0945 – US Airspace is Shutdown
9/11 Memorial – As It Happened – 0945
September 11th, 20159/11 Memorial – As It Happened – 0937
September 11th, 20150937 – Flight 77 crashes into the western side of the Pentagon.
US Navy image of the damage to the Pentagon where 125 perished in an airline attack against the building.
9/11 Memorial – As It Happened – 0903
September 11th, 20150903 – Flight 175 crashes into the south face of the South Tower of the World Trade center.
9/11 Memorial – As It Happened – 0846
September 11th, 2015
MSNBC-National Geographic still screenshot; 9/11 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City.
0846 – Flight 11 crashed into the north face of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
America is at war.
0850-0854 – Flight 77 is hijacked.
9/11 Memorial – As It Happened – 0800
September 11th, 2015
0814 – United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 carrying 56 passengers and nine crew members, departed from Logan International Airport, bound for Los Angeles International Airport, with five hijackers onboard.
0820 – American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 carrying 58 passengers and six crew members, departed from Washington Dulles International Airport in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, Virginia, bound for Los Angeles International Airport, with five hijackers aboard.
0842 – United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 carrying 37 passengers and seven crew members departed from Newark International Airport, bound for San Francisco International Airport, with four hijackers aboard.
0842-0846 – Flight 175 is hijacked.
9/11 Memorial – As It Happened – 0700
September 11th, 2015
0735 – terrorists Atta and al-Omari board American Airlines Flight 11, along with the rest of the Flight 11 hijackers.
0759 – American Airlines Flight 11 departs towards Los Angeles International Airport.
9/11 Memorial – As It Happened – 0600
September 11th, 2015
0600 – terrorists Mohammed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari traveled to Logan International Airport from Portland International Jetport in Portland, Maine.
0652 – fellow terrorist Marwan al-Shehhi called Atta at Logan to confirm the plans of the attack.
9/11 – Remember
September 11th, 2015It’s been 14 years now. The longer it’s been, the closer I become to that day. I remember it all so vividly, events unfolding on the TV screen and once I realized what was afoot, as I made my way from my quarters on base to my Squadron, as a skeleton staff assembled. Granted, we didn’t know much, but it was obvious whatever did happen was going to involve us, so my mind was on the tasks at hand. We were in crisis response mode so there was no time for emotion.
Now, I can take it all in. Now, I can grieve, and I do. My youngest who wasn’t even born yet on 9/11, came home from school yesterday and told me his homework was to talk to me about September 11, 2001. I showed him the Towers, I ran him through the timeline and told him about the needless deaths that day and the heroes who saved so many. I told him of friends lost fighting this war. Then, I said to my son, “Now I’m going to show you the one thing you need to always remember about that day,” and we looked at pictures of the jumpers and as I explained their choice. Then, after he went to play, I wept.
Please join me in remembering those we lost on September 11th, 2001 and over these ensuing 14 years.
“OneWorldTradeCenter” by Joe Mabel – Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
We’ve rebuilt the structures they destroyed but we’ll never be able to replace the lives they took. America is a resilient, vibrant nation. But, we’re in danger of ignoring what a dangerous place this world is. The threat isn’t gone. We must remain vigilant. We must never allow another tragedy to befall our people.
I continued serving for several years after that day, retiring, eventually working in industry. Over time I began to process the tragedy. I’ve dealt with it little more each year as I grow further and further the events.
One thing has remained.
I will Never Forget and I will Never Forgive.
