September 11, 2001 (EDT)
7:59 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11 takes off from Boston for L.A. with 92 passengers on board.
8:14 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175 takes off from Boston to L.A. with 65 passengers on board.
8:19 a.m. Ground personnel alerted that Flight 11 has been hijacked; FBI is notified.
8:20 American Airlines Flight 77 takes off from Dulles International Airport with 64 passengers on board.
8:41 United Airlines Flight 93 takes off from Newark International Airport to San Francisco with 44 passengers on board.
8:46 Floors 93-99 of the World Trade Center's North Tower are hit by hijacked Flight 11.
8:47 Immediate evacuation of North Tower takes place.
8:50 President George W. Bush is alerted of the crash.
9:02 After initial orders to stay put, new orders call for evacuation of both North and South Tower.
9:03 United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into floors 75-85 of the World Trade Center’s South Tower.
9:24 The Northeast Air Defense Sector is notified of suspected hijacking on Flight 77.
9:37 Flight 77 crashes into Pentagon.
9:42 All flights over or bound to the United States are grounded.
9:59 The South Tower collapses.
10:07 Passengers aboard Flight 93 attempt to retake the hijacked plane, resulting in it crashing into a Pennsylvania field.
10:28 North Tower collapses.
All time references are credited to: http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-timeline
This year marks the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
I was 6-years-old when four American airlines were hijacked. I was 6-years-old when two commercial planes flew through the Towers of the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. I was 6-years-old when thousands of American civilians and emergency personnel lost their lives during a suicide attack on our country. I was 6-years-old and I hardly remember the day that changed America forever.
I don’t have a very significant personal recollection of the attacks on 9/11. I woke up, ready to embark another day of first grade. I remember going to my grandma's that evening. I sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor, eyes glued to the television as I watched replays of huge buildings dropping in seconds and dark-clouds exploding out from within.
On September 11, 2001 we the people watched our nation go under attack. Our whole country stopped. Witnessing people buried dead and alive, jumping out of windows 110 stories high--because falling to their death was less horrific than what they were going through, and running away from whirlwinds of debris, one question lingered in the back of many minds. Where was God?
God was with the lady who wore the wrong high heels, so she stopped to get some Band-Aids on her walk to work at the World Trade Center. God was with the man who was late to the Pentagon because he got caught in traffic dropping his daughter off at school. God was there all one hundred years before when no plane was hijacked for a suicide mission. He was there September 10, 2001. He was there September 11, 2001. He was there September 12, 2001. Don’t blaspheme against Him because you believe He was there on the good days, but hid on the dark ones. He was there, with all His love and mercy.
Looking back, I believe September 12, 2001 was the strongest day of our nation’s history. Even though we continued in shock and cried more tears, we pushed forward. We realized the United States was just as vulnerable as the rest of the world, but we also gained a sense of patriotism and pride for our country and our freedom.
So, why is it becoming, “oh yeah, it’s September 11th, isn’t it?” when a person sees the broadcast of the President and First Lady taking a moment of silence during the playing of taps on the White House front lawn? When did it become a social media trend, but less of a conversation? Seeing posts and hashtags flood my Twitter is great, but are you posting it for retweets or are you posting it out of remorse? It’s slowly becoming romanticized and overlooked.
My youngest brother was born in 2002. It’s nothing more than a history lesson to him and his classmates. They didn’t experience it firsthand like the citizens of New York and they don’t have itty-bitty memories of watching it on TV at their grandma’s house in Indiana. They don’t remember the first, second, third year anniversaries. I may not have a crystal-clear memory of this day 14 years ago, but hearing my brother ask questions, makes it crazy to think that it has been this long and that upcoming generations don’t have a clue about it.
Today, I wonder what would have happened if those heroic passengers of Flight 93 hadn’t stormed the cockpit. Where was that hijacker headed? How much more loss could we take? What would our remembrance look like today?
Watching replays on the news, my little 6-year-old heart was heavy for all that had been lost, sacrificed, and taken away. Now, my heart is just as heavy. I pray for all the families and friends who lost loved ones. I pray for those who relive the nightmare every single day.
It’s been 14 years and for many around the world, it was just yesterday. I’m so incredibly thankful to have men and women sacrificing their lives for me, an average girl they’ve never met, but I am also incredibly sorry for the millions of foreign lives lost overseas paying for a crime they didn’t commit.
As time flies by, people go through the motions and tend to forget the importance of this day. Some don’t even know about the horrific tragedy and its nearly 3,000 casualties. Others get caught up in the latest social media trend, political campaigns, and selfish entertainments of this busy society that they don’t stop to really reflect and recollect what happened on American soil 14 years ago. Country singer Alan Jackson asks it bests in one of his songs, “where were you when the world stopped turning?” Never forget.
