9/11 25th Anniversary Special Episode

Welcome to a special episode of The Wrap-Up. Today marks 25 years since the deadliest terror attack in American history. Please join us as we remember the 2,977 souls lost and as we honor America's heroes on that tragic day. I'm your host, Casey. September 11th, 2001 began like any other day. People were heading to work. Students were getting ready for school. Then the unthinkable happened. Two great oceans did not protect us from the evil unleashed in an act of terror America will never forget. At 8.46 a.m. Eastern Time, President George W. Bush was in Florida preparing to visit a group of schoolchildren when American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of New York City's World Trade Center. It was initially thought to have been a terrible accident, but 17 minutes later, a second plane, United Flight 175, plunged into the south tower. Chief of Staff Andrew Card informed the president saying, a second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack. The country watched on television in horror as fire and smoke and people poured out from both Manhattan skyscrapers. Then at 9.37 a.m., word came of a third hijacked plane, American Airlines Flight 77. It had struck the Pentagon, America's military headquarters located just outside Washington, D.C. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was in the building when it was hit. At the same time, a different kind of extraordinary courage was unfolding in the skies above Pennsylvania. Flight 93 had been hijacked. Passenger Todd Beamer tried to reach his wife with the news using an air phone. Planes at that time were equipped with phones on the backs of each seat headrest that routed callers to an operator. Todd told the operator what was happening. He told her he had organized a group to take back the plane. Then he asked her to pray with him. I feel that Todd played a great role in that because when he told the guys, are you ready? I assume that they were waiting on his cue. Then they responded to him and he said, OK, let's roll. Todd led a group to overtake the cockpit and together they prevented the terrorists from reaching their final destination, possibly the White House or Capitol Building. Back in New York, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed at 9.59 a.m., causing more chaos in Lower Manhattan. And the North Tower fell a short time later. In just under two hours, the deadliest terror attack ever carried out on American soil was over. But that is just the beginning of the story. The terrible events of that morning summoned the most courageous among us, the firefighters, the police officers, and the other first responders who ran toward danger. These men and women helped thousands reach safety before the towers came down. The Port Authority police lost 37 officers. The NYPD lost 23. And New York's bravest, the city's fire department, lost 343 lives. Beamer's final words, let's roll, became a rallying cry for the entire country. Just days after the attacks, President Bush visited Ground Zero. The World Trade Center towers once stood and spoke to the heroes there still looking for survivors among the rubble. I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. The attacks were planned and executed by Islamic terrorists known as al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden. These jihadists view America as the enemy of Islam. Jihadists had already used a car bomb to unsuccessfully bring down the Twin Towers in 1993. The Taliban, a militant group ruling Afghanistan at the time, gave bin Laden and his fighters a safe haven where they could plan, train, and organize these attacks. That's why what President Bush said the day after was so defining of what would come next. The deliberate and deadly attacks which were carried out yesterday against our country were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war. This will require our country to unite in steadfast determination and resolve. Freedom and democracy are under attack. The American people need to know we're facing a different enemy than we have ever faced. Osama bin Laden, jihadists everywhere, and governments across the globe who harbored them were about to be introduced to the most powerful military on the planet. On October 7, 2001, the United States and allies launched Operation Enduring Freedom. Bombers, fighter jets, and cruise missiles struck Taliban and al-Qaeda targets across Afghanistan. In roughly two months, the regime that sheltered terrorists was decimated and overthrown. For nearly a decade, the CIA tracked one of bin Laden's most trusted couriers. In 2010, that led them to a large compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Under the cover of darkness, members of the elite SEAL Team 6 flew into the compound aboard stealth helicopters. A tense firefight ensued. One of their helicopters crashed, and soon, President Obama addressed the nation. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children. Crowds gathered outside the White House and at Ground Zero in New York. They chanted, sang the national anthem, and waved flags long into the night. Today, a memorial and its museum, which opened in 2014, exists where the towers once stood, so future generations will understand what happened and be inspired by the courage of Americans that day in September. The northwest corner of the site is now home to One World Trade Center, or what's known as Freedom Tower. The tallest building in the United States reaches 1,776 feet, a nod to the year of our Declaration of Independence. The Freedom Tower quickly became a symbol of American resilience. What was once destroyed is now rebuilt, bigger and better than ever. That's it for this special edition of The Wrap-Up. Join us again next week for another episode. Thank you for watching The Wrap-Up. To make sure you never miss an episode, subscribe at PragerU.com. We'll see you back here next week on The Wrap-Up.