Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Remember 9/11

Whether you agree with what has transpired as a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center or not, you have to admit that it has affected us as a nation in one way or another.  I don't really have much in the way of a tribute but I will do it in a way that is fitting for this blog.
 I don't have any pictures of the World Trade Center itself but I do have a picture of a building that is connected to the World Trade Center.  The building is the One Woodward Building and its designer was Minoru Yamasaki who was also the designer of the World Trade Center.

The building above was completed in 1962 and many of the elements used in its design would be carried into the World Trade Center.  The lattice design above would be carried into the World Trade Center.  I'm not sure what the other design elements were used.  However, the building above does have similarities to the World Trade Center.
 As you know, the attacks themselves were carried out on September 11, 2001 using planes similar to the one above (I think the plane pictured is a 757).  Two of the flights originated out of Logan International Airport in Boston and both of those planes were used to attack the two towers of the World Trade Center.  One flight originated out of Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. and that was used to attack the Pentagon.  A fourth flight originated out of Newark but the passengers were able to take control of the plane and crashed it near Shanksville Pennsylvania.  It is believe that plane was going to be used to attack either the White House or Capitol Building.

At 8:46 A.M., American Airlines Flight 11 was crashed into the first World Trade Center Tower.  Seventeen minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the other World Trade Center Tower.  At 9:37 A.M., American Airlines Flight 77 was crashed into the Pentagon Building.  At 10:03 A.M., United Flight 93 was crashed into a site near Shanksville, PA after the passengers were able to gain control of the aircraft from the hijackers.

Shortly after the Pentagon was attacked, the FAA put a ground hold on planes that were currently taking off and all planes in the air were told to land.  At around 10:30A.M., both World Trade Center Towers would collapse taking 2,606 people with them.  The damaged wing at the Pentagon was a little more lucky as it wasn't quite opened but still 125 people lost their lives there.  A total of 246 passengers were killed as well.  This would make it the worst act of terrorism on American Soil (and probably one of the worst ever).

I'm not going to get into the aftermath as that gets political and contentious.
One of the aftermaths of the 9/11 Attacks is that the New York skyline doesn't look quite the same.  The Towers dominated the Manhattan skyline but the replacement is pretty impressive (that's to the left of the picture).

So all we can do is remember this event and hopefully learn from it.


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