Today for me is 9/11 and we know what happened 14 years ago on September 11, 2001 in the USA. This article is in memory of it and to inform you about it.
What: A deadly terrorist attack against the United States When: September 11, 2001 Where: New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Somerset County, Pennsylvania
It came to be known as 9/11—just a date. The seemingly random timing of the unexpected attack brought an end to more than a decade of relative peace and prosperity for the United States. On September 11, 2001, a Tuesday morning, 19 members of the terrorist group known as Al Qaeda hijacked four passenger planes. The terrorists used the planes as weapons against American targets.
At 8:46 A.M., as in ante meridiem, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center in downtown New York City. It was followed, at 9:03, by United Airlines Flight 175, which hijackers flew into the South Tower. The huge twin towers, built 30 years before, had been designed to withstand collisions with aircraft. But the enormous amounts of jet fuel spilled by the crashing planes ignited. The fires burned hot enough to cause both buildings to collapse. The South Tower fell at 9:59, and the North Tower followed at 10:28. The area devastated by these collapses became known as Ground Zero.
Meanwhile, American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, at 9:37. A section of that building was destroyed. A fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Passengers fighting back against the hijackers had forced the plane down. In all, the deaths from the attacks numbered just under 3,000. Many more were injured.
Americans responded to these events with shock and fear. The event scared many visitors away from New York City. But many also reacted with great heroism: New York City firefighters, rescue workers, and ordinary citizens of all types. They won the admiration of the world for their selfless devotion to duty. Cleanup of the disaster was costly. The rubble of Ground Zero burned continuously for months. It was not completely removed until December 2001. In the period following 9/11, the U.S. government established the Department of Homeland Security. This branch oversees efforts to prevent further terrorist attacks.
The government quickly traced the attacks to Islamic fundamentalist Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organization. Al Qaeda had also been responsible for other attacks, including one on the World Trade Center in 1993. Although not affiliated with any one nation, Bin Laden and many of his Al Qaeda operatives were known to be harbored by the Taliban—the ruling faction in Afghanistan.
The United States, along with a group of its allies, invaded Afghanistan in October of 2001 in order to hunt down Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Bin Laden was not caught. This operation was the first stroke of what would come to be known as the "War on Terror." U.S. President George W. Bush and his administration warned that this war would be an ongoing struggle against the nation's terrorist enemies. The War on Terror eventually led to the controversial invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies in 2003. In the meantime, plans were created to rebuild on the site of the World Trade Center.
Source: "September 11, 2001." America the Beautiful. Grolier Online, 2015. Web. 11 Sept. 2015
What: A deadly terrorist attack against the United States
When: September 11, 2001
Where: New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Somerset County, Pennsylvania
It came to be known as 9/11—just a date. The seemingly random timing of the unexpected attack brought an end to more than a decade of relative peace and prosperity for the United States. On September 11, 2001, a Tuesday morning, 19 members of the terrorist group known as Al Qaeda hijacked four passenger planes. The terrorists used the planes as weapons against American targets.
At 8:46 A.M., as in ante meridiem, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center in downtown New York City. It was followed, at 9:03, by United Airlines Flight 175, which hijackers flew into the South Tower. The huge twin towers, built 30 years before, had been designed to withstand collisions with aircraft. But the enormous amounts of jet fuel spilled by the crashing planes ignited. The fires burned hot enough to cause both buildings to collapse. The South Tower fell at 9:59, and the North Tower followed at 10:28. The area devastated by these collapses became known as Ground Zero.
Meanwhile, American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, at 9:37. A section of that building was destroyed. A fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Passengers fighting back against the hijackers had forced the plane down. In all, the deaths from the attacks numbered just under 3,000. Many more were injured.
Americans responded to these events with shock and fear. The event scared many visitors away from New York City. But many also reacted with great heroism: New York City firefighters, rescue workers, and ordinary citizens of all types. They won the admiration of the world for their selfless devotion to duty. Cleanup of the disaster was costly. The rubble of Ground Zero burned continuously for months. It was not completely removed until December 2001. In the period following 9/11, the U.S. government established the Department of Homeland Security. This branch oversees efforts to prevent further terrorist attacks.
The government quickly traced the attacks to Islamic fundamentalist Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organization. Al Qaeda had also been responsible for other attacks, including one on the World Trade Center in 1993. Although not affiliated with any one nation, Bin Laden and many of his Al Qaeda operatives were known to be harbored by the Taliban—the ruling faction in Afghanistan.
The United States, along with a group of its allies, invaded Afghanistan in October of 2001 in order to hunt down Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Bin Laden was not caught. This operation was the first stroke of what would come to be known as the "War on Terror." U.S. President George W. Bush and his administration warned that this war would be an ongoing struggle against the nation's terrorist enemies. The War on Terror eventually led to the controversial invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies in 2003. In the meantime, plans were created to rebuild on the site of the World Trade Center.
Source: "September 11, 2001." America the Beautiful. Grolier Online, 2015. Web. 11 Sept. 2015