NEW YORK - September 11th, 2001: Never Forget (AD-FREE RE-RELEASE):

Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Today we are re-releasing our earlier episode about the 9-11 attacks, completely ad-free. Because Courtney and I want to memorialize the victims and the events of that day in any way that we possibly can.

This is a re-release of our episode from 2021, so you'll hear us discussing the 20th anniversary of the attacks, but that's because this episode was recorded and released over four years ago. It's kind of crazy to think that we've been doing this show for that long. Tomorrow we will be back with a brand new episode of Murder in America, telling some 9-11 stories that we feel haven't gotten enough representation in the media over the years.

But anyways, let's get into this re-release of the episode, and Courtney and I's thoughts and love and good energy is with anyone who knew someone or loved someone affected by these horrific events.

The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audiences. Sound effects. From the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. It is 8 a.m. in Salisbury, North Carolina, 7 a.m. in Chicago, 5 a.m. in Calaveras County, California, where the news is being

on this Tuesday, September 11th. Mr. Roker, Al, it is such a pretty morning, isn't it? Perfect fall morning. Although it's not fall yet, so it's still a perfect summer morning. Miles and miles of sunshine. Miles Davis. We're gonna put Miles out there today. Nice as it can be across the northeast. Uh rough seas still uh from uh uh from the chop from that hurricane. But other than that it's kinda quiet around the country. We like quiet. It's quiet. It's too quiet.

September eleventh, and the first year. Like the news reporter stated, it was quiet, a little too quiet on this beautiful Tuesday morning. to eat and kiss their loved ones before heading off to work. Their family members wave them goodbye as they walk out of the door for the very last time. 2,973 people nationwide would leave their homes that morning completely unaware that this would be their very last day on Earth.

Because at 8 46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 would crash into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At 9 03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 would crash into the South Tower. of the World Trade Center. At nine thirty seven AM, American Airlines flight 77 would crash into the Pentagon. And at 10 03 a.m., United Flight 93 would crash into the ground.

Pennsylvania. In less than two hours, nearly 3,000 Americans would lose their lives, and our country would face the most devastating and deadly terrorist attack in United States history. Today, September 11, 1921 is the 20th anniversary of the day that changed America forever. A day that we will never forget. This is the story of September 11, 2001, and you're listening to Murder in America.

It's the morning of September 11th, 2001, and our story starts at the Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. Many people are in a hurry, rushing to make American Airlines Flight 11, a flight leaving for Los Angeles at 7 59 a.m. Ninety-two people pile into the aircraft that morning.

Including the captain, John Oganowski, age 50, his co-pilot, Thomas F. McGuinness, age 42, nine flight attendants, and 81 total passengers. And as the plane takes off down the runway, no one has any idea. Al-Qaeda. The first 13 minutes of the flight went smoothly. Some people were looking out the window as the plane flew over Massachusetts. Others were chatting with their neighbors. And some even took a little nap.

Two of the passengers, sitting in seat 2A and 2B, were patiently waiting for the perfect moment to start their reign of terror. At 8:13 a.m., air traffic control instructs the pilots to make a 20-degree. Gray right turn towards Los Angeles. American 11 turns 20 degrees, right? As the aircraft makes the turn, the two passengers signal at each other that it's time. They get up from their seats.

With weapons in hand, walk over to flight attendants Karen Martin and Barbara Arestighi and violently stab them. They then walk over to passenger Daniel Lewin and slash his throat. The rest of the Alcal. Full control over the aircraft. The Boston Air Traffic Control, completely unaware of what's happening on the plane, radios into the pilots, instructing them to climb to thirty five thousand feet, but they're met with silence. American eleven climbing available three five zero.

American 11 bust. At this point, chaos has erupted throughout the aircraft as people begin to realize that their plane is being hijacked. At 819 a.m., flight attendant Betty Yong runs to the back of the plane and places a call to American Airlines. Hello. My name is Betty Ong. I'm number three in the back. Um the cockpit's not answering. Somebody stabbed the business class. And um I think there's mace that we can't read. I I don't know. I think we'll get tied back.

Which flight are you on? I'm number three on flight eleven. Okay, you're in the flight send them? Yes. And the cop said it's not answering their phones. Our number one is discussed back. Um our first Class galley, flight attendant, and our purser and staff.

And we can't get a cockpit because the door won't open. Can anybody get up to the cockpit? I think the guys are up there. They might have found their way up there or or something. Nobody can call the cockpit. We can't even get inside. The supervisor on the other end of the

call does her best to keep Betty calm and she places a call to an emergency number to report the hijacking. American Airlines emergency line, please state your emergency. Hey this isn't it American Airlines calling I am monitoring a call in which flight eleven the flight attendant is advising our ref that the pilot everyone's been stabbed. Flight eleven? Yep. They can't get into the cockpit is what I'm hearing. Okay, I want a flight attendant on the line with one of our agents. Okay.

You're doing a great job. Just just stay calm, okay? Okay, we're contacting the flight crew now. We're all con uh we're also contacting ATC. Okay. So they are in the conflict with the pilots. At 821 a.m., the leader of the terrorist group, Mohammed Ada, disables the aircraft's transport.

Responder which tracks the location of the airplane. But the airline can still track Flight 11 through a primary radar, and they see that at 8:24 a.m. the plane changes direction, and instead of heading towards Los Angeles, it's heading towards the road.

Towards New York. Around this time, Ada, the leader of the group, tries to make an announcement to the passengers, but instead he transmits the message to air traffic control. Is that America 11 trying to call? Buddy. Субтитры сделал DimaTorzok And who's trying to call me here about it? American 11, are you trying to call? Nobody move. Everything will be okay. If you try to make any move, we'll danger himself and the airplane. Let's stay quiet. Muhammad Ada could hear the commotion of

On board, and he knew that if he told everyone that they'd be safe as long as they remained calm, that he and his members could successfully execute their plan. But as we all know, the group didn't have plans to safely land the plane. Because at 8.26 a.m., the group makes a sharp 100-degree turn towards New York City. The members of Al-Qaeda followed the Hudson River, knowing that it would lead them to Manhattan. At 8:34 a.m., Ada again tries to radio to the passenger.

