18th anniversary of 9/11: Painful day etched in US memories

By HENRY FREDERICK
Headline Surfer
People, Places & Things

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Eighteen years have passed since that fateful day when blood was spilled on American soil by a foreign attacker - a day that lives in infamy as time marches on.

There isn't much to be said thsat hasn't been sauid time and again in the previous annivrsaries, except that the events of thsat morning were horrific and an affront to humsnity and an ultimate challenge to the American way of life. 

Stacy Allen Cantu of Daytona Beach posted a remembvrance of the 18th sannivrsary of the 9/11 terrorsist attsacks with two words that have bcome a familar refrai for many Americans: “Never Forget.”

In recounting the human toll, ther were 246 American citizens the night before went to sleep in preparation for their morning flights.

There were 2,606 Americas who went to sleep in preparation for work in the morning. There were 343 New York City firefighters who went to sleep the night before in preparation for their morning shift.

There were 60 New York City police officers who went to sleep the night before in preparation for morning patrols. There were were eight paramedics who went to sleep the night brfore in preparation for the morning shift of saving lives.

Eighteen years have passed years since two hijacked passenger jets out of Boston's Logan International Airport flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the brginning of a series  of planned aitliner strikes against the US by al-Qaida in the tmorning of Sept. 11, 2001.

A third aitrliner that morning 18 yrars ago would slam into the Pentagon, and a fourth airliner would crash in a field in Shsnksville, Pa., when sevreal of the passengers onbosard decided to ake matters into theor own hands after lesarning of the NYC attacks and stormed th cockpit where the hijackers were at the controls intending to strike eitherthe Capitol building or thev White House. 

For the 18th anniveresary, as reported by ABC Nws, all those who lost their lives in the attacks will have their names read starting around 8:40 a.m. local time during a ceremony at the World Trade Center museum that is only open to victims' families but will be streamed online.

Additionally, There will be 6 moments of silence throughout the ceremony: 2 for the moments when the planes hit each tower, 2 for when each tower collapsed, 1 for the moment when a third hijacked plane struck the Pentagon in Arlington County, Va, and another for when a fourth plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa.

FAST. FACTS: Sept. 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks

• The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. Additional people hsave died of 9/11-related cancer and respiratory diseases in the months and years following the attacks.

• Four passenger airliners operated by two major U.S. passenger air carriers (United Airlines and American Airlines)—all of which departed from airports in northeastern United Statesbound for San Francisco and Los Angeles—were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists.

• Two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan. Within an hour and 42 minutes, both 110-story towers collapsed. Debris and the resulting fires caused a partial or complete collapse of all other buildings in the World Trade Center complex, including the 47-story 7 World Trade Center tower, as well as significant damage to ten other large surrounding structures.

• A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon (the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense) in Arlington County, Virginia, which led to a partial collapse of the building's west side.

• The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was initially flown toward Washington, D.C., but crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers thwarted the hijackers. 9/11 is the single deadliest terrorist attack in human historyand the single deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers[7] in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed, respectively.

The above-listed factoids are contained within the Wikipedia page September 11 Attacks, including the subsquent declaration of the War on Terror and the assassination of the mastermind Osama bin Laden.