Langley Air Force Base to intercept Flight 77.
9:35 AM - Flight 93 begins an unauthorized climbs, raising concerns that it may have been hijacked.
9:36 AM - National Airport instructs a military C-130 that had just departed Andrews Air Force Base to intercept and identify Flight 77. The C-130 reports that it is a Boeing 767, moving low and very fast.
9:38 AM - American Airlines Flight 77, with 64 people aboard, en route Washington DC to L.A. was headed toward 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, when it suddenly changed course, and circled D.C, before slamming into the newly renovated West Side of the Pentagon.
9:40 AM - FAA grounds all US Air Traffic. All planes were ordered to land at the nearest airport. This is the first time in FAA history in which they have grounded all planes in the United States of America.
9:43 AM - Abu Dhabi TV reports a call from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine claiming responsibility for directing two planes into the WTC. However, officials of that group later deny making that claim.
9:45 AM - The White House is evacuated.
9:45 AM - The FAA orders all aircraft to land as soon as possible.
9:48 AM - The U.S. Capitol is evacuated after bomb threats. Other federal building in D.C. close.
9:55 AM - Scrambled fighter jets reach D.C. area.
9:57 AM - President Bush departs from Florida. He calls Vice-president Dick Cheney and puts America’s military on high alert.
9:58 AM - An emergency dispatcher in Pennsylvania receives a call from a passenger on United Flight 93 out of Newark who says, “We are being hijacked, we are being hijacked!”
10:00 AM - A controller observes Flight 93 is at or around 7,500 feet. 10:00 AM - Aboard Air Force One en route to Louisiana, Bush calls Vice President Cheney and puts America’s military on high-alert status. The President sifts through updates from his staff, including an erroneous report that a car bomb has been detonated at the State Department.
9:59:04 AM - In the midst of confusion, something awful occurred. One of the World Trade Center Towers, one of the Twin Towers, a landmark in New York City, crumbled to the ground in an impressive display of smoke and soot.
10:03 AM - Unconfirmed rumor of State Department fire in Washington, which is later proved false.
10:08 AM - Secret Service agents armed with automatic rifles are deployed to Lafayette Park located across from the White House.
10:05 - Witnesses see United Airlines Flight 93 coming in low.
10:06 AM - United Airlines Flight 93, with 95 people aboard went down in Pennsylvania. All that remained was a crater, and small pieces of debris.
10:10 AM - A portion of the Pentagon caves in.
10:10 AM - FBI headquarters evacuated.
10:10 AM - FAA orders all planes to land at nearest airports.
10:12 AM - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair describes the attacks in the United States as "the most terrible shocking event".
10:13 AM - United Nations evacuated.
10:17 AM - Reports of explosion at Capitol Hill denied.
10:20 AM - Financial Markets shut down, including the Stock Market.
10:20 AM - All Subway systems shut down.
10:22 AM - State & Justice departments evacuated, along with the World Bank.
10:24 AM - FAA diverts transatlantic flights to Canada.
10:25 AM - A car bomb is said to have gone off outside the State Department. Also false.
10:28:31 AM - Caught up in the smoke of the fallen WTC. tower, people screamed and ran for cover as the remaining tower, which carried the main television antennae for New York City, imploded, falling to the ground, resulting in impressive video camera footage of people running, and the very high clouds of smoke, dust, and soot rounded corners, and seemingly chased people through the streets. With both towers collapse, women ditched their high heels in the streets, in order to run faster.
10:30 AM - New York Governor George E. Pataki declares a state of emergency.
10:30 AM - The United States Capitol evacuated.
10:41 AM - The President, aboard Air Force One, which is headed toward Jacksonville, with join up with jets to provide air cover. On the phone from a protected area of the White House, President Cheney presses Bush not to return quickly to Washington.
10:45 AM - All federal buildings in DC evacuated.
10:46 AM - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cuts short his trip to Latin America to return to the United States of America.
10:47 AM - Trading in Toronto and London halted.
10:48 AM - Police confirm a plane crash in Pennsylvania.
10:50 AM - Reports come in of a second Pentagon attack.
10:53 AM - Fighter jets scramble to intercept the so-called “second attack”, which is later proved false.
10:50 AM - All DC Museums and monuments shut down.
10:53 AM - NYC’s primary elections, scheduled for today, are postponed.
10:54 AM - Israel evacuates all diplomatic missions.
10:55 AM - More reports come in of plane crash in Pennsylvania.
10:57 AM - NY Governor George Pataki says all state government offices are closed.
11:00 AM - New York Hospitals receiving hundreds of patients.
11:00 AM - United Airlines confirms loss of second 767.
11:00 AM - Yasser Arafat condems attacks.
11:00 AM - New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani calls for evacuation of lower Manhattan, talks of "horrendous" loss of life.
11:02 AM - New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani urges New Yorkers to stay at home and orders an evacuation of the area south of Canal Street.