But instead accidentally sends a message to air traffic control. At this point, the North American Aerospace Defense Command is sending out alerts that Flight 11 has been hijacked. Towards New New York and we need you guys to we need someone to scramble some F sixteen or something up there to help us out. This is this real world or exercise? No, this is not an exercise manifest. But since the aircraft's transponder has been turned off, they were having a hard

Time finding its exact location in the sky. At 8:44 a.m., Flight 11 begins descending quickly towards Manhattan. And the passengers on board know that things are not going to end well. As the plane speeds Towards the city, many passengers begin crying with their loved ones. They say their goodbyes and they even say a quick prayer, knowing that these will be their final moments. Another flight attendant on Flight 11 named Amy Sweeney called

Called the airline officials and gave them seat numbers and descriptions of all of the hijackers. Her last words in this phone call were: I see water in buildings. We are flying very, very low. We are flying way. too low. Oh my god, oh my god. End quote.

At the World Trade Center, hundreds of people step inside the North Tower that morning, ready to start their workday. It was an average Tuesday. They walk through the front doors of the building and take the long elevator ride up to their floor. They step out, greet the receptionist, and start their day just like any other. They're in meetings, answering important phone calls, and rushing to meet deadlines. But their busy work day is interrupted when

on the upper floors of the north tower begin to notice that a plane is flying fairly close to the city. Many people Planes aren't supposed to fly that low, right? They continue to watch, assuming that the plane will soon reach a higher altitude. But it never does. As the plane gets closer and closer to the North Tower, The people on the upper floors realize that it's coming straight towards them, and at 8:46 a.m. before they're even able to react, the plane plummets into floors 93 through 99.

instantly killing everyone on board the plane and hundreds of people in the North Tower. This is uh off-3500 man, I guess. You got this already. But you got a planning crash into the World Trade Center. You aware of that? A few moments ago something uh plane crashed into the tower of the World Trade Center. I just saw flames inside. You can see the smoke uh coming out of the uh of the tower.

It was a tremendous boom just a few moments ago. You can hear around the emergency vehicles heading towards the scene. Now this could have been an aircraft or it could have been something internal. It appears to be something. coming from the outside uh due to the uh nature of the uh opening uh on about the hundredth floor of the south tower of the world trade center. Breaking news this out of uh downtown Manhattan in Clay.

They crashed into the World Trade Center. Details at this hour, very sketchy. Just a few moments ago, allegedly a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. We don't have any reports of what type of plane. What perhaps the carrier was? How many injuries are there right now? Police and fire units are being dispatched to the scene as we speak. Продолжение следует... My god dude, what is up with that? That's up. That's the building? Yeah.

Rush Keep is responding again. I can tell you as as we are looking here at the north uh side at the north face of tower number one, uh the gash that is in the building runs from about ten stories up to about fifteen stories, going from right To left. And now we have quite a bit of smoke and flame pouring out of the eastern side of tower number one. And at this point, Jeff, that is that is all we have. We are still looking at smoke billowing out of Tower number one.

Aircraft. We don't know if it was a private aircraft. We have no idea how many were on board or what is what the extent of the injuries are right now.

As first responders rushed to the World Trade Center, calls started to come in from inside the North Tower. You see, the plane destroyed three stairwells inside the building, thus trapping over 1,300 people on floors 92 to 110. And as fire Filled the rooms of the upper floors, the people trapped inside were beginning to panic. Some even started breaking the windows, trying to get some air.

the crash, there were 3,000 911 calls placed from inside of the tower. One of the first calls that Dispatch received was from a man named Christopher Hanley, who was attending a work conference at the Windows on the World restaurant, located on the 106th floor of the building. There were one hundred other people at this conference.

Yeah, hi. Uh I'm on the hundred and sixth floor of the uh World Trade Center. We just had an explosion. The one oh six floor? Yes. One oh six, okay. We have smoke and it it's pretty bad. We can't get down the stairs. All right. We had about a hundred people up here. Do not leave, okay? There's a fire or an explosion or something in the building. All right. I watch you stay where you are. Yes. Alright, we're there. We're coming up to get you. See the smoke coming up from outside the windows down.

All right, we're on the way. Just sit tight. All right, just sit tight. We're on the way. All right, please hurry. We don't have the audio for the next call, but a woman named Melissa Hughes placed a call to her father from the North Tower. She was in hysterics and told her dad that she was on the 101st floor of the World Trade Center. Her father did his best to keep her calm and told Melissa to find

An exit sign and take the stairs down the building immediately. Little did he know that the stairs were already obliterated and that there was no way Melissa could escape that day. Melissa's father hoped that she would make it out alive, but as he watched the news coverage, he knew that

Things were not looking good. So the two said their I love you's and goodbyes before they both hung up the phone. This would be their very last conversation. Jim Gardenberg had worked at the World Trade Center for years, but four days before 9-11, he would

Accept another job offer that paid a little better. On the morning of September 11th, he kissed his three-year-old daughter and his pregnant wife goodbye, and he left for his very last day of work at the World Trade Center's North Tower. When his wife Jill got to work that morning, she noticed she had a message on her answering machine from her husband.

Jill immediately calls Jim back and although he sounded frantic on the voicemail, she said that he was very calm when he answered the phone this time. And he tells his wife, quote, there's a fire. I'm gonna be okay. Don't worry, I'm behind a desk and I'm crouched on the floor. Everything's going to be fine. End quote. But everything would not be fine. Jim was on the eighty sixth floor. Six floors beneath were the party.

On the ground, hundreds of people in New York watched in disbelief as smoke and fire billowed from the building. Video footage from this day shows chaos all throughout New York City. of the Trade Center, first responders rush to the scene. Bystanders stood wide-eyed as paper from inside the tower rained down and covered the streets. It is Tuesday morning, the 11th of September, and you will not forget this date.

Law enforcement soon started clearing people from the area. One because of the falling debris. And two, because of the people jumping from the building. Send her we heard a big bang, and then we saw smoke coming out and everybody started running out and we saw the plane on the other s side of the building and there was smoke everywhere and people are jumping out the window.

Over there they're jumping out the windows, I guess because they're trying to save themselves. I don't know. And if you go over by there you can see the people jumping out the window. They're jumping out the window right now. Oh my god. Alright, man, fight. Many people that were on The ground that day said that they will never forget the sound and images of the jumpers hitting the pavement. As the fire and smoke filled the rooms of the North Tower, people inside began to hang out of the windows.

