Do you know what happened on 9/11/2001? One in three Americans alive today were not born when it happened. This article is a summary of what happened on that fateful day, what Americans did about it, and why it was one of the most important days in American history.
What Happened on 9/11
September 11, 2001, began as a beautiful morning on the East Coast. America was at peace. We were not involved in any foreign war. Passengers boarded their early flights, headed to business meetings or to visit relatives across the country. Nineteen Islamic terrorists from four Arab countries also boarded planes. They were organized by the terrorist group al-Qaeda, directed by a man named Osama bin Laden.
The four planes they boarded were cross-country flights, so their tanks were filled to capacity with jet fuel. Within an hour after takeoff, these 19 terrorists hijacked the planes and brutally murdered stewardesses and pilots.
At 8:46 a.m., a hijacked American Airlines flight leaving Boston crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, an international symbol of America’s economic power. Seventeen minutes later, a second hijacked plane, also departing from Boston, crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Because the planes were nearly full of jet fuel, it ignited fires that burned hot enough to begin melting the steel structures of the buildings.
Hundreds of New York firefighters and police officers raced up the towers to rescue people. Quite suddenly, the buildings collapsed, killing 343 firefighters, 60 police officers, and almost 2,500 trapped office workers.
A third hijacked plane leaving Washington DC’s Dulles Airport crashed into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. military, killing125 workers.
A fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, left Newark International Airport shortly after the others. The terrorists hijacked this plane to crash it into either the White House or the U.S. Capitol Building. The passengers on this flight had just enough time to learn, via their cell phones, of the other attacks. They decided to stop the nightmare. Unarmed, with no hope of survival, they fought the terrorists, crashing the plane in an empty field in Pennsylvania. They gave their lives so that more Americans would not die.
About 3,000 people died that day and later, 9,000 more died of illnesses linked to the World Trade Center site—about 12,000 in total.
These Islamic terrorists attacked America because they despised its values of freedom and tolerance. To understand the motives of Islamic terrorists, read the article “Islamism and Political Islam.”
Reaction in the Muslim Middle East
In the days immediately after the attacks, the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and his many supporters in the Muslim Middle East celebrated their slaughter of 3,000 Americans. Mothers across the Muslim world named their babies “Osama.” People put up posters with his face in their homes and children in Pakistan wore bin Laden t-shirts.
Reaction in America
On the afternoon of September 14, President George W. Bush visited the twisted, still-smoldering wreckage of “Ground Zero” (where the Twin Towers had stood) and promised that America would not be bullied.
America launched a War on Terror, destroyed the terrorist leadership, and sent Osama bin Laden into a decade of running and hiding. Within six months, kids in Pakistan were no longer wearing bin Laden t-shirts. And ten years later, the CIA located him and a team of Navy Seals killed the terrorist leader.
Americans united with each other in the face of tragedy. People were largely tolerant and respectful of Muslims living in America. Most people realized that we had to fight the terrorists but that not all Muslims were terrorists.
There will always be people who despise our freedoms and hate our democracy. Americans have shown over 25 years that we are a resilient society who will preserve our freedoms at all cost.