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N0KFQ > TODAY 11.09.16 16:13l 111 Lines 5831 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 7106_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Sep 11
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ
Sent: 160911/1350Z 7106@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.12
2001
Attack on America
At 8:45 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning, an American Airlines
Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashes into
the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The
impact left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the
110-story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people and
trapping hundreds more in higher floors. As the evacuation of the
tower and its twin got underway, television cameras broadcasted
live images of what initially appeared to be a freak accident.
Then, 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 at about the 60th floor. The collision caused a massive
explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings
and the streets below. America was under attack.
The attackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and
several other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by Saudi fugitive
Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist organization, 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 U.S. 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 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
the ordinary commuter jets into guided missiles.
As millions watched in horror the events unfolding in New York,
American Airlines Flight 77 circled over downtown Washington and
slammed into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters
at 9:45 a.m. Jet fuel from the Boeing 757 caused a devastating
inferno that led to a structural collapse of a portion of the
giant concrete building. All told, 125 military personnel and
civilians were killed in the Pentagon along with all 64 people
aboard the airliner.
Less than 15 minutes after the terrorists struck the nerve center
of the U.S. military, the horror in New York took a catastrophic
turn for the worse when the south tower of the World Trade Center
collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke. The structural
steel of the skyscraper, built to withstand winds in excess of
200 mph and a large conventional fire, could not withstand the
tremendous heat generated by the burning jet fuel. At 10:30 a.m.,
the other Trade Center tower collapsed. Close to 3,000 people
died in the World Trade Center and its vicinity, including a
staggering 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City
police officers, and 37 Port Authority police officers who were
struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save
the office workers trapped on higher floors. Only six people in
the World Trade Center towers at the time of their collapse
survived. Almost 10,000 other people were treated for injuries,
many severe.
Meanwhile, a fourth California-bound plane-United Flight 93-was
hijacked about 40 minutes after leaving Newark International
Airport in New Jersey. Because the plane had been delayed in
taking off, passengers on board learned of events in New York and
Washington via cell phone and Airfone calls to the ground.
Knowing that the aircraft was not returning to an airport as the
hijackers claimed, a group of passengers and flight attendants
planned an insurrection. One of the passengers, Thomas Burnett,
Jr., told his wife over the phone that "I know we're all going to
die. There's three of us who are going to do something about it.
I love you, honey." Another passenger-Todd Beamer-was heard
saying "Are you guys ready? Let's roll" over an open line. Sandy
Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and explained
that she had slipped into a galley and was filling pitchers with
boiling water. Her last words to him were "Everyone's running to
first class. I've got to go. Bye."
The passengers fought the four hijackers and are suspected to
have attacked the cockpit with a fire extinguisher. The plane
then flipped over and sped toward the ground at upwards of 500
miles per hour, crashing in a rural field in western Pennsylvania
at 10:10 a.m. All 45 people aboard were killed. Its intended
target is not known, but theories include the White House, the
U.S. Capitol, the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, or
one of several nuclear power plants along the eastern seaboard.
At 7 p.m., President George W. Bush, who had spent the day being
shuttled around the country because of security concerns,
returned to the White House. At 9 p.m., he delivered a televised
address from the Oval Office, declaring "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." In a reference
to the eventual U.S. military response he declared: "We will make
no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts
and those who harbor them."
Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led international effort to
oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin
Laden's terrorist network based there, began on October 7, 2001.
Bin Laden was killed during a raid of his compound in Pakistan by
U.S. forces on May 2, 2011.
73 - K.O., n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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E-Mail : kohiggs@gmail.com
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