What I KNOW : What I WANT to know: What I LEARNED : The Events of September 11, 2001

My Thoughts on 9/11 By Mrs. Pope

I visited New York City in 1995 At that time, the World Trade Center was very much a part of the “Big Apple” skyline. I was visiting the Statue of Liberty when this picture was taken.

The WORLD TRADE CENTER Billions of dollars in business trade that effected the entire world took place there. That is why the two buildings were together named “ The WORLD TRADE CENTER ”.

But then… …a man by the name of Osama Bin Laden who lived in the Middle East in a country called Afghanastan, decided to show America just how much he hated our country. This region is called the “Middle East” because it is in the center of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Osama Bin Laden was jealous of our country’s powerful government, our strong military and our national wealth. He convinced thousands of followers that we were a nation of evil that had to be destroyed. When most countries have disagreements, their governments meet together to work out their problems. Osama Bin Laden was too much of a criminal to do things the right way, and that is why many other countries didn’t like him as well.

Because he didn’t have an army large enough to take over America, Osama planned large scale surprise attacks that would kill many of our citizens at one time. That is why we call what his people do “terrorism”. His “terrorists” named themselves Al Qaeda. (say “Al Ki-duh”)

Osama Bin Laden chose his best men to form a team for the 9/11 mission. They spent many years planning for that day. These men were able to come into our country, find training to fly our jumbo jet airliners, gain access to our air travel control and learn when our government would be hard a work - without being discovered. He even convinced these men that dying for his mission would give them a special place in heaven.

…and the day came. The plan included crashing 5 jumbo jet airplanes fully loaded with highly explosive jet fuel - and hundreds of human beings- into our 5 centers of power.

Those places were: The United States Capitol (Government) The Pentagon (Military) The White House (President) The World Trade Center (Money)

They were successful - but not completely. Two jumbo jet airplanes, full of innocent passengers, flew directly into each of the World Trade Center towers. A third one hit the side of the Pentagon.

The 4 th and 5 th Planes The brave men and women on the 4 th hijacked plane realized what was happening. They knew that America was under attack and that they were going to die. They called their families on their cell phones and told them good bye. One man told his wife that he overheard the hijackers plan to fly their plane into the United States Capitol. He and a few other brave men decided they had to stop the hijackers. The last thing his wife overheard her husband say was, “Let’s roll!” The result of their actions caused that plane to crash into a field in Pennsylvania instead of the U.S. Capitol. The 5 th plane did not take off because the hijacker, thankfully, got caught!

The brave police and firemen who went INTO the nightmare to help others come OUT. We also know about these heroes:

In the end, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 resulted in 2,996attacks of September 11, 2001 deaths. The victims were distributed as follows: 246 on the four planes, 2,606four planes in New York City in the towers and on the ground, 125 at the Pentagon, andPentagon the 19 hijackers.

After the attack on 9/11, America declared war on Al Qaeda. Our government sent troops to places throughout the Middle East to track down Osama Bin Laden and his many terrorists. It took America ten years to locate Osama Bin Laden because he was hiding out like a coward! Now, without Osama to mastermind the evil plans, the Al Qaeda terrorist organization is beginning to break down.

To remember … …the many lives that were lost that day we will honor them with the dedication of the “Ground Zero” September 11 Memorial. The two square fountains were made in the exact location of where the twin towers stood. The water inside of the fountains flows down to represent the terrible events of that day.