9 – 11 Attack Will Never Be Forgotten
WHS Lions Pride Original Story:
by Shamus Beck
“It was 75 degrees and beautiful,” history teacher Paul Daly said when asked about the day that went down as the worst attack on American soil ever. September 11, 2001 the day everything stopped and all Americans came together as one to fight against this evil.
It was a day just like any other, until 8:45 a.m. when a Boeing 767 hit the 80th floor of the North Twin Tower. People thought it was just a horrible accident until 18 minutes later the second of four hijacked planes hit the south tower. (history.com) People realized this wasn’t an accident; someone was attacking the United States.
But sadly this is not where this day ends. As our citizens were watching what was unfolding in New York our countries defense center was hit next, at 9:45 a.m. (history.com)
Then the truly unthinkable happened. Although the towers had been hit, they were built to withstand. But even the strongest of buildings can’t take a hit like that especially if you load it up with jet fuel. The South Tower collapsed at 10:00 a.m. into a cloud of dust and smoke and soon after the North Tower fell at 10:30 a.m. (history.com)
Flight 93 was the last of the planes to be hijacked because it was delayed upon its takeoff. It was just as dreadful as every other attack; when it was hijacked the passengers were put in the back of the plane but they knew this must be stopped. They banded together although all knew their chance of survival was slim. They rushed the terrorists and sent the plane into a plummet speeding towards the ground at over 500 miles per hour they hit farmland in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The plane was destroyed and all 45 people aboard were killed instantly. (history.com)
Overall, 2,977 Americans were killed, not including the 343 firefighters and 72 police officers that were killed in service. (history.com) This did not just affect some people this affected all Americans everybody felt that sense of sadness. But it didn’t last long and it never does Americans may be stubborn but you cannot put us down as George Bush says, “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.” (history.com)
If you ask anyone born in 1995 or before, they can tell you what they were doing like English teacher Marc MacDonald: “I left my political science class and started walking back across campus to my dorm. I found it odd that the quad was so quiet. When I got back to my dorm, everybody was in their room watching the TV to see what was happening.”
Now although this was a horrible attack that left Americans scared it was also the glue this country needed. As wrong as that sounds there may have only been a few incidents as tragic as this in our countries history. But this was really only the second time someone had attacked American soil.
Americans not only came back we came back stronger than ever we became brothers and sisters we fully united as a family. Many families were torn apart but as one this country picked them back up and helped them. Regardless of what race, gender, or social class you are, that day and every day after all of us can proudly say that we are proud to be Americans.
