20 Years Later: Remembering 9/11

Twenty years ago on September 11th a terrorist attack occurred that took the lives of 2.996 individuals. On that day, terrorists hijacked 4 commercial flights with the intent to commit mass loss of life and destruction. The first attack happened at 8:45 in the morning when a plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Eighteen minutes after the plane hit the North Tower, another plane struck the South Tower. At 9:45, an hour after the first attack on the World Trade Center, a plane hit the Pentagon in Arlington, VA right outside of Washington, D.C. Fifteen minutes after the attack on the Pentagon, the South Tower collapsed. Thirty minutes later at 10:30 a.m., the North Tower collapsed. Flight 93, a commercial plane traveling from Newark NJ to California, crashed in a field in western Pennsylvania at 10:10 a.m. after the passengers valiantly fought to regain control from the hijackers.

In roughly two hours, the most devastating terrorist attack in American history had occurred and the lives of almost 3,000 Americans had been taken. Today at the site where the towers once stood is a memorial where the names of all 2,983 individuals who lost their lives there are engraved on the panels surrounding the infinity pools. Each year, we are tasked with remembering those who so needlessly lost their lives and must commit ourselves to prevent such a tragedy from reoccurrence. This Saturday on the twenty-year anniversary, please take the time to remember the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in the attacks, and those who served in our military and lost their lives in their service following these attacks.

Senator Steve Jarvis,
NC District 29