By Lucretia Hughes Klucken
HARTWELL, Ga. — Twenty-five years have passed since a clear September morning became one of the darkest days in American history.
On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes and attacked the United States. Two planes struck the World Trade Center towers in New York. A third struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew members fought back against the hijackers.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks.
Friday marks the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, an anniversary that carries even greater significance because an entire generation of Americans has now grown up knowing that day only through photographs, video, history lessons and the stories of those who lived through it.
At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower. At 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. At 10:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew members fought the hijackers.
Before that morning was over, the Twin Towers had collapsed, thousands of people were dead and countless families had been changed forever.
Sept. 11 is remembered for the horror of the attacks, but it is also remembered for the courage Americans showed in the face of unimaginable danger.
Firefighters climbed stairwells while thousands of people were trying to escape. Police officers, paramedics and other first responders ran toward the destruction instead of away from it. Ordinary Americans helped strangers, carried the injured and stayed behind to help others escape.
More than 400 first responders were among those killed that day.
The passengers and crew of Flight 93 also became symbols of courage. After learning what had happened at the World Trade Center and Pentagon, passengers attempted to take control of the aircraft from the hijackers. The plane crashed in Pennsylvania before reaching its intended target.
Their actions are believed to have prevented another attack on Washington.
There is another part of Sept. 11 that deserves to be remembered.
Sept. 12.
In the days after the attacks, Americans came together in a way that feels increasingly distant today. Flags appeared on homes, businesses, cars and highway overpasses. Churches filled. People stood in blood donation lines. Communities supported grieving families and first responders.
Americans prayed together, mourned together and stood together.
For a moment, political affiliation, race, region and ideology seemed less important than the simple fact that we were Americans.
Twenty-five years later, in a country that often feels divided over nearly everything, that unity remains one of the most important lessons of Sept. 11.
Unity does not require Americans to agree on every issue. It requires us to remember that some things are greater than our disagreements.
Across the country Friday, families, first responders, government officials and ordinary citizens will once again gather to remember those who were killed.
At the National September 11 Memorial in New York, family members will read the names of those who died in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Moments of silence will mark the times when the planes struck the towers, the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania, as well as the moments when the towers collapsed.
Memorial ceremonies will also take place at the Pentagon and at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.
For millions of younger Americans, Sept. 11 is history rather than memory.
They did not watch the second airplane strike the South Tower. They did not see smoke rising above Manhattan. They did not watch firefighters walk into buildings from which many would never return. They did not experience the silence in America’s skies after commercial aircraft were grounded.
They also did not experience the extraordinary unity that followed.
That makes it the responsibility of those who remember to keep telling the story.
Tell them about the firefighters who climbed the stairs while everyone else was coming down.
Tell them about the police officers, paramedics and first responders who ran toward danger.
Tell them about the passengers of Flight 93 who decided they would not sit quietly while terrorists attempted to use their airplane as another weapon.
Tell them about the office workers who helped colleagues escape.
Tell them about the military personnel and civilians at the Pentagon.
Tell them about the mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who never came home.
And tell them what America looked like when Americans stood together.
Twenty-five years may have passed, but remembrance cannot have an expiration date.
We remember the innocent people who were murdered. We honor the heroes who sacrificed their lives trying to save others. We remember the first responders who continue to suffer from illnesses connected to their service at Ground Zero and the other attack sites.
We pray for the families who still live with an empty chair at the table and a name engraved on a memorial.
Sept. 11, 2001, changed America forever.
Twenty-five years later, the responsibility remains the same.
Remember the victims.
Honor the heroes.
Teach the next generation.
And never forget.
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