December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii was bombed by Japanese aircraft, killing nearly 2,400 Americans and crippling the U.S. navy’s pacific fleet. September 11, 2001---history repeats itself---an incident, which is now being referred to as a second Pearl Harbor, occurs in Washington, DC and New York. Today is September 11, 2001 and today will go down in history books for being a definite day of infamy!
This day began like any typical Tuesday would. Many people took off for work and some off to school. The only thing on their minds was what to eat for lunch today. Before lunch time even came, the day took a very unexpected downhill turn. The most horrible terrorist act ever reported has taken place!
Around 9:00 a.m. news headquarters on the television and radio told the world that one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York had been hit by a hijacked airplane that contained explosive amounts of fuel. Somewhere close to ten minutes later, the second of the twin towers was hit as a second airplane, also hijacked, came crashing down. The twin towers collapsed one after the other almost an hour after the airplane crashes. The world grew silent. Our nation sat in a quiet rage. No one knew what to expect next. Even countries overseas felt at threat, not knowing if they too might be hit.
All over the New York City streets people became frenzied! No one knew just what to do or quite what to say. People were running vigorously, filling the city streets. Some were seen jumping from upper levels of the twin towers, other just falling, as the World Trade Center went up in flames. Debris and smoke filled the air. Screams and cries broke out, piercing the silence. Everyone was in a struggle to stay alive and some did not win that battle. This was a horrible moment that will never be forgotten.
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| | Moments later, while the nation focused all attention on the World Trade Center and the tragedy surrounding it, another hijacked airplane crashed into the Pentagon, our nation’s military center. And just short of reaching Camp David, in Maryland---the President’s retreat---a fourth allegedly hijacked airplane suddenly went down! Some speculate that the passengers of the fourth plane knew their fate and, having no possible escape, stood up to the hijackers, causing this plane to crash before reaching it’s appointed destination.
My heart sank to my toes. I felt completely helpless. The world went on hold. All flights were cancelled and airports closed down within the United States. Any flights currently in the air were instructed to land immediately. The news reported that the four crashed airplanes had been overcome by terrorists and set on a coordinated path to attack important government buildings. This was a very well developed plan, which had apparently taken much time to place together, skimming out even the tiniest details. My first thought was “How insane!” My heart went out to the passengers of the four airplanes, who had been driven to an early death, to the citizens of Washington DC and New York, and to our entire nation.
Can our nation survive such a terrible terrorist act? Will we be able to pick up the pieces and move on? What will happen to our nation next…war? Depression? As President Bush said, “This will be a monumental struggle of good and evil, but good will prevail.”
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