9/11: Heroes Remembered - Bravery Amidst the Tragedy

On September 11th, 2001, at 9.03 in the morning, the world stood in shock as the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City was ablaze. The second plane hit the South Tower with a huge explosion. America was under attack. 34 minutes later, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and about 25 minutes after that, at 10.03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board. Four hijacked commercial airliners were targeting four different locations symbolic of American power. The first two hit the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center. The third hit the Pentagon at 9.37 a.m., and fourth, believed to be targeting the U.S. Capitol Building or the White House, crashed when passengers and crew members fought back against the hijackers. While the darkness of this day cannot be overlooked, the events provided many examples of amazing heroism and self-sacrifice in order to save others, including the bravery of the passengers and crew of United Flight 93, which ultimately gave their lives to fight back against the hijackers. Other examples include the actions of Wells Crowther, a 24-years-old equities trader known as the Man in the Red Bandana. We're afraid that we're gonna take a step and the whole thing's gonna sink in. Then all of a sudden, we saw a young man come out of nowhere. You heard this man's voice say, "'I found the stairs. "'Follow me. "'Only help the one that you can help.'" It's the way he said it. And we just got up, we followed. Crowther is credited with saving the lives of 18 by leading people and carrying others to safety in the South Tower, and who, after leading groups down the stairwell to rescue workers, turned and went back up to help others. Also, the heroic actions of countless firefighters, police and rescue workers, who saw the risks and the danger to their lives, but ultimately chose to save lives, costing many of them their own. To all the American heroes that day. No one has done more for history than history in Minnesota.