They had broken themselves to get oxygen. There are countless images of people hanging outside of their office window, waving their shirts around, hoping that somebody would come to their rescue. When the fire on their floor would These people were faced with an unthinkable decision to burn and suffocate to death in the

Building, or to jump off of the building to their death. And many people would choose the latter. The thought of even having to make that decision illustrates just how terrible the conditions were inside of the building. Some sources say that the temperatures on some of the floors reached upwards of 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, and that some employees inside of the building.

Stand on their desks because the floors were so hot. There are many pictures and videos online taken of people that jumped off. Floors of the World Trade Center. Some held hands with a co worker as they jumped, not wanting to be alone as To their death. Others jumped by themselves. And some even tried to make makeshift parachutes with their clothing. It's reported that their fall would take 10 whole seconds. Ten seconds of falling through the air.

Air, knowing that you're about to die. One Manhattan resident watched a woman jump from the tower and later said, quote, she had a business suit on. Her hair was all askew. This woman stood there for what seemed like minutes. Then she held down her skirt and then stepped off the ledge. I thought how human, how modest to hold down her skirt before she jumped. I couldn't look anymore.

End quote. The images of these jumpers are ingrained in the minds of Americans still to this day. Images that we will never forget. It's estimated that nearly 200 people jumped to their death that day. And while these The identities of the jumpers are still unknown. Their bravery will never go unnoticed. Below the towers, people watched as thousands of pieces of paper rained down from the sky. I know it sounds strange, but if you look at the

That day there was seriously paper everywhere from the office buildings inside of the towers. Along with paper, dust, debris, And absolute chaos filled the streets of Manhattan. Strangers were embracing each other and crying together as they watched people jump to their deaths. And many people were doing everything in their power to help those in need. At first, many people believed that this was all a horror.

Horrible accident, that a plane must have lost control and just hit the tower. And while New Yorkers and the rest of the We're trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Was on its way towards the World Trade Center, United Airlines Flight 175. This aircraft, like Flight 11, had departed from Logan International Airport in Boston and was headed to Los Angeles. The pilots were 51-year-old Victor. Sarah Sini and 38-year-old Michael Horox. In total, there were nine crew members and 65 passengers aboard. And amongst these five passengers,

Five members of Al Qaeda. At 8:37 a.m., Flight 175 was cruising at 31,000 feet when air traffic control contacted the pilots, letting them know that Flight 11 had been hijacked. A few minutes later, Later, the pilots contacted New York to let them know about the suspicious transmission that they heard from Flight 11. New York United 175 heavy. United 175 drive. We heard a suspicious transmission uh on our departure out of Boston.

uh, when someone, uh, said, uh, someone see the mic and I said, uh, everyone, uh, stay in your seat. Oh okay. I'll kind of sit along over here. This would be the very last contact that the pilots would make with air traffic control. Because shortly after, sometime between 842 In 846, the hijackers would take over Flight 175. Two of the terrorists would storm the cockpit, immediately murdering both pilots, while the other three terrorists began moving.

Toward the back of the plane. As soon as the hijackers take over Flight 175, Flight 11 crashes into the World Trade Center's North Tower. And tragically, most of the people working at the air traffic control center are so preoccupied with flight.

Flight 11 that they fail to notice that Flight 175 has turned off the aircraft's transponder. It isn't until 8:51 a.m., about five minutes later, that they finally notice that the aircraft has deviated from its initial route. Air 175, recycling a transponder. Under score code of one four seven zero. United 175, New York. United 175 Do you read New York? The controller realizes that the aircraft has most likely been hijacked, but at this

It's far too late because at 8.57am, Flight 175 takes a sharp turn towards New York City and starts descending at 10,000 feet per minute. At this point, everyone on board can sense that they are not going to make it out of this alive.

And many of the passengers began to call their loved ones, one being a man named Ryan. Who at 8 59 a.m. leaves a voicemail for his wife, Julie. Jules is fine. Uh listen on an airplane mess on IJ. I'm looking good. I just want you to know I absolutely fuck you. I want you to I know it's a little bit hard to hear, so if you didn't get that he says quote

Jules, this is Brian. Listen, I'm on an airplane that's been hijacked. If things don't go well and it's not looking good, I want you to know that I absolutely love you. I want you to do good. Go have good times. Same to my parents and everybody. And I just totally love you. I'll see you when you get there. Bye, babe. End quote. This is a voicemail. Listen to every nine eleven.

And every single time, it makes me cry when I hear it. Another passenger on board named Peter Hansen decided to call his dad. Dad, we are on the plane. It's being hijacked. I think they've taken over the cockpit. An attendant has been Been stabbed and someone else up front may have been killed. The plane is making strange moves. Call United Airlines. Peter's dad, Lee, would call for help, but was met with terrifying news after he heard about the first hijacked plane. Peter Hansen was

On flight 175 with his wife Sue and two-year-old daughter Christine. Peter had finally gotten some vacation time at his job and decided to take his family on a trip to Disneyland. It was their daughter. Christine's first time an airplane. Chicago or someplace and fly into a building. Don't worry, Dad, if it happens, it will be very fast. In Peter's last moments, he held his family in his arms. And the last thing his father heard him say was, Oh my god, oh my god.

Oh my god. And then the sounds of people screaming. And then silence.

After the first tower was hit, many people assumed that the crash at the World Trade Center was a horrible accident. But at exactly 9.03 a.m., as millions of people were watching the live news coverage of the towers, they noticed another plane come into view. The plane was getting close, too close to the World Trade Center, and then suddenly it crashes directly into the South Tower and explodes.

Can you look out your window right now? Can you s can you see God about four thousand feet about five east of your port right now? Yeah, I see him. Is he descending through the building also? He's descending really quick too, yeah. Well that's five hundred feet now. He just chopped eight hundred feet in like a like one s one. Another one just hit the building. Wow. Wow, another one hit the face. The whole building just came apart. Holy smokes. And it was at that very moment.

That everybody knew that this was no accident. This was a terrorist attack. That looks like a second plane. Do it as just I did not see a plane go in. That that just exploded. We just saw another plane coming in from the side. You did. I did that was out at the end. Yes, and that's the second explosion. You could see the plane come in just from the right hand side of the screen. So this looks like it is some sort of a concerted

arriving at the scene. Uh Jim Friedel in Hoboken uh said it appeared to bank sharply and smash directly, perhaps purposefully, Into Oh my goodness. Oh god there's another one. Oh my goodness, there's another one. Oh my goodness. Now you're now it's obvious, I think, that uh th there's a second plane just

Okay. Where do you get your uh your knowledge from? How much time do you have uh in a in a pilot? Oh no, okay, explosion. Uh explosions, multiple explosions, ladies and gentlemen. We just saw another explosion uh uh obviously We're just watching it again as the first time. This is now this is the other tower, ladies and gentlemen. Another explosion at tower number two of the World Trade Center just happened live.

on our air. You're you're over in Chelsea. Um did you hear the explosion from your position? Yes we did. As a matter of fact, we we heard it and and'cause I was just like standing there pretty much looking out the window. I didn't see what caused it or if there was an impact. So you have no idea right I'll have another one. Another plane just hit. Right oh my gosh, another plane has just hit.

