What Happened on 9/11

Sep 07, 2020

9/11 shocked America and changed the course of modern history. Everyone knows what happened on that day…right? The truth is, many young people don’t, but they need to. CJ Pearson explains why.

Many students in America are not being taught in depth about the 9/11 terror attacks.: Multiple studies have found that many American schools are not teaching students in depth about the four coordinated terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. A decade after 9/11, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement conducted research on school curriculum and found "a startling lack of detail about what actually happened on 9/11."
View source; As NPR noted in 2017, one survey of how the attacks were being taught in schools found that “only about 20 states include anything in depth about the events of that fateful day in their high school social studies curriculum.”
View source; As highlighted by Time, “a 2017 analysis of state high school social-studies academic standards in the 50 states and the District of Columbia noted that 26 specifically mentioned the 9/11 attacks, nine mentioned terrorism or the war on terror, and 16 didn’t mention 9/11 or terrorism-related examples at all.”
View source; Related reading: “9/11 and the War on Terror in Curriculum and States Standards Documents Data Set” – Jeremy Stoddard et al
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The 9/11 attacks were carried out by 19 Islamic terrorists under the direction of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.: September 11, 2001 is one of the most important dates in American history, marking “the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil in U.S. history.” The terror plot consisted of four coordinated attacks involving the hijacking of four different planes intended to strike four high-profile targets.
View source; The 19 Islamic terrorists who carried out the coordinated attacks were organized by the Osama bin Laden-led terrorist group al-Qaeda and drawn from four Muslim-majority countries: Saudi Arabia (15), United Arab Emirates (2), Egypt (1) and Lebanon (1).
View source; The four hijacked planes were cross-country flights, thus their tanks were filled to capacity with jet fuel. Within a few hours after takeoff, the terrorists had hijacked the planes and had used them to kill nearly 3,000 people.
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The 9/11 attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,996 people, among them more than 400 first responders and citizens of 78 countries.: The Sept. 11 attacks resulted in a staggering number of lives lost. History.com provides some of the tragic figures: “A total of 2,996 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks, including the 19 terrorist hijackers aboard the four airplanes. Citizens of 78 countries died in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. At the World Trade Center, 2,763 died after the two planes slammed into the twin towers. That figure includes 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers who were struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save the office workers trapped on higher floors. At the Pentagon, 189 people were killed, including 64 on American Airlines Flight 77, the airliner that struck the building. On Flight 93, 44 people died when the plane crash-landed in Pennsylvania.”
View source; Related reading: “9/11 Timeline” – History.com
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Terrorists hijacked four planes on 9/11; three ended up hitting targets intended to create mass casualties and chaos.: At 8:46 a.m., the first hijacked plane — American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston with 92 people aboard — crashed into floors 93-99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the international symbol of America’s economic power.
View source; At 9:03 a.m., the second hijacked plane — United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston with 65 people aboard — crashed into floors 75-85 of the South Tower. The two planes that hit the Twin Towers ignited fires that burned hot enough to compromise the buildings' structural integrity.
View source; At 9:37 a.m., the third hijacked plane — American Airlines Flight 77 from Dulles International Airport with 64 people aboard — crashed into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. military.
View source; At 10:07 a.m., the fourth hijacked plane — Flight 93 from Newark International Airport with 40 passengers aboard — crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after brave passengers mounted a valiant attempt to retake it.
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The heroic passengers of Flight 93 stopped terrorists from striking another key target in D.C., likely the White House or U.S. Capitol.: The passengers of Flight 93 had just enough time to learn via their cell phones of the other 9/11 terror attacks. Some of the passengers were also able to contact loved ones before mounting their attempt to retake the plane. Flight 93 likely had been heading for either the White House or the U.S. Capitol before the passengers sacrificed themselves to prevent the terrorists from taking even more lives. Unarmed, the passengers fought the terrorists, crashing the plane in an empty field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
View source; Related reading: “The Extraordinary Last Calls of UA93” – The Telegraph
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The Islamic terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks were all either from wealthy or middle-class families.: The al-Qaeda terrorists who carried out the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 were all either from wealthy or middle-class families.
View source; Under the direction of Osama bin Laden, the terror group attacked the U.S. in an attempt to undermine America’s position as the guardian of freedom in the West. Bin Laden enjoyed massive popularity among Islamic radicals following the attack, but America’s War on Terror forced him to remain in hiding till his death.
View source; Related reading: “The 9/11 Commission Report” – U.S. National Commission on Terrorist Attacks
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Bin Laden believed 9/11 would prove America was weak; instead, it sparked the War on Terror that resulted in his death.: Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden hoped the 9/11 terror attacks would demonstrate that Americans were simply "paper tigers" and lacked the will to safeguard their liberties and people.
View source; Instead, President George W. Bush famously declared in a national address on Sept. 12 the beginning of the American-led War on Terror. “The United States of America will use all our resources to conquer this enemy,” said President Bush. “We will rally the world. We will be patient. We’ll be focused, and we will be steadfast in our determination. This battle will take time and resolve, but make no mistake about it, we will win.”
View source; In August 2010, under President Barack Obama’s order, American Navy SEALs raided a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and shot bin Laden in the head and chest. The terrorist died instantly.
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Everybody knows what happened on 9/11, right?

