Wednesday, September 11, 2024, is the 23rd Anniversary of horrific terrorist attacks against the United States of America.
By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001, Public Law 107-89 designated September 11 of each year as “Patriot Day.” The law directs that flags be lowered to half-staff for the entire day on September 11.
Since the assaults on 9/11 occurred, the date has become more than a day of appalling memories, reading the names of victims, reruns of news and video reports, and shared National grief for the loss of nearly 3000 souls. On Patriot Day we also reaffirm the spirit of Patriotism, Service, Sacrifice, and Community, which we felt in the days and months that followed the attacks.
Search the internet for those inspiring stories.
On Tuesday, September 7, 2021, the Editor read about a male and female pilot who decided to hunt the skies on September 11, in unarmed jets. They would crash their jets into the cockpit and tail of United Flight 93, which had left Newark, NJ, heading west. However, before they could, brave passengers on Flight 93 voted to take control of their plane, knowing they were all destined to die in that effort. Their sacrifice prevented untold deaths at unknown destinations that day. The 25-year-old F-16 Pilot, Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney, is the first female F-16 Pilot at the 121st Fighter Squadron, of the Washington, D. C. Air National Guard. Her father, a commercial pilot who often flew out of Newark, might have been on Flight 93. Penney acted out of duty, even if it meant she would have to bring down her father’s plane. (He was not the pilot that day.) Then the two military pilots diverted all aircraft in flight, telling them to land. They escorted President George W. Bush’s plane from Florida to Washington, D. C.
A second report on September 7, 2021, described two positive identifications of human remains from the destroyed towers in New York. DNA testing continues 23 years after the event.
Google photos of today’s majestic World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City.
Four towers rise beside the footprints of the twin towers that fell. The tallest, dramatic tower is called One World Trade Center. These buildings have a years-long connection with Morrison, IL.
Locally, workers at The City Rebar Detailing, Inc., (owned at the time by Robert Vaughn,) labored since 2003, for New York City clients Roger and Sons Concrete and Barker Steel. The City Rebar Detailing staff were to determine accurately the reinforcing steel needed for four towers and a connecting transportation hub below ground. Tower 4, below left, estimating and detailing work took 14 months. On November 30, 2009, it was the first building foundation to rise from rubble to street level.
Patriot Day is a time to consider volunteering in activities that will enrich our lives and strengthen our Nation.