11:08 AM - Canada shuts down all airports.
11:16 AM - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing emergency-response teams in a precautionary move.
11:18 AM - American Airlines reports it has lost two aircraft. American Flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles, had 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard. Flight 77, a Boeing 757 en route from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles, had 58 passengers and six crew members aboard. Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.
11:27 AM - American Airlines confirms loss of 2 airplanes.
11:29 AM - United Airlines confirms 2nd plane crashed at unknown location.
11:45 AM - With the U.S. Military on nuclear alert, the President arrives at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Reporters are asked to keep their cell phones off, to conceal. his location. From a conference room, Bush calls, among others, Cheney, Rumsfeld and New York Senator Charles Schumer.
11:59 AM - United Airlines confirms that Flight 175, from Boston to Los Angeles, has crashed with 56 passengers and nine crew members aboard. It hit the World Trade Center's south tower.
12:04 PM - Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of three of the crashed airplanes, is evacuated.
12:15 PM - San Francisco International Airport is evacuated and shut down. The airport was the destination of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.
12:15 PM - The Immigration and Naturalization Service says U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico are on the highest state of alert, but no decision has been made about closing borders.
12:30 PM - The FAA says 50 flights are in U.S. airspace, but none are reporting any problems.
12:55 PM - Taliban officials, speaking from Afghanistan, deny any responsibility for the attacks. “What happened in
the United States was not a job of ordinary people. It could have been the work of governments,” says Taliban spokesperson Abdul Hai Mutmaen.
1:00 PM - Rescue workers are finally able to enter the impact area of the Pentagon.
1:04 PM - President George W. Bush speaks to the nation: I want to reassure the American people that the full resources of the federal government are working to assist local authorities to save lives and to help the victims of these attacks. Make no mistake: The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts. I've been in regular contact with the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, the national security team and my Cabinet. We have taken all appropriate security precautions to protect the American people. Our military at home and around the world is on high alert status, and we have taken the necessary security precautions to continue the functions of your government. We have been in touch with the leaders of Congress and with world leaders to assure them that we will do whatever is necessary to protect America and Americans. I ask the American people to join me in saying a thanks for all the folks who have been fighting hard to rescue our fellow citizens and to join me in saying a prayer for the victims and their families. The resolve of our great nation is being tested. But make no mistake: We will show the world that we will pass this test. God bless.
1:15 PM - Bush departs for Air Force One in a camouflaged Humvee. While en route to Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, he talks to Cheney again and schedules a four p.m. meeting of his national security staff. He also talks to Giuliani and Pataki. “I know your heart is broken and your city is strained, and anything we can do, let me know,” Bush says.
1:27 PM - A state of emergency is declared in Washington, D.C.
1:44 PM - The Pentagon says five warships and two aircraft carriers will leave the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia, to protect the East Coast from further attack and to reduce the number of ships in port. The two carriers, the USS George Washington and the USS John F. Kennedy, are headed for the New York coast. The other ships headed to sea are frigates and guided missile destroyers capable of shooting down aircraft.
1:48 PM - Bush leaves Barksdale Air Force Base aboard Air Force One and flies to an Air Force base in Nebraska.
2:30 PM - The FAA announces there will be no U.S. commercial air traffic until noon EDT Wednesday at the earliest.
2:49 PM - At a news conference, Giuliani says that subway and bus service are partially restored in New York City. Asked about the number of people killed, Giuliani says, "I don't think we want to speculate about that -- more than any of us can bear."
3:07 PM - President Bush arrives at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, where he descends into a cinder-block bunker. There, he teleconferences with the eight-member National Security Council. Vice President Cheney - who had suggested Bush go to Offutt - and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice are connected from a secure facility at the White House. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has remained at the Pentagon.
2:51 PM - The navy dispatches missile destroyers to New York City.
3:55 PM - Giuliani now says the number of critically injured in New York City is up to 200 with 2,100 total injuries reported.
4:00 PM - U.S. officials say there are “good indications” based on “new and specific” information that Saudi militant Osama bin Laden, suspected of coordinating the U.S. embassy bombings in 1998 and the USS Cole bombing in
2000, is involved in the latest attacks.
4:06 PM - California Gov. Gray Davis dispatches urban search-and-rescue teams to New York.
4:10 PM - Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex is reported on fire.
4:20 PM - U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Florida, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says he was "not surprised there was an attack (but) was surprised at the specificity." He says he was "shocked at what actually happened -- the extent of it."
4:25 PM - The American Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange say they will remain closed Wednesday.
4:36 PM - The president leaves Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska aboard Air Force One to return to Washington.
5:25 PM - World Trade Center Building #7 collapses. This building caught on fire, and was burning all day long. Nobody was inside.
