Twenty-three years ago today, millions of Americans woke up to just another day. By the time the sun set across the country on September 11, 2001, skylines would be irreversibly marred, thousands would grapple with searing loss while even more wouldn’t yet know the fate of their loved ones, and stories of everyday heroes forged in the day’s hell began to emerge. For the rising generation, however, the attacks of September 11, 2001, are only slightly more real than the attack on Pearl Harbor and certainly no more visceral. It is for these millions of young Americans — and future generations — for whom the promise to “Never Forget” was made.
Those of us who remember that clear September morning and the horrors of the day might have, over the years, preferred to forget some of the scenes from September 11. But the images, broadcasts, and phone calls are seared into the memories of millions who watched — first shocked to learn of a “freak accident” in Manhattan and then stunned when it became clear that America was under attack.
Initially reported by some outlets as a small plane, American Airlines Flight 11 — a Boeing 767 with 76 passengers (not counting the terrorists) and 11 crew members aboard — was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. and set off the first of many horrific images from the day.
Fewer than 20 minutes later, with millions of eyes glued to the scene in Lower Manhattan as the North Tower burned, United Airlines Flight 175 — also a Boeing 767, with 56 passengers (not including terrorists) and nine crew — came screaming into view and exploded into flames as it was flown into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m.
The second plane hitting the second tower made it suddenly clear that America was under attack, and ushered in a fog of war-like chaos. Those who weren’t yet born or were too young to remember 9/11 were spared from the surge of panic wrought by being unaware of how many planes were hijacked and being piloted toward additional targets. Skyscrapers in other cities were evacuated, students were sent home from school, and offices closed early.
Horrific images out of New York stunned a nation as Americans woke up across the country. Video of workers in World Trade Center offices waving their shirts crying out for help were broadcast nationwide. Soon, as the fires raged inside the towers, desperate and trapped individuals made the impossible choice between being burned alive and jumping from their offices. Photographers captured unconscionable images such as “The Falling Man.”
Then, at 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 — a Boeing 757 carrying 58 passengers (not counting the terrorists) and six crew members — smashed into the western face of the Pentagon, tearing through concrete and steel and igniting a blaze.
At 9:59 a.m., the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed into a plume of smoke and debris. A few minutes later, at 10:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 93 — a Boeing 757 carrying 58 passengers (not including terrorists) and a crew of seven — plunged into the ground in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after heroic passengers refused to allow their plane to be used as a weapon against its intended target.
Among the most searing images for this writer came at 10:28 a.m., when the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. Images and video of the tower’s spire sinking into the abyss of carnage below just 102 minutes after Flight 11 was crashed into it sent even more thick clouds of debris flying through Manhattan’s grid of streets. Stunned and staggering, survivors fought the deadly haze and emerged into the sunlight, captured in the otherworldly scene by photographers.
These are some of the key moments, the events that remain indelible for Americans who witnessed them. For too many today, it’s all too easy to treat each year’s anniversary of the attacks as just another fall day. “Never Forget” means America can’t let that happen.
Those who remember the terror of 9/11 also remember what happened next. Lines to donate blood to help victims stretched out the door and around the block of Red Cross offices around the country. In this writer’s hometown and many others, the daily newspaper printed a full-color American flag that appeared in almost every home’s front window for years until they faded. Americans did what we do best — we rallied. We were bruised, we were bloody, we were in ashes — but we came together knowing it would not be the end. Terror would not win. Evil would not triumph.
“Never Forget” was a promise not as much for those who lived through and remembered 9/11 but for those who didn’t. Young Americans who’ve only seen documentaries about 9/11, learned about the day in history books, or heard stories from relatives who remember the horror of the attacks are those who must now make the same promise.
That starts with meaningful remembrance of the anniversary of the attacks. Commemorating the loss that America suffered with the murder of 2,977 innocent people on our soil. Retelling the stories of the everyday heroes forged in stairwells of the World Trade Center, corridors of the Pentagon, and aboard Flight 93. And remembering that our darkest days do not define us. “Never Forget” is first and foremost about memorializing the innocent lives stolen in the carnage, but it’s also about remembering what Americans did next.
In divisive times such as ours, uniting Americans to remember a day of unbearable loss — one that also brought unbreakable unity if only for a time — reminds us that what we have in common ought to and can matter more than our disagreements: We are all Americans, a fact worth being proud of.