In Memory - September 11, 2001

Where were you?

- World Trade Center -

2,606 casualties

• 2,192 civilians (including 8 EMTs & Paramedics from private hospital units)
• 343 members of the New York Fire Department
• 71 law enforcement officers (including 23 from the NYPD, 37 from the Port Authority Police Department, 4 from the New York State Office of Tax Enforcement, 3 officers of the New York State Office of Court Administration, 1 fire marshal from the FDNY, 1 member of the FBI, 1 member of the New York Fire Patrol, 1 member of the U.S. Secret Service)
• K-9 Sirius - Port Authority bomb-sniffing dog
• Youngest victim in flight age 2 1/2
• Eldest victim in flight age 85
• Youngest victim on the ground age 18
• Eldest victim on the ground age 79
• 10 pregnant women were victims as well
• Stranded elevators - Occupants burned alive or trapped
• "...intentionally jumped to their deaths to escape the extreme heat, thick smoke, chemical exposure and fire..." ... Jump speed of 125 - 200 mph
• "...accidental falls..."
• No one survived the North Tower.
• South Tower Survivors

September 11 Memorial Fountain & Museum

- Pentagon -

125

• 47 Army employees
• 6 Army contractors
• 6 Navy employees
• 3 Navy contractors
• 7 Defense Intelligence Agency employees
• 1 Office of the Secretary of Defense contractor
• 33 Navy Sailors
• 22 Army Soldiers

Pentagon Memorial

American Airlines Flight 11

- 87 civilians, including 11 crew -

excluding 5 hijackers

United Airlines Flight 175

- 60 civilians, including 9 crew -

excluding 5 hijackers

American Airlines Flight 77

- 59 civilians, including 6 crew -

excluding 5 hijackers

United Airlines Flight 93

- 30 civilians, including 7 crew -

excluding 4 hijackers

-------------------------------------------

Flight 93 intent - Washington, D.C.

Passengers fought back

Forced crash in Shanksville, PA

Flight 93 National Memorial

Wall of Names

I was driving home from dropping off my mother at the train station.  The news broke in while I was listening to a talk radio station.  A lot of cars seemed to slow down when the morning rush generally picks up.  My minutes to home felt like hours.  When I did get home, up the stairs and to my condo unit felt more like a marathon than the usual sprint.  I raced to the living room and grabbed the television remote to turn the set on.  I collapsed.

What I saw then is what all saw then and for the eternity that lasted...not just for the day but for the domestic and global history that unfolded.

The United States is not perfect.  Slavery.  Segregation.  Treatment toward black men, women, and children...children who wanted to go to school and learn about history...history they did not know they were making...history that I studied, researched, penned in an essay that would later be published, and briefly considered teaching...history.

History to never forget.  History to never repeat.   Yet, remember the blemishes the U.S. carries with it as well.  Those scatter throughout decades and centuries.

International society is not perfect.  World War I.  World War II.  The Holocaust.  Apartheid.  Korea.  Vietnam.  The Gulf.  The Berlin Wall.  Cuba.  Assassinations.  Resignations.  Pop culture.  Inaugurations.  History made...

"The attack on the World Trade Center's North Tower alone...the deadliest act of terrorism in human history..." (Wikipedia) 

Never forget.

Never repeat.