The truth is most of my peers—I was born after 2001—don't. They almost certainly don't know why it happened. Most probably don't even know who did it. Such things aren't taught in schools now. So here's what took place on that fateful Tuesday, what the United States of America did about it, and why it's one of the most important days in American history.

September 11, 2001 began as a beautiful morning on the East Coast. America was at peace—not embroiled in any foreign war. Passengers boarded their early flights, headed to business meetings or to visit relatives across the country.

Tragically, they were not the only ones who boarded planes that morning. Nineteen Islamic terrorists, organized by the terrorist group that calls itself al-Qaeda, directed by its leader, Osama bin Laden, and drawn from four Arab countries, also boarded planes that morning.

All of the planes—the terrorists were split among 4 of them—were cross-country flights, so their tanks were filled to capacity with jet fuel. Within an hour after takeoff, these 19 terrorists would hijack the planes, brutally murder defenseless stewardesses and pilots, and kill 3,000 innocent people.

At 8:46 a.m., a hijacked American Airlines flight leaving Boston crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the international symbol of America's economic power. Seventeen minutes later, a second hijacked plane, also departing from Boston, crashed into the World Trade Center's South Tower. The two planes, spewing their jet fuel, ignited fires that burned hot enough to compromise the buildings' structural integrity.

Hundreds of New York firefighters and police officers raced up the towers to rescue the victims. Quite suddenly, the buildings collapsed, killing 343 firefighters, 60 police officers, and thousands of trapped office workers.

A third hijacked plane, leaving Washington's Dulles Airport, crashed into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. military; 125 Pentagon workers were killed.

The passengers of a fourth hijacked plane—this one leaving Newark International Airport shortly after the others—had just enough time to learn, via their cell phones, of the other attacks.

Those onboard decided that the nightmare would stop with them. Unarmed, with no hope of survival, they fought the terrorists, crashing the plane in an empty field in Pennsylvania. They gave their lives so that more Americans would not die. We learned later that this plane, United Airlines flight 93, had been heading for either the White House or U.S. Capitol.

The Islamic terrorists who launched these attacks made a number of claims about their motivations. But here is the truth: They did not murder thousands of Americans because they disagreed with America's Middle East policy. And they certainly didn't do it because they were poor and hopeless; they were all either from wealthy or middle-class Arab families. They attacked America because they despised its values—most especially its freedom and tolerance.

The United States, as the guardian of freedom in the West, had to be brought down. This attack would start that process. It would show the world that America was weak—that America lacked the will to safeguard its liberties and people. Bin Laden called America a "paper tiger."

In the days immediately after the attacks, the terrorist leader and his many supporters in the Muslim Middle East believed he had proved his point. Mothers across the Muslim world named their babies "Osama;" bin Laden's face adorned posters in homes; and kids in Pakistan wore bin Laden t-shirts.

But on the afternoon of September 14th, President George W. Bush visited the twisted, still-smoldering wreckage of "Ground Zero"—where the Twin Towers had stood—and, megaphone in hand, promised that America would not be cowed:

"I can hear you," he said. "The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear from all of us soon."

And they did.

America launched its War on Terror, destroyed the terrorist leadership, and sent bin Laden into a decade of running and hiding. Within six months, kids in Pakistan were no longer wearing bin Laden t-shirts. And ten years later, the CIA located and a team of Navy SEALS killed the terrorist leader.

America will always have her enemies. There will always be those who despise our freedoms, who hate our democracy, who want to see America buckle in the face of tyranny—to sacrifice our way of life to appease those who despise it.

And we will always be faced with a choice: to surrender our freedoms, or to preserve them; to grovel before those who hate us, or to honor the lives of the nearly 3,000 Americans who died on 9/11.

But first, young Americans need to learn what happened that day.

I'm CJ Pearson for Prager University.