It hit another building. Flew right into the middle of it. Explosion. My god, it's right in the middle of the building. This one into the east tower. Yes. Yes. Right in the middle of the building. It and right now that yes, that was definitely look like it was on purpose.

Yes, I just saw a plane go into the building. Okay, go ahead. Um I say the whole takes about Looks our six seven floors were taken out. And there's more explosions right now. Hold on, people are recognized. The building's exploding right now, you got people running up the street. Okay, I'll tell you what's going on. Okay That perhaps the fuselage was in the building that would cause a second explosion such as that. Certainly, people are running out of ready. I we're getting worse.

Okay, hold on. Everybody's panicking. Alright, what Winston, you know. Let me put Winston on hold for just a moment. Okay, I don't know how much longer we're staying. I'm inside of a diner right now. Taken out of the building. Uh uh you say that emergency vehicles are there, understandably so, but of course the major concern is human loss. I mean do you know if there were many people in the building? Oh another one just hit. Something else just hit a very large plane.

directly over my building and there's been another collision. Can you see it? I can see it on the shot. Oh my god something else has shown it. It is in the other building. We just saw a plane circling the building a second ago on the shot right before that.

There may have been another impact. Can you tell? I just heard another very loud bang and a very large plane that might have been a D C nine or a seven forty seven just flew past my window and I think it may have hit the Trade Center again. To be to be honest, Elliot, I didn't yeah I didn't get the impression that it was that big a plane.

It looks big from here. I did see a plane go by a second ago though and it it it has now impacted the building. I'm trying to see if it's the different tower. The first one was World Trade Center One and it looks from what I'm seeing on the television like it may have been building.

This is a piece of tape, and we may actually see another plane enter the picture here in a second. I wonder if there are air traffic control problems. Let's go back to Jennifer Oberstein who was talking to a second ago. Jennifer, did you see this happen? Hello? Did you just see this happen?

happened Jennifer? Matt, I I've never seen any it looks like a movie. I saw a large plane, like a vet, go immediately headed directly into the World Trade Center. It it just flew into it, into the into the other tower coming from south to north.

I watched the plane fly into the World Trade Center. It was a jet. It was a very large plane. It was throwing fast. It went past the Ritz Cotton Hotel that's being built in Battery Park. It went flew right past it, almost hit it, and then went in. This is so shocking. Shocking of course to everybody watching after the second tower was hit. President George W. Bush would go on to make this statement. And to find those folks who committed this act. Terrorism against our nation will not stand.

And now if you join me in a moment of silence. President Boyce speaking from an elementary school in Florida. Thank you very much. Brief comments in which apparently we didn't catch the beginning of it, but he was talking about this being a terrorist attack and talked about getting the folks. Responsible Flight 175 had plowed through the World Trade Center's South Tower, killing all 65 people on board, and most of the people on floor seventy-seven.

Through 85. When the first tower was hit, many people in the South Tower began to evacuate. I feel like that's what anyone's reaction would be after seeing your twin tower in flames. But unfortunately, as the people Began to evacuate. The port authorities who supervised the building made a public announcement telling everyone to go back to their offices and that their building was secure. Some people had even made it all the way down.

Downstairs into the lobby, and then were told to make their way back up to the top. One man named Ernie Falk, who delivered packages in the building, said that he heard the plane hit the north tower and he immediately made the run. For outside. On his way out, he heard people being told, quote, The building is secure. The safest place is inside. Stay calm and do not leave. End quote. Many people decided to ignore the port authority.

authorities and evacuated the building anyways, and this decision would end up saving their lives. Unfortunately though, hundreds of people would listen to the authorities, and they made their way back up to the floors that would get hit by the second plane just minutes later. But unlike the North Time,

Tower, the South Tower actually had a usable stairwell after the crash. Because the plane didn't hit directly in the center of the building, stairwell A would allow a number of people to get to safety that day and save their own lives. One of these people was a man named Keating. Crown. He, along with 200 others, were at the 78th floor sky lobby that very day. Directly were the Would hit. At 9:03 AM, nearly all 200 people in the room would die in a blink of an eye.

And all that was left was Keating and about 14 others. Luckily, though, he was just out of reach. Impact. Keating then ran down 78 floors with a broken leg and was loaded into an ambulance. There were hundreds of people that were above floor 77 when the plane hit the building, and only 18 of

Those people would successfully evacuate the South Tower that day, one being Keating Crown himself. Another one of the 18 survivors above floor 77 was a man named Brian Clark, who was the executive vice president at a brokerage for On the 84th floor. He and his colleague Ron DiFrancisco felt the entire building sway from the crash that had hit the floors beneath them, and they knew immediately that they needed to evacuate. By total chance, they randomly chose to head down stairwell A.

On their way down, they heard a muffled voice behind a collapsed wall, and they end up rescuing a man named Stanley Pramenath. The three continue down the stairs, but keep in mind they were having to pass. Floors that were just hit by the plane. And as they make their way down, the smoke started getting thicker and thicker. So much so that people were actually running up stairwell A, hoping to get to the roof so that as

Helicopter could save them. Ron decided to go upstairs with a group of people, but Brian and Stanley kept heading down, knowing that that would be the Way out, and eventually they made it to safety. Ron made it all the way up to the 91st floor, and then he started to panic and make his way back down the stairs. He later stated Quote, I wanted to see my wife and kids again. End quote. So at that point, he and a group of people began to make their way downstairs.

Again. And as they made their way down, the smoke and the Got more and more intense. When the smoke was too much to handle, Ron would lay on the floor, gasp for air, get back up, and keep running down the stairs. Luckily, he too made it out alone.

Among the very few that would escape the upper floors of the South Tower. And as people were running out of the building, firefighters were heading into the building. Almost every single first responder in the city, whether they were off duty that day or not, were called that morning to the World.

