The 9/11 Twin Towers Attack – The Day That Changed America

The name of the disaster chosen is the attacks that happened on September 11, 2001, also known as 9/11. The attacks happened on American soil in New York City. Nineteen terrorists who were members of an Islamic extremist network, known as Al-Qaeda. This was a planned attack on America. The hijackers flew two planes into the world trade center, a third in the pentagon and the fourth plane was a counterattack and landed in a field in Pennsylvania. It was speculated that the fourth plane was to hit the white house. Almost 3,000 people were killed and it’s the largest loss of people. The first plane (United Flight 11) was headed to Los Angeles from Boston, and it hit the North Tower at 8:48 am. The second plane (United flight 175) from Boston to Los Angeles hit the south tower at 9:03 am. American Airlines flight 77 traveling from Virginia to Los Angeles striked the pentagon at 9:37 am. At 9:59 am the south tower the second tower that was hit collapses in ten seconds. United flight 93 travelling from Newark to San Francisco crashed in a field in Shanksville, PA. Flight 93 was a counterattack and it never made it to its intended destination. At 10:28 am the North tower collapses and the total time of all the attacks is 102 minutes. The targets population was American men and women. “The hijackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by the al Qaeda terrorist organization of Saudi fugitive Osama Bin Laden, they were allegedly acting in retaliation for America’s support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War and its continued military presence in the Middle East”. The terrorists were easily able to smuggle box cutters and knives through security. Soon after takeoff the terrorist took over the plane and took complete control of them. The attacks on the twin towers took place in New York City, at the time the twin towers were the tallest buildings in the United States. The third attack happened at the pentagon in Washington D.C. The fourth plane, fortunately never made it to its intentional destination because the passengers on the plane were brave enough to attack the terrorist. Unfortunately, all the passengers on that flight were killed. Osama Bin Laden takes responsibly for the attacks on December 13, 2001. On May 2, 2011Osama Bin Laden is killed by U.S. Special Forces by a raid under the Obama administration. DNA and facial recognition are used to identify Bin Laden along with confirmation of one of his wives.

Next, the known facts are that the attack wasn’t an accident. The attacks killed 2,977 people and injured thousands of people. Rescue operations began almost immediately. There was about $10 billion worth of damage to all the infrastructures. The attack was organized by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. As of October 2019, only 1,645 (60%) of the 2,753 people who died in the world trade center’s bodies have been identified. As a direct result of 9/11 many first responders and people who around the towers in New York City, now have cancer as a direct result from breathing the air on 9/11. Singer, Donna Summer, passed away because she inhaled dust particles. More than 18,000 people have claimed to have fallen ill because of inhaling dust particles with most of the problems stemming from respiratory problems. On the morning of September 11th President George Bush had been visiting an Elementary school in Florida when he was informed of the attacks. To keep the president safe, he was flown back to Washington D.C. and on that evening, he addressed the nation, he said “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.” Other than health effects of the aftermath of 9/11, there were so many more outcomes to this tragedy. First of all, Americans were scared. Fearful that another attack might happen, the nation was weary. Mostly every tall building in the U.S.A. was evacuated in fear that another plane might hit them. Once all the planes in the sky were on the ground, no plane was seen in the sky. “Officials at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration did the only thing they could think of to try to control the situation: ordering every aircraft in U.S. airspace, about 4,000 of them, to land somewhere, anywhere, immediately”. Terrorism created fear and anxiety in the United States. PTSD was diagnosed in many people after 9/11. As a nation everyone was affected. “In the years immediately following 9/11, several epidemiological studies examined the nationwide psychological consequences of this trauma”. It was hypothesized that in this study that 9/11 would leave a measurable psychological legacy on the American populace. It’s been 18 years since 9/11 and its still a prevalent day for America. In one study it’s stated that families who received the remains of the victims felt more at peace then families who received parts of the remains and even no remains. After 9/11, there was much fear in the nation on immigrants and people who resembled the attackers. Children during this time were especially vulnerable. They experienced the same PTSD symptoms that adults did. “After 9/11, media exposure led some New York City children to mistrust immigrants, a phenomenon observed even among youth whose parents were immigrants”. Many precautions were taken after 9/11. Flying on an airplane was never the same.

