On September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers associated with the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda took over four planes leading to the most prolific terrorist attack in the United States.
Two planes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City, and a third into the Pentagon. The fourth plane, United flight 93, crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The courageous actions of 40 passenger and crew members on board, overpowered the hijackers, thwarting an attack on the Nation’s Capital.
A total of 2,996 total deaths, including the 19 hijackers, were recorded on that day. This figure includes 2,763 at the World Trade Center, 189 at the Pentagon, and 44 at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. As of 2021, the remains of 1,106 individuals killed that day in NYC have still yet to be identified, according to the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner.
An estimated cost of the World Trade Center damage is $60 billion and the cost to clean the debris at Ground Zero was $750 million.
On December 18, 2001, Congress approved naming September 11 “Patriot Day” to commemorate the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In 2009, Congress named September 11 a National Day of Service and Remembrance.
September 11 Ceremony in Marysville, WA
9/11 Remembrance in Edmonds
South County Fire performed a ceremony this morning at the 9/11 Memorial in Edmonds in remembrance of all who lost their lives 20 years ago in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“Due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in our county, we decided not to host a public gathering and instead share our ceremony by video to mark this solemn milestone,” said Firefighter David “Bronco” Erickson, who played a key role in raising funds and coordinating construction of the 9/11 Memorial in the Fallen Firefighter Park at Downtown Edmonds Fire Station 17, 275 Sixth Ave. N. “Please visit our memorial on your own in small family groups to reflect on the events of that day and how it united our country and the world to condemn terrorism.”
The centerpiece of the memorial is a 1-ton steel beam recovered from Ground Zero of the World Trade Center collapse. International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1828, representing South County Fire’s professional firefighters, raised funds and helped build the memorial in 2015 to honor and remember all victims of the terrorist attacks.
The memorial’s design incorporates symbolic elements representing the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and the grassy field of Shanksville. Four trees are planted in remembrance of the four planes, crews and passengers lost. Plaques along the base of the memorial honor each first responder and fire station company lost in the attacks. The monument’s two walls are made up of nearly 3,000 small glass panels representing each person killed in the terrorist attacks, with red glass for firefighters and blue glass for police officers arranged to form a waving American flag.
Timeline of September 11 Terrorist Attacks
7:59 a.m. – Flight 11 takes off from Boston for Los Angeles. Eleven crew members, 76 passengers, and five hijackers are on board.
8:15 a.m. – Flight 175 takes off from Boston for Los Angeles. Nine crew members, 51 passengers, and five hijackers are on board.
8:19 a.m. – Flight 11 crew members alert ground personnel that a hijacking is underway.
8:20 a.m. – American Airlines Flight 77, en route to Los Angeles, takes off from Washington, D.C. Six crew members, 53 passengers, and five hijackers are on board.
8:24 a.m. – Attempting to communicate with passengers, a hijacker contacts air traffic control, unwittingly alerting controllers to the attacks.
8:37 a.m. – Boston air traffic control alerts the military. Air National Guard jets in Massachusetts are mobilized to follow Flight 11.
8:42 a.m. – San Francisco-bound United Airlines Flight 93 takes off at Newark following a delay. Seven crew members, 33 passengers, and four hijackers are on board.
8:46 a.m. – Flight 11 crashes into floors 93 through 99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
8:50 a.m. – President George W. Bush is alerted.
8:55 a.m. – The South Tower off the World Trade Center is declared secure.
8:59 a.m. – Port Authority police order the evacuation of both towers. A minute later, the order is expanded to the entire World Trade Center complex.
9:00 a.m. – A flight attendant aboard Flight 175 alerts air traffic control that a hijacking is underway.
9:03 a.m. – Flight 175 crashes into floors 77 through 85 of the South Tower.
9:05 a.m. – President Bush learns that a second plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.
9:05 a.m. – Flight 77 passenger Barbara Olson calls her husband, U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who alerts other federal officials of the hijacking.
9:36 a.m. – Secret Service agents evacuate Vice President Dick Cheney to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center beneath the White House.
9:37 a.m. – American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.
9:42 a.m. – The Federal Aviation Administration grounds all flights.
9:45 a.m. – The White House and U.S. Capitol Building are evacuated.
9:59 a.m. – The South Tower collapses.
10:03 a.m. – United Airlines Flight 93 crashes near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers and crew storm the cockpit.
10:15 a.m. – The Pentagon’s outer ring collapses.
10:28 a.m. – The North Tower collapses after burning for 102 minutes.
11:02 a.m. – New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani orders the evacuation of Lower Manhattan.
12:30 p.m. – A group of 14 survivors emerge from a North Tower stairwell.
3:00 p.m. – A survivor, Pasquale Buzzelli, is rescued from the rubble of the North Tower.
5:20 p.m. – After burning for hours, 7 World Trade Center building collapses.
8:30 p.m. – President Bush addresses the nation from the White House, assuring Americans that a search is underway for “those who are behind these evil acts.”
10:30 p.m. – Rescuers locate and extract two Port Authority police officers injured but alive in debris of the World Trade Center.
Author: Mario Lotmore
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