6:00 PM - Explosions are heard in Kabul, Afghanistan, hours after terrorist attacks targeted financial and military centers in the United States. The attacks occurred at 2:30 a.m. local time. Afghanistan is believed to be where bin Laden, who U.S. officials say is possibly behind Tuesday's deadly attacks, is located. U.S. officials say later that the United States had no involvement in the incident whatsoever. The attack is credited to the Northern Alliance, a group fighting the Taliban in the country's ongoing civil war.
6:10 PM - Giuliani urges New Yorkers to stay home Wednesday if they can.
6:40 PM - Rumsfeld, the U.S. defense secretary, holds a news conference in the Pentagon, noting the building is operational. "It will be in business tomorrow," he says.
6:54 PM - Bush arrives back at the White House aboard Marine One and is scheduled to address the nation at 8:30 p.m. The president earlier landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland with a three-fighter jet escort. Laura Bush arrived earlier by motorcade from a "secure location."
7:00 PM - A cool breeze floated into Manhattan from the Atlantic ocean. It is the first breath of fresh air all day.
7:02 PM - The Marriott Hotel near the World Trade Center is on the verge of collapse, and some New York bridges are now open to outbound traffic.
7:09 PM - The sun sets on New York City, signaling the near-end of a most horrible day.
7:17 PM - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft says the FBI is setting up a Web site for tips on the attacks: www.ifccfbi.gov. He also says family and friends of possible victims can leave contact information at 800-331-0075.
7:23 PM - NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin ordered all centers of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to close in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in the United States.
7:45 PM - The New York Police Department says that at least 78 officers are missing. The city also says that as many as half of the first 400 firefighters on the scene were killed.
8:30 PM - President Bush addresses the nation, saying:
Good evening. Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts.
The victims were in airplanes or in their offices -- secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers. Moms and dads. Friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger.
These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. 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. America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.
Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we responded with the best of America, with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could. Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans. Our military is powerful, and it’s prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington, D.C., to help with local rescue efforts.
Our first priority is to get help to those who have been injured and to take every precaution to protect our citizens at home and around the world from further attacks. The functions of our government continue without interruption. Federal agencies in Washington which had to be evacuated today are reopening for essential personnel tonight and will be open for business tomorrow.
Our financial institutions remain strong, and the American economy will be open for business as well. The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts. I’ve directed the full resources for our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks.
And on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world leaders who have called to offer their condolences and assistance. America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world and we stand together to win the war against terrorism. Tonight I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened.
And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me." 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. Thank you. Good night and God bless America.
8:35 PM - Bush attends a security meeting.
9:22 PM - The Pentagon is still on fire. It is considered contained but not controlled.
9:57 PM - Giuliani says New York City schools will be closed Wednesday and no more volunteers are needed for Tuesday evening's rescue efforts. He says there is hope that there are still people alive in rubble. He also says that power is out on the Westside of Manhattan and that health department tests show there are no airborne chemical agents about which to worry.
10:21 PM - Bush calls and end to the security meeting. Secret Service radios carry the news that the President has gone home to bed: “Trailblazer. Second floor of the residence.”
10:30 PM - NYC Mayor Giuliani says people may still be trapped alive inside the rubble of the Twin Towers.
On September 11, 2001, the Pentagon was on Threat Condition: Delta, their highest level of alert. On that day, we knew that a war was coming of epic proportions, though against whom we still did notk now. Major landmarks and tourist attractions closed down that day, including the Sears Tower and Disney's theme parks. The Emmy's were postponed. Sporting events were cancelled and major theme parks across the nation shut their doors for the day. By the end of the day we learned that the planes had been hijacked by people with knives, or, knife-like objects.
That day, as many as 30,000 were feared dead in New York City. Many of the subway tunnels had yet to be accessed and many were feared dead from smoke inhillation. As of 2006, we know that 2,602 people died and another 24 people are still listed as missing. 59 people died in the Pentagon attack and another 40 died on United Flight 93. 2,973 people died total that day, 24 still listed as missing, in the worst terrorist attack in American history. Since that day, the Pentagon wall has been rebuilt and construction has begun on rebuilding the World Trade Center complex. From those ashes America emerged a nation with a newfound resolve, determined to make the terrorist pay for what happened in the multi-city attack.
Since then, America has seen a terrible Anthrax scare, a would-be shoe bomber, a well-known traitor known as "Taliban Johnny," major military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to smaller-scale operations connected to the war on terror in other nations. In addition, there have been major terrorist attacks in London, Bali, Riyadh and Casablanca, to name a few. Meanwhile, as a nation, America has managed to move foward. Dispite an economy that is suffering from the stress of an ongoing war, Americans are required to make virtually no sacrifices during this war, unlike the heroics asked for of all civilians during WWII. While we still keep tabs on the war abroad, we still find familiar refuge in entertainment and socialising. And we are moving forward.
America made a vow that day, and it's a vow that we will keep for the rest of our lives. I think I speak with the rest of the nation when I say: We remember.
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