Remembering 9/11
By: Emilee Sweley
Fourteen years ago, America was changed forever.
The day that al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and
carried out suicide attacks against targets in the
U.S. will not be forgotten. Tuesday, September 11th
was the deadliest day in history for New York
firefighters, with 343 lost. Almost everyone
remembers what they were doing the day the world
changed. At 8:45 a.m., an American Airlines
Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel
crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact caused a
burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people
and trapping hundreds more on the higher floors. After the evacuation of the tower, television
cameras broadcast live images of what appeared to be a freak accident.
Flickr, 1998 WGB, CC
A second Boeing 767 (United Airlines Flight 175) hit the World Trade Center 18 minutes later and
sliced into the south tower at about the 60th floor. This collision caused a massive explosion that
sprayed debris over nearby building and the streets below. America was under attack. Islamic
terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations were the attackers. Financed by Saudi
fugitive Osama Bin Laden, the al-Qaeda terrorist organization were acting in retaliation for
America’s support of Israel. Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a
year and had taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schoo