September 11, 2020 (Friday)
On September 11, 2001 Islamic terrorists called Al-Qaeda hijacked a number of commercial airplanes. Two planes were flown into the Twin Towers in New York City causing the buildings to collapse while a third plane was flown into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. There was also a fourth hijacked plane which crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers bravely tried to gain control of the plane. Their heroism aborted one more terrorist crash into a building (probably the Capitol or the White House). On board the plane were 7 crew members, 33 passengers and 4 terrorists.
During the September 11 attacks of 2001, 2,977 people died, and 19 hijackers committed murder/suicide, and more than 6,000 others were injured. The immediate deaths included 265 on the four planes (including the terrorists), 2,606 in the World Trade Center and in the surrounding area, and 125 at the Pentagon.
Today is the 19th anniversary of those attacks. It comes as the world is reeling under attack of the Covid-19 pandemic, wielding sickness, suffering, Death, attendant economic setbacks and social chaos. The number of deaths in the U.S.A. is inching toward 200,000 (880,000 worldwide) and predictions are for many more in coming months. Several laboratories are hard at work developing a vaccine. Meanwhile, many people such as I are continuing to be quarantined because of age and underlying conditions.
If all this is not enough, the country is going through a crisis in race relations with many protests day after day. Riots and violence accompany some protests. These are tumultuous days indeed.
While we wrestle with the daily news about the pandemic and its rising death toll, as well as the racial unrest, we take time today to remember the awfulness of that September day in 2001, praying that such a day never comes again.
“America! America! God shed His grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!”