TERRORISTS DESTROY WORLD TRADE CENTER, HIT PENTAGON IN RAID WITH HIJACKED JETS
Wall Street Journal headline
12 September 2001

In a staggering attack on the United States, terrorists struck Tuesday at the symbols of American financial and military might, using hijacked jetliners as suicide missiles to level the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and blast into the Pentagon outside Wasington, D.C. "Today, our nation saw evil," President George W. Bush told the nation Tuesday night. He said thousand of lives were "suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror." Earlier in the day, Bush told the National Security Council: "We will find these people and they will suffer the consequences of taking on this nation. We will do what it takes. No one is going to diminish the spirit of this country." Detroit Free Press 12 September 2001

The most devastating terrorist attack ever waged against the United States struck at the heart of government and financial capitals Tuesday as hijacked commercial jets plowed into the twin World Trade Center towers in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington.

"We have been attacked like we haven't since Pearl Harbor," said Adm. Robert J. Natter, commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

Establishing the death toll could take weeks, but it is expected that casulaties will be in the thousands.
Detroit News
12 September 2001

About 200 miles to the south, outside Washington, D.C., air-traffic controllers had watched with mounting dread as the blip of a third plane, American Flight 77, veered off its flight plan to the West Coast and headed, full throttle, straight at the White House. The Secret Service was warned and White House staffers were sent running out to Pennsylvania Avenue. But at the last minute, the plane made a sharp turn and headed for the Pentagon across the river. Banking onto its side, the 757 with 64 people onboard sliced into the southwest face of the Pentagon and detonated into a fireball. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was holding a meeting in his office to discuss missile defense with some congressmen. The talk turned to terrorism. "Let me tell ya, I've been around the block a few times," said Rumsfeld. "There will be another event." A few minutes later, at 9:43 a.m., they heard a roar. "What was that?" asked Rumsfeld, but everyone instantly knew. This time, the terrorists had been a little off in their aim. Most of the top brass sit in offices on the northeast side of the Pentagon. The exploding airliner smashed through half the 60-year-old building (some of it recently reinforced against explosion) and it killed hundreds of soldiers and officers, but it spared the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Newsweek Extra Edition

Quite possibly, a few very brave passengers aboard Flight 93 saved hundreds of lives--including those of some of the highest-ranking officials in the government. The flight path of Flight 93 shows it turning around near Cleveland and heading south and east--directly toward Washington, D.C. Toward the White House? Or perhaps the Capitol? Instead, at 10:10 a.m. Flight 93 plunged into a field in rural Pennsylvania.
Newsweek Extra Edition


Even if Sept. 11, 2001, was not our deadliest day, it was surely our worst. Americans talked of "a second Pearl Harbor" and "an act of war," but the comparisons faltered.

This time it was civilians dying in the nation's political and financial centers, not soldiers and sailors in a distant Pacific territory. This time the targets were not outdated battleships, but buildings familiar to every schoolchild.

And if this really was war ... who was the enemy? What did he want? When was the next battle?
USA Today cover story
12 September 2001


Nothing like this has ever happened to America before. With chilling skill, terrorists struck at our heart last Tuesday hijacking commercial jets, then crashing into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon--cold-blooded murder on a mass scale. The human toll is beyond imagining, the psychic costs difficult to calculate. We always thought we were safe. We were wrong.
Newsweek Extra Edition

If Dec. 7, 1941, is a day that will live in infamy, Sept. 11, 2001, is a day that will live in reruns. Like the attack on Pearl Harbor, death and destruction rained from the sky, catching a complacent nation utterly by surprise. But unlike that earlier attack, the mayhem this time was first broadcast live, then replayed endlessly on tape, burning itself deep into the national psyche. WORLD 22 Sept 2001

"The toughest part was watching the firemen go back in the building as it was coming down," said Jim Pesomen, 46, who was in Tower One on the 81st floor. "Those guys, they have courage, knowing what they know. I've got three kids, and I'm leaving the city after this."
Newsweek Extra Edition


For the most part, in sports, we play, we entertain. And then, one day, nothing seems playful anymore. When will you be able to cheer again? Or boo again? Or care again? Was it really just 24 hours ago that we were feverishly debating the merits of Charlie Batch's benching? Was it really just 24 hours ago that Michael Jordan's return to basketball was making news?

Was it really that recently that the world seemed safe, and sports seemed fun?
Bob Wojnowski
Detroit News
12 September 2001


For once, let's have no "grief counselors" standing by with banal consolations, as if the purpose, in the midst of all this, were merely to make everyone feel better as quickly as possible. We shouldn't feel better.

For once, let's have no fatuous rhetoric about "healing." Healing is inappropriate now, and dangerous. There will be time later for the tears of sorrow.

A day cannot live in infamy without the nourishment of rage. Let's have rage.
Lance Morrow
Time Special Issue



11 September 2001 | 11 September 2002
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