September 11, 2001

1. September 11, 2001 While America slept…

2. Note the date and time ...Mohammad Atta, ring leader of 19 hijackers, cleared security at Boston’s Logan Airport.

3. Atta and four partners took their places onboard American Airlines Flight 11. On command, they leapt from their seats, mutilated the crew with boxcutters and took control of the plane.    Atta

4. At 8:45 am, Atta crashed the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York.

5. People all over the United States turned on their televisions. Meanwhile, another team of five took control of United Airlines Flight 175. As America watched, Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower at 9:03 am. 9:03

23. Fire engulfed the towers. Some chose to fall to their death, rather than burn.

24. Jet fuel made the fires hot enough to melt the steel floor supports.

25. While visiting a Florida school, at 9:10, President Bush was told of the second crash, confirming that the country was under attack.

26. At 9:31 President Bush lead a prayer, then boarded Air Force One.

27. Ten minutes later, in Washington DC, a third hijacked plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon.

30. While firefighters put the flames out at the Pentagon in Washington…

31. …the South Tower of the WTC collapsed live on worldwide TV at 9:59.

32. Debris from the collapse crashed down upon rescue workers, firefighters, police, and ordinary citizens.

33. People all across the city watched in horror…

34. …and were frozen with fear.

35. A huge dust cloud rushed through the narrow streets of New York.

36. Thousands ran for their lives.

37. As the South Tower fell, passengers on a fourth hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 93, heard about the WTC attacks via cell phone. Realizing their plane would be used as a missile too, the passengers voted to fight for control of the plane in the skies above Pennsylvania. As passengers broke into the cockpit, the plane crashed in a field outside Shanksville, PA at 10:10 am. The plane made a huge crater, and hit so hard, that it left virtually no debris.

38. Back in New York, at 10:28, the North Tower fell.

42. Again, the city was blanketed in dust.

44. The first recorded casualty of the collapse was Father Mychal Judge, a chaplain with the New York City Fire Department.

45. "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts." At 1:04 pm President Bush addressed the nation from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

46. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani kept people calm.

47. …then sang “God Bless America.” Congressional leaders prayed with the nation…

48. At 6:40pm Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, General Shelton and Senator Warner, reassured the nation that the military was ready to retaliate.

49. “These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve." “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts, and the nations who harbor them." That night, at 8:30pm President Bush called the nation to fight the War on Terror. This line said that the US will destroy governments who fail to surrender terrorists.

50. The next morning, the nation reacted...