The Day that Shook the World (non-fiction) - by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie")

(Based on the web site:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks)

The September 11 attacks of 2001 (commonly referred to as 9/11) were a series of four coordinated terrorist suicide attacks upon the United States in New York City and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001. On that fateful Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamic militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets.  The hijackers intentionally crashed two planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City; both towers completely collapsed within two hours. Hijackers also crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.  However, the fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after its passengers attempted to take control before it could reach the hijacker's intended target in Washington, D.C.  Nearly 3,000 died in these four attacks.

       Imagine the carnage:  the debris that was several feet deep, the thick, black smoke and grey matter that now lay all over the ground and upon people’s clothes, bodies, faces and in their eyes and mouths.  The horrific attacks of 9/11 were events that Americans, as well as the rest of the world had never before anticipated or thought were possible or imagined in their worst nightmares. That day, thousands of people were instantly killed, incinerated in the jets on which they were travelling and in the offices of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center where they were unfortunate enough to be at the moment and point of impact.  Even after the impact, there were people desperately waving for help where they are trapped in the Twin Towers above the point of impact.  There was no way out for them.  Because the Twin Towers were now burning so much out of control and were so hot, people who survived the initial impact started jumping out of the Twin Towers to their deaths on the ground far below.

       Now, imagine you’re one of the “lucky” people who actually got evacuated.  There you are on the ground looking up at the Twin Towers burning ferociously hot and fierce.  Little do you know that, very shortly, the South Tower will soon come crashing down to the ground.  Shortly afterward, within two hours of impact, the North Tower will also collapse completely.  The thick, opaque and acrid smoke is enough to kill a person within seconds.  It is a smoke filled with jet fumes, toxins of all kinds from building materials and multiple bodies that have been burned.  You are now breathing in this toxic mixture; the environment has become a gigantic gas chamber.  Not only can’t you breathe, you need fresh water desperately and there is little to be found.  Only those who were already miles away are able to escape death.  Those people may have escaped instant death, but now they are about to face the aftermath of the worst terrorist attack that has ever occurred on American soil.

       Finally, imagine going to work at your office building, the World Trade Center, not knowing that your life will soon be over:  puffed out like a burnt out match.  Your family will soon be looking for a body when you are no longer able to answer their frantic phone calls.  Your body has, most likely, been completely burnt beyond recognition, your ashes mixed in with those of thousands of others, your life extinguished in an instant.  Alternatively, your body has been totally dismembered and cannot easily be found or retrieved from “Ground Zero”, the site of the Twin Towers’ collapse.  As it turns out, it will be several weeks before all the body parts of all the victims can be located, removed and identified. 

       The crushing weight of thousands of tons of concrete, steel and glass raining down on all those hopelessly trapped human beings wreaks havoc on their bodies, tearing them apart and burying their remains deep within “Ground Zero”.  Most of these bodies will never be found; or, if found, they will be partial remains only and must be DNA-tested to ensure their identity.  Only then can the bereaved families bury their dead and start their grieving process.  As difficult as it is to discover that their loved one has been killed by terrorists, the families cannot properly mourn while they think there is some chance that their loved one is still alive somewhere.  Chances are you are never going to be heard from again if you were right there at the time of the attacks.  The terrorists of al-Qaeda made sure of that. 

       Resolved to “strike the sword of Allah into the belly of the Infidel” (the United States) in the worst way they could think of, these terrorists caused the Twin Towers to burn and eventually collapse.  So extreme were they in what they were doing that they were willing to die, they did die for their cause.  These terrorists might have felt that their cause was a worthy one for al-Qaeda, but creating such catastrophe to thousands of innocent Americans because of al-Qaeda’s religious beliefs was beyond the comprehension of most people. 

       Suspicion quickly fell on al-Qaeda and, in 2004, the group's leader Osama bin Laden, who had initially denied involvement, claimed responsibility for the attacks.  Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives for the attacks. The United States responded to these terrorist attacks by launching the War on Terror, invading Afghanistan to depose of the Taliban, which had harboured many al-Qaeda members. Furthermore, many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded their law enforcement powers and security measures. In May 2011, after years at large, bin Laden was finally found and killed by American soldiers.

       But, now that bin Laden is dead, do we dare ever trust that this kind of horrific event will never happen again?  Does another “bin Laden” exist in the world, plotting the next bombing to happen somewhere in the world using civilian vehicles which will be carrying hundreds or thousands of innocent citizens?  To tell the truth, we can never be sure that this will not happen again.  Anywhere people congregate, such as central bus terminals, major subway stations and ports of call will probably always be susceptible to terrorism because now we know what terrorists are capable of doing to innocent people and the horrific death and destruction they can cause.

       This destruction also caused unprecedented serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan in New York City.  Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum was scheduled to open on September 11, 2011. Adjacent to the memorial, the 1,776 feet high (541 m) One World Trade Center is estimated for completion by 2013.  The Pentagon was repaired within a year, and the Pentagon Memorial opened, adjacent to the building, in 2008. Ground was broken for the Flight 93 National Memorial in November 2009, and the memorial was formally dedicated to Flight 93’s brave passengers on September 10, 2011.  This is the way in which the United States will rise up out of the ashes of 9/11 to live and prosper again.  This is the way in which Americans will show the world that terrorists will never win against them. 

This short story is being written as a dedication to the almost 3,000 innocent people who died in the 9/11 attacks, and to their grieving families.

copyright 2014, Anne Shier.  All rights reserved.