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A day to remember, never forget

  • Published
  • By Class 11-F
  • Kish Airman Leadership School
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  For most Americans, Sept. 11, 2001 began like any other day: another school day, another workday, another duty day.

For most of us in Class 11-F, we were teenagers, some even pre-teens, who thought the problems in high school and our families were all that existed. Little did we know what happened on that day would change the lives of millions around the world. A decade has passed since the events of Sept. 11; however, none of us have forgotten.

For those who perished in the attacks on Sept. 11, and those who continue to fight to defend the safety of our nation, we remember.

At 7:59 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 departed with 92 passengers and five hijackers aboard.
At 8:14 a.m., United Airlines Flight 1775 departed with 65 passengers and five hijackers aboard.
At 8:20 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 departed with 64 passengers and five hijackers aboard.
At 8:42 a.m., United Airlines Flight 93 departed with 40 passengers and four hijackers aboard.
At 8:46 a.m., Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center's North Tower at 446 mph.
At 9:03 a.m., Flight 1775 hit the South Tower.
At 9:37 a.m., Flight 77 crashed into the west side of the Pentagon.
At 10:03 a.m., Flight 93 crashed in Somerset County, Penn, near Shanksville, missing its target in Washington due its passengers' bravery.

Approximately 2,996 lives were taken from us on that fateful day ... 246 aircraft passengers, 125 people in the Pentagon and 2,606 people in New York City were victims of the attacks. More than 90 countries lost citizens during the attacks, and 24 people are still missing. The American people felt confused, and grieved the lives of so many. Grief turned to anger ... anger then turned to fierce patriotism. The evening of Sept. 11, President George W. Bush vowed to "find those responsible and bring them to justice."

Since President Bush's famous words, many terrorists have been brought to justice by U.S. led coalition forces. On May 1, the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, was brought to justice by an elite group of Navy Seals, "Seal Team 6." After word reached the ears of the world the mission had been accomplished, Americans rallied around Ground Zero, joined together outside the White House, and halted Major League Baseball games nationwide, so everyone could simply shout, "USA! USA! USA!"

On the evening of May 1, President Barak Obama addressed the invigorated nation to tell say, "Justice has been done." During our graduation ceremony from the Kish Airman Leadership School, we placed service hats on a table to represent the servicemembers who paid the eternal sacrifice in our nation's defense. The police officer's hat, firefighter service cap and helmet represented the acts of heroism and sacrifice of our civil servants and volunteers, for they also gave their lives to protect and save others.

No matter where in the world we go in service to our nation, we take with us the impact of Sept. 11, 2001 and the strength of a nation united. We will never forget.