This year marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks that have caused the lives of many loved ones to be taken. On that very day, 19 militants apart of the Islamic radical group al Qaeda managed to hijack four airplanes that were later carried out as suicide attacks against targets in the United States. The first two airplanes had struck the twin towers located in the World Trade Center in New York City. Not so long after, the third plane had crashed into the Pentagon that was located right outside Washington D.C. As for the fourth plane, it crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All attacks combined had almost 3,000 people killed and left more than 6,000 injured. The 19 militants died committing mass suicide and murder, causing most of the perished to be civilians except for 344 firefighters, 71 law enforcement officers who died in the World Trade Center and on the ground in New York City, another law enforcement officer who died when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and 55 military personnel who died at the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. This massive casualty triggered major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defined the presidency of George W. Bush.

The morning of the September 11th attacks, the hijacked commercial aircrafts crashed into each tower in the World Trade center. The crash caused the towers to almost instantly collapse, bringing about one of the deadliest terror attacks in US history. The people on board the planes flight 93 and flight 178 were said to have died instantly during impact, leaving very few human remains to be recovered. After lots of searching, medical examiners were able to positively identify the 33 passengers, 7 crewmembers and 4 hijackers on board flight 93. In total 146 people died on the planes, 2,604 died at the site of the world trade center, and another 24 were enlisted as missing since their bodies couldn’t have been discovered.

In response, President George W. Bush has led the US Government into tightening travel security measures and taking military action around the world after declaring “war on terror”. There have been many theories about what actually occurred that day but has become known as 9/11. At approximately 8:46 a.m., Flight 11 was seen hitting the World Trade Center’s North Tower. The impact left a humongous, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110th story skyscraper, immediately killing hundreds of people and trapping any survivors in higher floors. As firefighters began to evacuate the first building, they had thought that it must have all been a huge accident, up until the second tower was hit.  Only 18 minutes after the first plane hit, a second Boeing 767 United Airlines Flight 175 appeared out of the sky, turned sharply toward the World Trade Center and sliced into the south tower near the 60th floor. At 9:03 a.m., Flight 175 had crashed into the South Tower. Both collisions resulted in the mass destruction of both buildings leading to many cries for help. Massive fires arose after the crashes leaving many people trapped within both buildings. Eye witnesses have even spoken about seeing people jumping out of the buildings and dying from impact. The South Tower fell first at 9.59am after burning for 56 minutes. The North Tower burned for 102 minutes before collapsing at 10.28am. By the end of the second collapse, little to nothing of either towers could be salvaged, completely demolishing the area. The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and onto the streets below. It immediately became clear that America was under attack.

The hijackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by the al Qaeda terrorist organization of Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden, they were allegedly acting in retaliation for America’s support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War and its continued military presence in the Middle East. Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a year and had taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schools. Others had slipped into the country in the months before September 11 and acted as the “muscle” in the operation. The 19 terrorists easily smuggled box-cutters and knives through security at three East Coast airports and boarded four early-morning flights bound for California, chosen because the planes were loaded with fuel for the long transcontinental journey. Soon after takeoff, the terrorists commandeered the four planes and took the controls, transforming ordinary passenger jets into guided missiles.

This year, with so much outright hatred and ugly violence on most of the streets of our nation, along with an utter disrespect for law enforcement and other authority, can we remember the afternoon of September 11, 2001, and the days and weeks right after? Can we put aside unneeded aggression? Can we acknowledge our faults and try to do better by ourselves for those around us? September 11, 2001, the day where we as a nation were strong as ever in the depths of one of the worlds worst historic events.  Our differences meant no meaning.  We needed each other.  We helped one another.  We knew that America, while not flawless, was worth loving and worth defending.  As it still is.