On September the eleventh, seventeen years ago, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger jets and carried out the the biggest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. In all, 2,996 people were killed, including 343 firefighters, 72 police officers and 55 military members. Over 6,000 were injured. This does not even count the death toll on American military servicemen who died fighting Al-Qaeda in the war in Afghanistan.
Though it is still heart breaking to talk about it seventeen years later, we must also remember the hero's that rose out of the ashes to help one another in the wake of tragedy. New York fire fighters who rushed in to save as many as they could, not knowing that the towers were just about to collapse. Police officers, who directed people out of harms way, and even rushing into the buildings to try to rescue as many as possible. The military members, the civilians, the first responders: They all came together, did their part and sacrificed more than many could imagine.
My dad doesn't talk about 9/11. He was a firefighter for 28 years at Dulles International Airport. Unbeknownst to him, flight 77, carrying 53 passengers and 6 crew members, took off from Dulles at 8:20 a.m. with 5 hijackers on the way to the Pentagon. A few hours later, he walked into the break room, to find the entire fire department watching the TV, some in tears. He came in just in time to see the North Tower collapse. Then he saw images of the Pentagon, and at that moment, an alarm went off in the room. They were dispatched to the Pentagon. He spent the next 24 hours without sleep, putting out small pop-up fires, and tagging bodies and parts of victims. He told me this once, and never again.
But out of all this tragedy, we must remember to pray for the family's of the victims, the first responders who gave there lives to help others and the people who continue to suffer today, due to cancer while being exposed to the hazards of the wreckage. We must remember the patriotism that ensued afterwards. And we must remember those who fought to keep this from happening again, by conquering the scum of the earth, Al-Qaeda.
Let's pray for, and remember, the victims, the families, the first responders, and military members, this 9/11.
Though it is still heart breaking to talk about it seventeen years later, we must also remember the hero's that rose out of the ashes to help one another in the wake of tragedy. New York fire fighters who rushed in to save as many as they could, not knowing that the towers were just about to collapse. Police officers, who directed people out of harms way, and even rushing into the buildings to try to rescue as many as possible. The military members, the civilians, the first responders: They all came together, did their part and sacrificed more than many could imagine.
My dad doesn't talk about 9/11. He was a firefighter for 28 years at Dulles International Airport. Unbeknownst to him, flight 77, carrying 53 passengers and 6 crew members, took off from Dulles at 8:20 a.m. with 5 hijackers on the way to the Pentagon. A few hours later, he walked into the break room, to find the entire fire department watching the TV, some in tears. He came in just in time to see the North Tower collapse. Then he saw images of the Pentagon, and at that moment, an alarm went off in the room. They were dispatched to the Pentagon. He spent the next 24 hours without sleep, putting out small pop-up fires, and tagging bodies and parts of victims. He told me this once, and never again.
But out of all this tragedy, we must remember to pray for the family's of the victims, the first responders who gave there lives to help others and the people who continue to suffer today, due to cancer while being exposed to the hazards of the wreckage. We must remember the patriotism that ensued afterwards. And we must remember those who fought to keep this from happening again, by conquering the scum of the earth, Al-Qaeda.
Let's pray for, and remember, the victims, the families, the first responders, and military members, this 9/11.
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