Trade Center. And when they arrived, hundreds of them began making their way up to the top floors of the burning towers without giving it a second thought. Peter Hayden, the division chief for Lower Manhattan, later stated, we had a very strong sense we would lose firefighters and that we were in. Deep trouble, but we had estimates of 25,000 to 50,000 civilians, and we had to try rescue them. कर दो कर दो Watch 50B. Have you made it back down to the lobby yet?

I don't want to get stuck in that shit. I don't want to get stuck in that shit. I just think they somehow get elevated past the body as well. And ask for your people to get all the way up there. Stop that! Stop that! Stop following! Stop following! Stop following! I'm going to put your firefighters out of stairway to knock down two fires. We can hit the water on it. Knock it down, okay? Alright, 74, we'll sum it up on dead. We're on 77 now on the BCL. You ready?

You can tell by the stress in his voice that the conditions inside the towers were bad. But they kept making their way up the floors regardless, looking for people to rescue. At the same time, The firefighters on the outside of the towers watched as dozens of their friends and colleagues enter the burning building. I'm sure that as they watched, they would say a quick prayer, hoping that they would get to see them again.

But all of those hopes would immediately disappear at 9:59 AM because the firefighters on the ground would hear a sound, almost like an explosion. And when they look up to see what's happening, they watch. Watch in horror as the South Tower is To collapse. And they know right then and there that hundreds of their fellow firefighters, their co-workers and friends, are dead. The firefighters on the outside of the building run for their lives.

Unfortunately, some were killed by the debris. The entire country would watch in disbelief as the South Tower collapses, killing nearly eight hundred people This is a nine one. Kevin Cosgrove, who was on the phone with dispatch as the tower collapsed, warning it is incredibly hard to listen to. Can we get a child anyway? I wish I'd never let you die. I wish I'd never let you die. I wish I'd never let you die. I wish I'd never let you die. I wish I'd never let you die.

This is as close as we can get to the base of the World Trade Center. You can see the firemen assembled here, the police officers, FBI agents, and you can see the two towers. A huge explosion now raining debris on all of us. ¡Primero a llorar! Now how much fire equipment they've been able to move up onto those coming down Pat. It is just coming down. Watch the right side building is ripping apart. It is billowing. Pat, the debris is flying. I'm gonna run. Okay.

developed smoke visibility zero. Right now I'm on Broadway and Leonard Street and I'm in a crowd where we are escaping. An enormous Cloud of dust. There are times in our lives that are life changing where your life can never be the same and this appears certainly to be one of them.

Fifty-six minutes after the plane hit the building, the South Tower collapsed, and as the building fell, thousands of people started to run from the cloud of debris that was billowing towards them. Many people aren't able to escape the cloud in time. allowed in time and are forced to hide under cars and inside of nearby restaurants. People of the

All ages are running as fast as they can to get away from the cloud. But it soon catches up to them. And what was once a beautiful sunny day quickly turns into a pitch black nightmare as people emerge. Are coughing unable to speak. Hear or breathe, and they're covered from head to toe in gray ash.

Chaos and debris filled the streets of Manhattan. But just before the South Tower collapsed, another tragedy occurred in Arlington, Virginia, at the Pentagon. While all eyes were on New York City's World Trade Center, another plane had been hijacked. American Airlines Flight 73.

Yeah. Departed from Washington Dulles Airport at 8:20 a.m. and was set to arrive in Los Angeles. On board the plane were pilots Charles Berlingame and David Charlebois, along with four other crewmen. 58 passengers. And once again, amongst the random passengers on the plane that day were five members of Al Qaeda. About 20 minutes into the flight at 8 43 a.m. Air Traffic Control instructs the pilots to climb to an

altitude of thirty five thousand feet, to which they do. A few minutes later, they're instructed to turn ten degrees to the right. American seventy seven, turn ten degrees to the right, vector traffic. Turn right American seven seven. And this would be the very last contact with the pilots from Flight 77, because soon after this, the terrorists would hijack the plane. Unlike the first two planes, the hijackers don't kill or stab anyone.

Instead, they shove the pilots, crew members, and passengers to the back of the plane. Once they have control of the aircraft, they start making their way towards Washington, DC. Air traffic control would attempt to make contact with the plane at 815. But they were met with no response. American 77 to direct to Salvania. It isn't until the second plane hit the World Trade Center that they realized that Flight 77 had been

hijacked but there is some major confusion going on within air traffic control at this point and they seem to be getting their aircrafts mixed up. American 77 Indy. American 77 Indy. American, 77 American Indy. American seventy-seven American and you radio check out your read.

American uh 77 American radio check how do you read? Soon after this, Flight 77 takes a sharp turn towards Washington DC. Can you tell me as we know for sure it was American 11 that went into the trade? We think that's who it was. Okay. And we're missing another flight.

Both uh apparently have been hijacked. Everyone assumed that the hijacked plane was on its way to the White House, but instead it took a last-minute detour towards the Pentagon. Moving away from the White House. Yeah, six outputs of the White House deviating. Did he hang away? You don't have a type bear custom, you don't know who he is. Nothing. Nothing. Warriors born flying, no quote.

out to take down the plane, but they were too late because at 9.37 a.m. Flight 77 would crash into the western side of the Pentagon, killing all 64 people on board and 125 people inside of the building. Terror was quickly spreading. And now that the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense was hit, no one in America felt safe. Copra 86, Copra 06, thank you. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.

We're looking at a live picture from Washington and there is smoke pouring out of the Pentagon. It would appear that there has been another major explosion, this one in the nation's capital. You are looking at a scene of uh apparent blast aftermath. There is smoke in the air over the Pentagon. We don't know whether this is the result of a bomb or whether it is yet another aircraft that has targeted.

Two hijacked planes had crashed into the World Trade Center, and one had crashed into the Pentagon. But as you know, our story doesn't end there. There would be one more aircraft that would get hijacked.

Hijacked. United Airlines Flight 93. Flight 93 left from Newark International Airport and was on its way to 2001. On board were pilots Jason Dahl and Leroy Homer, along with five flight attendants and 37 passengers. Among the passengers were four members of Al-Qaeda. The aircraft takes off 25 minutes late at 8 42 a.m., just minutes before the first plane hit the World Trade Center. At 9:02 a.m., the aircraft reaches 35,000 feet in altitude. Altitude and everything is going smoothly.

