Twenty-five years ago on this day, four teams of Islamic hijackers, led by Mohamed Atta, acting on the orders of Osama bin Laden to bring the holy war to America, took control of American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77, and United Airlines Flight 93. They slammed the first two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City, the third into the Pentagon, and intended to take the fourth into another government office in Washington but were prevented by a mutiny among the crew and passengers, instead crashing the plane into Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The attack killed nearly 3,000 people, including firefighters who attempted to rescue the workers in the World Trade Center, and many thousands more died from subsequent injuries and illnesses caused by the debris. The youngest victim was two years old, and the oldest victim was 85.
The Motive
The primary motive for the September 11 attacks was a desire to exact revenge on America for its support of Jews and Christians against Islam. Bin Laden described the creation of Israel as “a crime which must be erased,” and in his 1998 fatwa he stated that the United States’ “aim… is to serve the Jews’ petty state.” He also cited the supposed immorality of the United States, stating that “we call you to be a people of manners, principles, honor and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling and trading with interest.” Although the specifics of Osama bin Laden’s motives were not entirely consistent across his statements, they generally consisted of opposition to American defense of Israel and other nations at war with Muslim nations, American immorality and belief in the collective responsibility of Americans for the actions of the American government. Bin Laden had been banned from Saudi Arabia, itself a Muslim country, and had his citizenship revoked for multiple years prior to the September 11 attacks.
The Means
The hijackers divided into four groups and used concealed knives and boxcutters to murder or subdue the pilots and crew of four passenger airplanes. They then redirected the planes to fly towards their targets: the two World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and another unknown target in Washington, D.C. They attempted to use the PA systems of the airplanes that they had taken but instead ended up speaking with Air Traffic Control. The crew and passengers of United Airlines Flight 93, since the plane had been taken later in the day, knew that the terrorists were planning to ram it into a building and attempted to storm the cabin and retake the flight. The terrorists eventually flew that plane into the ground in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
In New York
Mr. Jose Aquino, our current Dean of Students, was in seventh grade at the time of the attacks. He was attending school in Queens when he first felt that something was wrong. In his own words,
“This girl, her name was Felicia, raised her hand and said, ‘It looks like one of the twins is on fire.’”
For some time, the teacher told them that there had been an accident at one of the towers. However, eventually she told the students to raise the blinds and told them that there had been an attack in New York. Mr. Aquino saw the explosion as the second plane hit the towers. Closely following this, he recalled how,
“The principal started calling kids down.”
Parents began arriving to pick up their children. Some parents never came. However, it had only begun, because for months afterwards, the searches continued, bringing fresh memories. Mr. Aquino went on to say that,
“[There were many] classmates who lost a parent, or grandparents, or uncles; it was devastating. [The search] took months. If not the body, they found a shoe, or this, or that. [There were] months of constant[ly] someone finding something [and] another mass, another memorial, another vigil, another rosary [in rememberance of that person].”
The searches continued on and on. In one mass, Mr. Aquino recalls a priest showing the congregation a picture of the hands of God holding the Towers as they fell. He told them,
“There were many lives saved, many miracles that happened that day.”
He describes people refusing to go out to eat, less of fear of another attack than and more out of a sense that it would be wrong to celebrate after such an occurrence. Mr. Aquino explained how,
“You were on high alert because of something like 9/11; you could no longer enjoy the city for what it was. The childhood innocence was completely lost.”
At Jesuit
Mr. Matt Upton was a senior at Jesuit on the day of the attack. On September 11, school had a late start and was set to begin at 8:30. The attack had already begun at the time and Mr. Upton recalls hearing the news over the radio while driving to school. When he got to school, he saw people running to and from the computer lab, where the footage was being played. Upton recalled how,
“[He] saw the second plane hit the tower in the computer lab.”
TVs were put in all common areas after second period so students could watch what was happening. Later on, Mr. Donahue, assistant principal at the time, led a more organized response. Mr. Upton explained that,
“Either the day of or the days after, we had a senior class meeting, where Donahue walked us through everything, what could happen [and] what was going to happen. We thought there was going to be a draft. We were super sure that we were going to war. He told us, ‘Don’t go enlist, you need to finish high school, then you can make your decision.'”
The impact of the event lasted weeks, with teachers who had family in New York in and out of the school, general disorganization and worry that the World Trade Center in Dallas would be attacked.
As it Stands Today
The changes made after September 11 are in many cases still in effect today, from increased surveillance to major changes to airport security. The Department of Homeland Security and ICE were also created after the attacks as a means of centralizing disparate branches of administration in the interests of security. Additionally, the series of wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan that followed resulted in numerous casualties, massive debts and societal changes. Altogether, with twenty-five years of perspective, we can say that the attacks have changed the nature of government and daily life permanently here in the United Sates.
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Featured Image Credit: Michael Foran
