Whitney Gdanski was sleeping when the first airplane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It would only be 17 minute later when another airplane would fly into the South Tower.
Even 24 years later, Gdanksi know she will never forget what happened on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I was shocked about what happened,” she said.
Gdanski, along with many people at that time, found herself glued to the TV, watching the 24-hour news coverage from their homes. The people in New York, on the other hand, had a different experience, by either watching the attack or by seeing the aftermath.
According to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum website, “9/11” is shorthand for four coordinated terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001.
“Nineteen terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex and a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The Twin Towers ultimately collapsed because of the damage sustained from the impacts and the resulting fires. After learning about the other attacks, passengers on the fourth hijacked plane, Flight 93, fought back, and the plane was crashed into an empty field in western Pennsylvania about 20 minutes by air from Washington, D.C.
“The attacks killed 2,977 people from 90 nations: 2,753 people were killed in New York; 184 people were killed at the Pentagon; and 40 people were killed on Flight 93.”
Although none of Duncan Middle School’s nearly 800 students were alive during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many have grown up learning about what happened. Others have heard stories about what people were doing when they first learned about what happened in New York.
¨I think it was a tragedy, and I think that it was really unfair to friends and family that had lost someone,” eighth-grader Gentry Brooksher said.
Although Brooksher doesn’t know anyone who was directly affected by 9/11, she still understands the importance of the day of remembrance.
According to the National Parks Service website, 9/11 Remembrance Day marks not only the attacks, but the shift in the nation uniting.
“For months following September 11, 2001, people came together to grieve family, friends, and strangers,” according to the National Parks Service website. “More than 20 years later, we still do. Sometimes called ‘Patriots Day’ or ‘Day of Remembrance,’ September 11 has become an annual day for many Americans to remember, reflect, honor, and mourn.”
A timeline of the 9/11 attacks can be found on the University of Virginia/Miller Center website. Personal accounts from survivors of the attacks can be found on the National Geographic website. More information about 9/11 can also be found on the History Channel website.
