On the Tuesday morning of September 11th, 2001, the city of New York heard a loud explosion come out of nowhere at 8:46 a.m. The explosion had come from American Airlines Flight 11, striking the North side of Tower 1 (1 WTC), with the 80th floors and reinforced stairs being destroyed by the impact and with the stairs destroyed hundreds were trapped in the higher levels.

The first responders to the World Trade Center was FDNY Engine Company 10 and FDNY Ladder Company 10, who were just blocks away from the World Trade Center. When they arrived, they started their flight up the stairs of Tower 1. Then just 18 minutes after the first plane hit, United Airlines Flight 175, appeared out of the sky and struck the South Tower or (2 WTC).  

Then less than 15 minutes after the impact of the hijacked plane, the South Tower collapsed due to the intense heat produced from Flight 175. At 10:28 a.m. Tower 1’s infrastructure collapsed due to the explosion from Flight 11. The World Trade Center Marriott Hotel was also destroyed. 7 World Trade Center burned after the collapse of Tower 1. While millions watched the attacks on the World Trade Center, another plane was about to strike. At 9:45 a.m. American Airlines Flight 77 struck the west side of the Pentagon, and before the collapse of Tower 1, at 10:10 a.m. another hijacked plane had crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This crash was confirmed by Somerset County airport.

This was United Flight 93, which was California bound, but was hijacked about 40 minutes into the flight. After learning about the attacks of 9/11, due to a flight delay, the passengers and flight attendants knew that this plane was not going to be headed towards an airport. It was confirmed that three passengers and flight attendants abroad, Thomas Burnett Jr., Todd Beamer, and Sandy Bradshaw, retook control of the plane, but during the insurrection, the plane crash-landed at about 500 mph in Pennsylvania. The plane was believed to be heading to the White House or The Capitol Building.

Finally, at the end of the day, 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers, 37 Port Authority officers died after being trapped in the higher floors evacuating people from the towers. It was confirmed that 2,763 were trapped in the Twin Towers when they collapsed, and 123 military personnel, and civilians died in the Pentagon attack. Despite the attacks, America was able to clear Ground Zero of all the debris, and build a memorial where the towers stood. Today there are three memorials, One World Trade Center, the 9/11 Memorial, and the 9/11 Museum.