Remembering 9/11

September 11, 2001, 7:00 AM. It started off as a regular day, everyone woke up and woke their kids up for school. Everyone went through their morning routines to get ready for work or school, including those who went to work at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Little did they know, a mere hour and fourty-six minutes later, that day would be marked down as one of the worst days in American history.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen hijackers hijacked four commercial airlines intended to fly to San Francisco and Los Angeles from Boston, Newark, and Washington D.C. At about 8:46 AM, American Arilines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The plane had remained mostly intact through the crash, and sent a major shockwave throughout the building. As airline officials, fire fighters, police officers, civlians, news reporters, and many other people in across the nation tried to figure out what the hell had just happened, questions arose about if the crash had been a mere accident or not.

Then, to everyone's shock and horror, at approximatly 9:03 AM, a second plane hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center. It was after this crash that people began to suspect terrorist acts. To add to the horror and tragedy of the scene, people were photographed jumping out of the windows of both towers, from very high floors.

As fire fighters and police officers rushed to the scene in New York, heavy security began to shut down the streets around the Pentagon, which was thought to believed to be the next target. Sadly, they were correct, and about half an hour after the Second Tower crash, Flight 77 passed over Washington Boulevard and crashed into the Pentagon. All people on board that plane died, as did 125 Pentagon personnel.

Back in New York, about 55 minutes after the impact of Flight 175, the South Tower collapsed due to severe structural damage. However, people on the streets did not know if it was another explosion or not. Thick, black clouds of smoke poured through the streets of New York, covering the people and buildings in it's path with inches of ash. As the smoke cleared, it revealed the missing South Tower.

At the time in Washington D.C, the White House was being evacuated after the Pentagon crash, as people suspected that either the White House or the U.S Capitol would be the next target. Little did they know that a flight had been intended to crash into one of the buildings. However, passengers aboard Flight 93 had engaged in a fight with the hijackers, and out of panic, the hijackers crashed the plane in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Back in New York, around 10:28 AM, the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses. This collapse, unlike the collapse of the South Tower, was seen live on many different news networks, who had still been reporting on the collapse of the South Tower.

All across the nation, people watched in horror on their televisions as these terrorist attacks took place. Many flights across the U.S were cancelled, and many airports were shut down. People nervously called loved ones, some of whom were in New York at the time.

September 11th will always remain in the hearts of countless people across the world. As terrible and as tragic as this day was, the nation pulled together to honor those lost on 9/11. Thousands of people proudly held up the American flag, and sung songs like "America The Beautiful" or the National Anthem, thus proving that the true American spirit could never be broken. To end this blog, I'm going to quote the words of former President Bush.

"Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. 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."