I think we all can tell you where we were, and what we were doing on that fateful day, in September.
September 11, 2001
It was a beautiful day here in New Hampshire. Sunny, bright, clear with blue skies. I was taking a shower and getting ready for a dental appointment, while Jack was working on shingling the house. It was a day like any other here.
Jack had the TV in our bedroom pointed out the window so he could listen to the morning news.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm and Jack told me I had to get out of the shower now, something was happening. I was a little dazed and confused. I shut the water in the shower off and grabbed my towel.
Jack and I sat in our family room watching Fox News, ABC, and CNN. A plane had hit one of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in downtown New York City. Jack, as a former Airline Pilot knew immediately, that it was no accident.
While we watched, suddenly another plane came in and hit the other Tower!
We were both in shock. We listened to reports. No one was saying terrorism, not at first. But both Jack and I knew.
I look at this picture, and I know that none of those innocent people got out alive. That thought brings me to tears each time I see it.
We watched the Towers come down, one and then the other. We knew people had died. We just didn’t know how many.
At 12:30 I drove to my dental appointment. There was not another car on the road. Not one. I got to my dental appointment and found that I was the only patient that hadn’t canceled that day.
When I got home we watched TV all day. I called my family and my close friends. Just to hear their voices.
It doesn’t matter your political affiliations, or how you feel about war. What matters is on September 11, 2001, innocent people died in New York City, In Washington, DC, and in Shanksville, PA.
People like you and like me. Just because. That was the day I learned that we are no longer safe here at home.
I also learned that when our country is attacked in such a manner, we pull together and unify.
God Bless all who lost their lives that day, to their families, who will never be the same, and all who serve this country each and every day to protect and defend us.
September 11, 2001: Basic Facts
Chronology
8:46 AM Plane crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 AM Plane crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
9:17 AM The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shuts down all New York City area airports.
9:21 AM The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halts all flights at U.S. airports. It is the first
time in history that air traffic has been halted nationwide.
9:38 AM Plane crashes into the Pentagon. Evacuation begins immediately.
9:45 AM The White House evacuates.
10:05 AM The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
10:10 AM A portion of the Pentagon collapses.
10:10 AM Plane crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
10:22 AM The State and Justice Departments, as well as the World Bank, are evacuated.
10:28 AM The World Trade Center’s north tower collapses.
10:45 AM All federal office buildings in Washington, D.C. are evacuated.
1:44 PM Five warships and two aircraft carriers are ordered to leave the U.S. Naval Station
in Norfolk, Virginia to protect the East Coast.
4:10 PM Building 7 of the World Trade Center collapses.
The Flights
American Airlines Flight 11
From: Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport)
To: Los Angeles, California
Lives: 92 people on board
Crashed into North Tower of World Trade Center at 8:46 AM
United Airlines Flight 175
From: Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport)
To: Los Angeles, California
Lives: 65 people on board
Crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 AM
American Airlines Flight 77
From: Washington, D.C. (Dulles Airport)
To: Los Angeles, CA
Lives: 64 people on board
Crashed into the Pentagon at 9:38 AM
United Airlines Flight 93
From: Newark, New Jersey
To: San Francisco, California
Lives: 44 people on board
Crashed into rural Pennsylvania (southeast of Pittsburgh)
Victims
Victims came from more than 90 countries around the world.
The following are the number of people who died at each site:
World Trade Center 2,823 (includes airline passengers)
Pentagon 125 (not including plane victims)
Flight 11 – 92 people on board
Flight 175 – 64 people on board
Flight 77 – 64 people on board
Flight 93 – 44 people on board
The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m, the times the Towers were hit. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. The time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.
That day, these first responders also died, as they raced to the scene trying to save anyone they could.
343 Firefighters (including a chaplain and two paramedics) of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)
37 Police Officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department (PAPD)
23 Police Officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and 8 Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics from private emergency medical services.
1 Patrolman from the New York Fire Patrol
Fact Sheet
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC
August 15, 2002