At 9.23 a.m., the aircraft received an ominous message from the ground that stated, quote, Beware of any cockpit intrusion. Two aircrafts hit World Trade Center. End quote. And just five short minutes later, at 9:28 a.m., the hijackers would storm the cockpit, and a struggle ensues over the aircraft's controls. As the pilots fight off the attackers, pilots Leroy Homer is able to get a message through to air traffic control.

Somebody call Please. What you just heard were the pilots screaming, Mayday, Mayday, get out of here. Two of the terrorists can take the As the other two send the passengers and crew to the back of the plane. The air traffic control realizes that Flight 93 has quickly descended, so they try to make contact with the pilots. At nine thirty-two A.M., the leader of the terrorist group tried sending a message to the passengers, but instead

it to air traffic control. You got United 93? United ninety three. What's that? I just can't look like he descended there. United ninety three Vampir three five zero. United ninety-three verify your deployable uh three five zero. Good night, everybody.

United 93 of the airquis and center right down, please. If you couldn't hear that, he says, ladies and gentlemen, here's the captain. Please sit down, please remain sitting. We have a bomb on board, so sit. The air traffic controller then reported. Reports the hijacking, but at this point the aircraft has changed directions and is headed directly for Washington, D.C. At 9 39 a.m., the terrorist leader sends out another accidental message to air traffic control.

We have a bomb on board. Go okay. Once again, he says, this is the captain. I would like you all to remain seated. There is a bomb on board. We are going back to the airport to have demands. Please remain quiet. By 940. Forty two AM the FAA All planes in the United States were to cut their route short and land at the nearest airport. United States was shut down, and over forty five hundred planes were making immediate landing.

All over the country, every plane except for Flight 93. At this point, people on board were starting to make calls to their loved ones. One man named Tom Burnett placed a call to his wife Dina. After watching the news, Dina was relieved to see that her husband was calling. She thought that this meant he was safe, but as soon as she answered, she learned that her worst fears had come true.

Tom was extremely intelligent and always very matter-of-fact. And when Dina answered the phone, he told her everything. He said, We're on flight 93, someone's hijacked the plane. There's two Two people up front that are injured, call the authorities immediately.

Tom calls Dina back a few minutes later, hoping to get some information about what's happening. Keep in mind no one on board knows anything about the other hijackings, and many people are scared but they're hopeful that they will make it out alive. For the next few minutes,

We're going to use interviews from a documentary called The Tragic Story of Flight 93, which I highly recommend watching. In this documentary, Tom's wife Dina explains what happens next. I then told him about both towers of the World Trade Center being hit.

And he relayed that information to the people around him were being hijacked uh up and down the east coast that they had all originated on the east coast. Tom instructed his wife to give him all information possible about the hijackers. Tom then

relayed that information to the people around him, and a few minutes later he would call his wife again. On this phone call, Dina told him about the plane hitting the Pentagon. And it was at this moment when Tom started discussing the idea of overpowering the hijack. A few minutes later, Tom would call Dina for the first time.

And final time, and he told her that they were about to overtake the hijackers. It frightened me terribly. And I pretty much yelled into the telephone for him to sit down, be still, and be quiet and not draw attention to Yeah. And he yelled back and he said, No. I was so afraid for him. And I wanted to help. And that's what I had been told, so I wanted to pass it on. But I am so very glad he did not take my advice.

He rarely did. Tom would be one of the many heroes on board Flight 93. Heroes who started forming a plan against the terrorists. In their last words to one another, Dina would say this. I told him that I loved him. And asked if there was anything else I could do. He said, pray, Dina.

Just pray. Another passenger on board Flight 93 was 27-year-old Elizabeth Waneo, and she decided to call her mom Esther. Esther had already seen the news about the hygiene. Jacking. So when Elizabeth called, she had already prepared herself for the worst. In the documentary, Esther says this. Fortunately, I had been watching on that little TV, so I had some mental preparation.

be unselfish instead of just crying and thinking about myself and you know wanting to cling to her, I was able to to love her, you know, and help her become peaceful. With the inevitable. The only way I could tell she was agitated is she had shallow breathing at the beginning of the phone call. It was real short and choppy and I wanted to help calm her down. And so I I said, Look, Elizabeth, let's

I've got my arms around you and I love you. Let's just be together here. So I said, let's just let's just look out the window at the beautiful blue sky and take some deep breaths together. And we did. And it was amazing'cause within just a few breaths she was calm. And so we were together and uh A lot of the time we were quiet. And it was just peaceful between us. No crying, no hysteria, no yelling. And I think that's a a perfect example of Elizabeth's unselfishness that in the

Midst of all of that, she could be thinking about the impact of it on us. The two sat on the phone together. For a while before Elizabeth told her mom that she knew this would be harder on them than it would be on her. And that was the beautiful thing she did say. She called my mother Omi and Ben's mother grandmom and she said said that she knew Omi and Grandmum were waiting for her. And they both were dead. It made me feel clear that she was

really going through a tr a transformation while we're on the phone. I just feel like she was really releasing her life and going to wherever she had to go. And Again we were quiet. call by saying that she knew her grandmothers would be waiting for her in heaven. It was excruciating. I think um You know, mother feels like you're supposed to be able to keep your children safe. I could love her, but I couldn't keep her safe. Elizabeth and her mom ended.

Call, knowing that it would be their very last time. passengers on board were able to leave voicemails to their loved ones. Here is 38-year-old Lauren Grandcolis leaving a message for her husband. Honey, are you there? Jack, pick up sweetie. Okay, well I just wanted to tell you I love you. We're having a little problem on the plane. Um, I'm totally fine. Um

Um, I just love you more than anything, just know that. And uh, you know, I I'm you know, I'm I'm comfortable and I'm okay for now. Um just a little problem, so I'll uh I I just love you, please tell my family I love them too.

Hi honey. Next, passenger Linda Grohnland calls her sister, leaving her this message. Elsa, it's Lynn. Um, I've only half a minute. I'm on United 93. and it's been hijacked uh by terrorists who say they have a bomb. Apparently they uh have flown a couple of planes into the World Trade Center already and it looks like they're gonna take this one down as well. Mostly I just wanted to say I love you. And I'm gonna be-

Well, sweetheart, I just love you and I just wanted to tell you that. I don't know if I'm going to be able to tell you that or not. Um, all my stuff is in the safe. The, uh, the safe is in my closet, my bedroom. A combination is you push C for clear and then O nine one three and then uh and then it should and maybe pound and then it should unlock. I love you and I hope I can talk to you soon. Right. And lastly, flight attendant Cece Lyles calls her husband and leaves him a message.

