The Anniversary of 911
Twelve years ago today, on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush was faced with perhaps the greatest and most terrible challenge that a commander-in-chief could ever face, that being a series of terrorists attacks on US soil. A series of coordinated suicide attacks were conducted by the terrorist group known as al-Qaeda against the United States. On that morning, nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. A fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights.
The death toll of the attacks was 2,977, not including the 19 hijackers. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including citizens of over 70 countries. In addition, there was at least one secondary death – one person was ruled by a medical examiner to have died from lung disease due to exposure to dust from the World Trade Center's collapse.
That evening, President Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office, promising a strong response to the attacks but emphasizing the need for the nation to come together and comfort the families of the victims. Here is a video of the speech he gave.
On September 14, President visited Ground Zero, meeting with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, firefighters, police officers, and volunteers. Bush addressed the gathering via a megaphone while standing on a heap of rubble, to much applause, stating “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."
This September 11th I find myself in St. John's, Newfoundland. It was in nearby Gander, Newfoundland that thousands of passengers from commercial flights filed off of the many planes diverted to Gander in the wake of the terrorist attacks. These people were stranded far from home in a world that had seemed to have gone mad. Many couldn’t reach family. They disembarked only with what they were carrying, and had little sense of where they were, or where they were going. The people of Gander, a town of 10,000, came to the aid of the stranded air travellers. Residents all over the region were eager to welcome stranded passengers into their homes, and striking school bus drivers put down their picket signs to help transport them. Days passed as Gander’s newest visitors, waiting for U.S. air space to reopen, tried to deal with the shock of the worst terror attack on American soil. Locals provided toiletries and clothing. Banks of phones were set up so people could call home for free. Televisions were gathered so the passengers could keep tabs on developments. Massive amounts of food was donated.Locals say just about everybody in town ended up helping in some way that day.
The reaction of those people and many others in other places, brings to mind a quote from Fred Rogers (television's Mr. Rogers) who said:
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
The death toll of the attacks was 2,977, not including the 19 hijackers. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including citizens of over 70 countries. In addition, there was at least one secondary death – one person was ruled by a medical examiner to have died from lung disease due to exposure to dust from the World Trade Center's collapse.
That evening, President Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office, promising a strong response to the attacks but emphasizing the need for the nation to come together and comfort the families of the victims. Here is a video of the speech he gave.
On September 14, President visited Ground Zero, meeting with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, firefighters, police officers, and volunteers. Bush addressed the gathering via a megaphone while standing on a heap of rubble, to much applause, stating “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."
This September 11th I find myself in St. John's, Newfoundland. It was in nearby Gander, Newfoundland that thousands of passengers from commercial flights filed off of the many planes diverted to Gander in the wake of the terrorist attacks. These people were stranded far from home in a world that had seemed to have gone mad. Many couldn’t reach family. They disembarked only with what they were carrying, and had little sense of where they were, or where they were going. The people of Gander, a town of 10,000, came to the aid of the stranded air travellers. Residents all over the region were eager to welcome stranded passengers into their homes, and striking school bus drivers put down their picket signs to help transport them. Days passed as Gander’s newest visitors, waiting for U.S. air space to reopen, tried to deal with the shock of the worst terror attack on American soil. Locals provided toiletries and clothing. Banks of phones were set up so people could call home for free. Televisions were gathered so the passengers could keep tabs on developments. Massive amounts of food was donated.Locals say just about everybody in town ended up helping in some way that day.
The reaction of those people and many others in other places, brings to mind a quote from Fred Rogers (television's Mr. Rogers) who said:
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”