The cockpit was a place where children on a flight could go and look at during the flight and experience what the pilots saw. After 9/11 the cockpit was to remain closed at all times. Still to this day, every flight you go on that part of the plane is completely unacceesble. The routine at airports changed. Back then security at the airport was definitely not as strict as it is now. After 9/11 security was intensified, ID is required every time you fly, and it must match your ticket. Shoes, jewelry and anything personal like laptops and cell phones must be removed and checked through screening. Absolutely no liquid is allowed before over 3.4 ounces are allowed through security, thus making travel size items okay. TSA can further pat you down at any random time for further security. There was talk about making security not as tight, but people still find a way to sneak illegal items such as drugs, large amounts of money through the airport, so it might not be the best idea. This was as a precaution for any future events, so that it would never happen again. The economic impact of 9/11 was super severe. “Many Wall Street institutions, including the New York Stock Exchange, were evacuated during the attacks. On the first day of trading after the attacks, the market fell 7.1 percent, or 684 points. New York City’s economy alone lost 143,000 jobs a month and $2.8 billion wages in the first three months. The heaviest losses were in finance and air transportation, which accounted for 60 percent of lost jobs. The estimated cost of the World Trade Center damage is $60 billion. The cost to clean the debris at Ground Zero was $750 million”. Nobody wanted to fly after the attacks. From 2001 to 2004 the families of 9/11 victims were given $7 billion in compensation and those injured as a result of the attacks. In 2011, funding started again, President Barack Obama Barack Obama signed The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act into law. Named after James Zadroga a police officer who died of raspatory problems from 9/11. $7.4 billion was given to those affected with a 9/11 related disease and funded is to be stopped in December of 2020. Many countries around the world showed support to the United States. Countries such as Great Britain sang the national anthem, Brazil’s Christ statue outlined the New York City skyline and Japan sent the U.S. a bouquet of flowers. After the first anniversary of 9/11 two bright columns of lights were shot up where the twin towers once stood. This was seen from about sixty miles away. A 9/11 memorial and museum were made in honor of the victims.

The park is about 8-acres. There are two reflecting pools where the twin towers were. The pools have waterfalls rushing down and all of the names of engraved in the pools. The memorial was opened on September 11, 2011 on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. The real-life heroes of 9/11 were the victims. Betty Ong was a passenger on United flight 11 and she was able to contact the airline to warn them that it was a terrorist attack. The airline was on the phone with her until the plane hits the North tower. “Frank De Martini, a construction manager who worked for the Port Authority, and Pablo Ortiz, a Port Authority construction instructor, were inside the North Tower when it was hit. They survived, but instead of seeking safety they began to help people trapped on the tower's 88th and 89th floors. Along with some of their coworkers, the two are thought to have saved at least 50 lives by opening stuck elevator doors, clearing offices, directing people to exits, and otherwise providing a lifeline amid dust, flames and obstructions. They were likely trying to come to the aid of additional people when the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 am.” It seems when people are in distress that they feel the need or have the adrenaline to help other people. It’s almost as if your body goes into a shock where you just start doing things that you don’t usually do. Counseling services were enacted immediately after the attack, one specific person was sister Cynthia Mahoney. “This prompted many people to volunteer to help the city in whatever way they could. Some arrived from locations like California, Texas and Virginia. Others were New York City residents, such as Sister Cynthia Mahoney, a nun who'd recently moved there from South Carolina. She had emergency medical training, so quickly jumped into an ambulance to offer her assistance. For six months, she kept returning to Ground Zero, the site of the destroyed World Trade Center, to provide counseling and bless remains. She wrote, 'I am grateful I can work in this war zone and be a witness to the heroism every single day... But, when I get home, I do have a hard time. What I've seen has been challenging, but what will stay with me forever is the smell. It is like nothing I have ever experienced.' Sister Cynthia died in 2006, having suffered from lung disease she believed was linked to her time volunteering in the toxin-filled air at Ground Zero”. Yet another case where the people who helped out suffered the consequences of 9/11. The United States is a strong nation. Even after all of this happened, Americans stood together and overcame this tragic situation together. Reassuring the world that we are a nation that doesn’t give in to terrorist threats. Since 9/11 there has only been one terrorist attack and that was the Boston marathon bombing.

References

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