Analysis Of One Nation: America Remembers September 11, 2001
The book that I chose to read was One Nation: America Remembers September 11, 2001, by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. This book goes into detail about the tragic event of destruction and terror that happened on September 11th, 2001. The day full of loss and tragedy, and left many people in terrible grief and mourning of the loved one they lost in the terrible demolition of the twin towers. Multiple people died on this day whether they were trying to save people in danger, or the people just doing their jobs on this day.
In the introduction of the book, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is talking about the day than a horrid attack took place. He says,”[...] Less than two hours later both 110-story twin towers collapsed, killing some 5,000 innocent men, woman and children. It was the deadliest day in American history, costing more more lives than the attack on Pearl Harbor or D-Day.” in this quote he is explaining how so many people's’ lives got taken when the attack occurred. He stated in the quote about all the innocent men, women, and children that had been killed, the word innocent is a powerful but true word to use to describe the people.
Another powerful quote from the introduction is,”The attack was intended to break our spirit. It utterly failed. Our hearts are broken, but they continue to beat, and the spirit of our City has never been stronger.” This quote means than the attempt at trying to break our spirit was a failure, and that the city has never been stronger, with that being said it means that a lot of people from the city (Citizens, police, firefighters, paramedics) have all come together to help.
The introduction of the book also goes into detail about the writers perspective on it. Rudolph W. Giuliani was having breakfast in midtown when he received the news about the first plane hit the north tower. He arrived at the western base of the World Trade Center and he witnessed what he said was “The most horrific scene of my life.” the buildings were catching fire, flames and black smoke arose to the sky, while people and debri fell to the ground. Firefighters and police were there immediately. They were all doing the best they could. He says,”Even more devastating is the loss of thousands of individuals who were killed in the attack. All were innocent. All were heros.”
In the section “An act of war” it gives some information about the times and when some big details happened. At 5:45 AM Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari pass through airport security successfully in Portland then prepare to board a flight to Boston. At 8:00 AM American Airlines Flight 11 leaves Logan Airport in Boston for Los Angeles with 81 passengers and 11 people of the crew. 8:14 AM United Flight 175 to Los Angeles sets off from Boston with 56 passengers and 9 crewmembers. 8:35 AM The Federal Aviation Administration alerts NOARD that American Flight 11 has been hijacked. The FAA acknowledges the NOARD that United Flight 175 left Boston to LA has also been hijacked. American flight 11, carrying 20,000 gallons of jet fuel, crashes into the first tower of The World Trade Center in New York, killing 92 innocent civilians on the plane and the people on the floors 90-100 that the plane hit. 9:00 AM Two hundred firefighter came from all different parts of the city to help. At 9:02 AM another jet, United Flight 175 struck into floors 78-87 of the south tower in a huge explosion At 9:50 AM The south tower collapses creating a big cloud of debris and dirt. At 10:28 the North tower collapses into smoke and mayhem
The next day the smoke and the dust still hasn't cleared. The mess had covered 16 acres and had estimate of 1.4 million tons of debris. The first month of cleanup, 291,879 tons were hauled away from the site. Almost every building in the area suffered from the attack, windows blown out, chunks and debris from the towers in other. Dust an ash covered lots of its surroundings.
A quote from the section Heroism large and small has a very powerful meaning, it is a rememberance or memorial for all the brave people who lost their lives than day,”We can never know the extent of heroism displayed than day. It reached from moments of graciousness far removed from the scenes of death and destruction to lost-forever gestures between one dying soul to another [...]” This quote means that we could never know how many people got their lives taken from trying to help others. It helps you to look back on all the people who died in the destruction, get remembered and looked back on for their bravery.
A man's best friend is a section/ chapter from the book than goes into detail about how dogs served a purpose in the destruction. Guide dogs and K9s who have been trained to smell human scents. The dogs noses are so powerful than they can smell through concrete. The dogs would give a signal and then the firefighters would dig to see if there was someone under the mess.
The volunteers consisted of FireFighters, police officers, FBI agents and thousands of other workers. Each day they they searched the ruination from the attack, looking for survivors and/or bodies. People and K9s searched through the ruins. Volunteer police, firemen, K9s, and citizens chipped in and helped the best they could. Volunteers searched for days retrieving as many bodys, people and things they could for days and days. The searches lasted days even weeks. The people who had the courage and bravery to do this can never take back what they seen/found/ witnessed.
The sacrifice of lives for others was a big part of this day. Many Police officers, firefighters, volunteer, K9s lost their lives trying to save lives. All of the lives taken on September 11th, 2001 are all looked at as brave and honored as they should be. This stuck a wave of grief all over the United States.
On September 11th, 2001 a huge attack occurred and left New York heartbroken. To this day, 17 years later we still look back on this day and remember the tragic historical event and take time to say a prayer or a moment of silence in honor of those who lost their lives. A lot of family members, friends, etc still mourn and grief their loved one they lost back on than day. There are two beautiful memorials that replace where the demolition happened, a monument and memorial remembering the victims and honoring them as they rest in peace. Each year we take the time to honor the brave who passed or were injured.
In conclusion of this book, 9/11 was a big historical event that killed, injured, and hurt so many people than didn’t deserve it. We continue to honor those who passed, or harmed from their bravery, each year on September 11th. The attack didn’t make us weaker, but brought us closer together as a union.