Hi baby. I'm baby, you have to listen to me carefully. I'm on a plane that's been hijacked. I'm on the plane, I'm calling from the plane. Wanna tell you I love you. Please tell my children that I love them very much and I'm so sorry, babe. Um, I don't know what to say. There's three guys, they've hijacked the plane. I'm trying to be calm. We're turned around and I've heard that there's planes that's been been blown into the World Trade Center. I hope to be able to see your face again, baby.

I love you. Bye! One man on board Flight 93 was a man. Todd Beamer. Todd was a father of two with another baby on the way, and he knew that calling his pregnant wife would cause a lot of stress on her and the baby. So instead, he talked to a father.

Terry at an emergency call center. Todd explained everything to Terry and she did her best to try and keep him calm. In the documentary, Terry said the following. And I asked him if he wanted to speak to his wife, if he wanted me to connect him. But for any reason, if he didn't.

didn't make it off that plane, would I call her and let her know in his family how much he loved them? And I told him I would. Everyone was calm until the plane started to take a dive and fly erratic. Then you could hear a lot of commotion. An awful lot of commotion. You can tell the difference when someone is screaming for their life. And that's what I felt. They were screaming for their lives. Mm-hmm. I could hear that. I could hear the screams, the crying, the hollering.

Total commotion. That was the worst part of my entire conversation with him. Was hearing um the commotion of those passengers. Around this time, everyone on the plane knew that they didn't have much time left. So Todd asks. Terry if she would recite the Lord's prayer with him. Something I'll never forget. Lastly, a man named Jeremy Glick, who was on Flight 93, decided to call his wife Liz. In the documentary, Liz says that when Jeremy explained what was happening, she began to scream and panic.

Then the two just started speaking. You back and forth for several minutes. That's all that they could get out. The words, I love you. But soon after this, Liz saw on the news that the South Tower had collapsed. Jeremy then told his wife. about how the people on board were planning to attack the hijackers. And he asked her if she thought if it was a good idea. I hesitated for a minute before I told him, but, you know, I really trusted him. I trusted his strength.

It was valuable information for him to have, you know, to be able to make a decision. Um, you know, most times the hijacking they land the plane or they blow it up. Uh and this was a completely different type of hijacking. You know, I remember thinking in my mind mind say I give him the wrong information and uh you know it causes him to die or something like that. And there really wasn't a lot of time you know, there really wasn't another option after seeing what I had seen in New York.

And then finally I think I told I think I said honey you need to do it. For the next few minutes, Jeremy and Liz expressed their love for one another and said their goodbyes. He then told her he was going to put the phone down and that they were going to put their heroic plan into action.

It actually didn't end up hanging up the phone, so Liz could still hear everything going on in the background, but she couldn't bring herself to listen to what was gonna happen next. After Jeremy Glick put the phone down, he, Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett, and many others on Flight 93 Began grabbing anything on board that they could use as weapons. And suddenly, Todd Beamer can be heard on the phone saying his famous quote, Let's roll, as the group attempted to take back the plane.

After Todd yelled, Let's roll, all they could hear were screams. Liz Glick couldn't stand to hear the loud. phone over to her dad. He said he'll be back. You take the phone and she couldn't uh couldn't listen anymore. So I I took the phone and um it was uh probably forty five seconds of silence That's a series of screams, kind of like a like a roller coaster uh diving. I mean just a a mass of people with a with a scream.

I'm hoping uh that Jeremy or someone's gonna come back and say we got them or something. Then nothing. The passengers on board Flight 93 put up one hell of a fight. The hijackers attempted to stop them by rolling the plane from side to side, hoping to knock them off balance. But they kept fighting. The hijackers knew that the passengers were close to taking control of the aircraft.

And instead of letting that happen, they decided to run the plane into the ground. At 10 03 AM, Flight 93 would crash into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Killing all 44 people on board. Although it's unclear what the terrorist target was, it's widely assumed that they planned on hitting Washington, D.C.'s Capitol building, but they were never able to do so. Solely because of the brave men and women who have On board. Flight ninety three.

United ninety-three, if there is a report of black smoke in the in the last position I gave you. It it hit the ground. That's speculation only. Although United Flight 93 would be the last attack on September eleventh, it wouldn't be the last tragedy. Because back in New York at 1028 a.m., millions of people watched as the World Trade Center's North Tower collapses, killing everyone that was still trapped inside. And there's you can see perhaps the second tower, the front tower.

the top portion of which is collapsing. Good Lord. There are no words. I'm about a block away and there were several people that were hanging out the windows right below where the plane crashed when suddenly you saw the top of the building start to shake and people began leaping from the windows in the north side of the building.

You saw two people at first plummet and then a third one and then the entire top of the building just blew up and splinters of debris are falling on the street. Where I'm right now, there's a thick plume of smoke and you can see crowds of people, including emergency service workers and police officers. Officers.

Running from the scene screaming a lot, but I I I think it's important as people join us as they do in moments like this. They are coming in all the time. That there have been attacks in two American cities, New York and in Washington. The trade centers here in New York.

York have been hit by airplanes. In Washington there has there is a large fire at the Pentagon. The Pentagon has been evacuated. And there's you can see perhaps the second tower, the front tower, the top portion of which is collapsing. Good lord. There are no words. You can see large pieces of the building falling. You can see the smoke rising. You can see a portion of the s the the side of the building now just being covered on the right side as I look at it.

covered in smoke. This is just a horrific scene and a horrific moment. The president who is in Florida today is en route back to the White House. He took off a short time ago. Luckily, many of the firefighters that were in the North Tower evacuated when officials radioed in that the South Tower had collapsed. Some, however, never heard the evacuation.

evacuation order and were still trapped inside. One of the chiefs even ran throughout the North Tower's stairwell, yelling on a bullhorn, All firefighters, get the fuck out. An action which saved many of their lives. But at the end of the day, 23 New York police officers died.

37 members of the Port Authority Police Department died, 343 New York firefighters died, and around 2,740 New York civilians had died. And after the attack, people were frantic, trying to trying to call their loved ones to make sure that they were safe. But because of the overload of calls throughout the city, many cell phone networks crashed, and thousands of people were left completely in the dark about the fate of their loved one. I can tell you the reaction on the screen.

