On September 11, 2001 19 Al Qaeda members hijacked 4 different US planes. Al Qaeda is a terrorist group who practices the Muslim religion, and believes that all people should follow what they believe in. This group is mainly against the United States, but other Western democratic nations as well. They believe that the freedom U.S. citizens have is evil, and should not be allowed in any other country. Al Qaeda is based out of the Middle East and was led by Osama Bin Laden, who was killed by SEAL team 6 in May of 2011. This terrorist group has performed several deadly attacks, but 9-11 is the worst one yet.
Each plane was set out to hit and destroy specific destinations in which would have a negative impact on the United States. After each of the four planes was hijacked in mid-flight, the Al Qaeda members started out for the targets. Two flights headed toward the two skyscrapers, also known as the twin towers which is the World Trade Center in New York City. One plane took out one building and the other plane took out the other one. The impact of these two planes caused the buildings to catch fire and collapse. The third plane’s target was the Pentagon (U.S. military headquarters) in Arlington, Virginia. This plane was only able to destroy part of its target. The fourth plane whose target was believed to be either the White House or U.S. capitol building failed in its mission. The passengers tried to overtake the terrorists in the cockpit. This attempted overtake failed and the plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All that remained of that plane was debris and a part of one of the engines. President Bush was listening to a second grade class in Sarasota, Florida read when the attacks happened. After mentally preparing to face the terror, he left the elementary classroom and addressed the nation on what was happening. Thousands in the World trade center, around 200 in the Pentagon, and all 44 people on board the fourth flight headed toward Washington were killed. An estimated 3,000 people died overall in the 9/11 attacks.
I was not surprised on the information I found. I knew many of these things, because it was such a big deal. Every year in school we go over what happened. The one thing I did not know all the details about was the fourth flight. I knew it had crashed but was unaware of the location it crashed in, and were it was supposedly headed to.
'Twin Towers' and the Pentagon shortly after being attacked.
Location in Shanksville, Pennsylvania were the 4th plane crashed.
Works Cited Pressler, Margaret Webb. "What Was 9/11?" Washington Post. The Washington Post, 08 Sept. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Smith, Natalie. "What Happened on 9/11?" Scholastic, Helping Children Around the World to Read and Learn. Scholastic, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Nightline, ELY BROWN via. "Florida Students Witnessed the Moment Bush Learned of 9/11 Terror Attacks." ABC News. ABC News Network, 8 Sept. 2011. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.
All pictures provided by Google Images
Comments
Great job Halley!