There are people sobbing. There are people frantically trying to dial their cell phones. Many of them don't know that service has been cut off. Everybody is sharing what little information they have with each other. But I can tell you that people are very, very frightened. All right, thank you, Kelly.

Edwards reporting live from downtown where so many thousands and thousands of people are waiting to hear the fate of the loved ones after the World Trade Center South Tower completely collapsed, the north in flames. Many families would go to bed that night without their loved one, without answers. They weren't sure if their friend or family member had died in the attack or if they were in a hospital somewhere injured. But as the days went on and their loved ones

Still didn't return home, many families had to come to terms with the fact that they were most likely dead. Thousands of people experienced this heartache. And over the next few months, New York Was covered in missing persons flyers, people desperate to find their friends and family. A lot of people even tried contacting hospitals in New York City, but a number of doctors reported.

That they didn't receive nearly as many patients as they thought they would that day. Because sadly, despite a few cases, most people either scaped the towers with minor injuries or they didn't.

Escape at all. In the days following the attack, search and rescue missions worked tirelessly. Trying to find people that were still alive among the rubble. And they ended up finding 18 people that lived. But as the days went on, finding victims that were alive was becoming less and less likely. For the next nine months, search and rescue teams along with 300 canine units from around the world were brought to ground zero to try and recover the bodies. Search and rescue workers

Would dig through 1.8 million tons of debris. Among the rubble, they would find 22,000 body parts. But only 60% of the people killed in the towers would be identified. Identified. The other 40% were among the body parts of people who will never receive a proper burial. Their families will never get the closure they deserve. But to this Today, victims are still being identified. Recently, two victims DNA and were identified, giving their family closure 20 years later.

While the entire nation did its best to heal from this horrible tragedy, many people had the same questions. How did this happen? And why? On that morning, 19 hijackers snuck box cutters and fake bombs onto our nation. Nation's trustable airlines. They took control of our planes, killed thousands, and terrorized our nation. And as this day took most Americans by surprise, the members of Al-Qaeda had actually been carefully planned.

planning this attack for years. Their leader Osama bin Laden had actually been calling Muslims to kill Americans since 1992. To try and explain why Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda hated America so much is quite the task. And the truth is, there is no simple explanation. However, in layman's terms, in 1988, while fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda, which means the base in English, an extremist militant group.

group whose goal was to wage global jihad. While the term jihad has many different meanings, we can assume that bin Laden and Al-Qaeda use the term to mean holy war. Essentially, what this means is that the group wanted to defend and strengthen the Islamic faith, defend Muslims under attack and punish enemies that attacked Islamic countries. The US at the time was Al Qaeda's main target. In the year 1998, Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda released their second fatwa, or a formal ruling, or

Position on Islamic law that called for violence against America. The Fat Wall stated, We, with God's help, call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's orders. Order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it. We also call on Muslim Yuleema soldiers, youth, and soldiers to launch the raid on Satan's US troops and the devil's supporters allying with.

Them and to displace those who are behind them so that they may learn a lesson. Obviously, American leaders were concerned by this, but they had no idea how capable Al-Qaeda was of carrying out a Mass scale terrorist attacks. It was around this time when an Islamic extremist named Khalid Muhammad began throwing around the idea of a planes operation in America. In 1999, after bin Laden stated that he was going to move the battle to American soy.

oil. Khalid Muhammad started plotting the attack and recruiting its members. Four of the recruits agreed to be the pilots of the hijacked airplanes, and one of Khalid Muhammad's recruits was a man who would become the leader of the hijackers, a man named Muhammad Atta.

And his story is not one that you'd expect. Muhammad Atta was born on September 1st, 1968, in Egypt. He was raised in the country in a small community and he studied architecture at Cairo University, from which he graduated in 1990. After graduating in Egypt, Muhammad decided to continue his studies in

studies in Hamburg, Germany, at the Hamburg University of Technology. It was there, in Germany, where he first met Marwan el Shehi, Ramzi bin al-Sheib, and Ziad Jira, future conspirators of the 9-11 attacks. It is interesting to note that when you look at the history of all four of these men, almost none of them came to Germany as radicalized Islamists.

Mohammed Atta was simply a student when he arrived in Germany, but after being drawn to a specific mosque in Hamburg that adhered to a fundamentalist, militant version of Islam, he began to become radicalized. Marwan al-Shehi came to Germany on a scholarship to study marijuana.

And Ziad Jura came over from Lebanon to attend junior college. While living in Germany, Ziad had a girlfriend who was a medical student, and he even worked a summer job at a paint shop factory for Volkswagen. They all seemed to be pretty normal. The group met three to four times a year.

Times a week to discuss their anti-American and anti-Israel views. During these discussions, they argued amongst one another about the best way that they could fight for their cause. And it wasn't until one day, after a chance meeting with a stranger on a train that they were put into contact with an Al-Qaeda operative in Germany and they were convinced to go to Afghanistan. The four traveled to Pakistan soon after this meeting where they were instructed by the Al-Qaeda operative

To meet up with a man named Umar al Masri. But once they arrived they found out that there was no such man. The name was actually a code word that instructed Taliban officials To bring the men to Afghanistan, where after some convincing, the four men agreed to join Al Qaeda and fight the holy war against America. While in Afghanistan, the men met with Osama bin Laden himself.

And they swore their allegiance and loyalty to him. Muhammad Atta was hand-picked by bin Laden to lead the terrorist attacks in America, and after some discussion of strategy, planning, and goals, the four men headed back to Germany. It was here in Germany where they first attended flight. School and learned how to pilot planes. One of the group's instructors in Germany recommended that they continue their flight school studies in America.

And thus three of the four members headed off to the US to complete their training. And these four were horrible, but they were mostly just soldiers taking orders from the real mastermind.

The attack. The real idea for the attack came from a man named Khalid Muhammad. Khalid has had his hand in a number of terrorist attacks, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, which was carried out by his own. nephew. Khalid was a member of Al Qaeda and a close associate of Osama bin Laden's. The plan to hijack planes and create chaos in America was first suggested to bin Laden in 1996 by Khalid.

According to the September 11th Commission, Khalid envisioned a plan where radical Islamist militants would hijack 12 airplanes on both the east and west coasts of America and crash the planes into selected targets. At the time, the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, the Prudential Tower in Boston, Massachusetts, the White House and the United States Capitol in Washington, D.

D.C., the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, California, the Trans America Pyramid in San Francisco, California, and the Columbia Center in Seattle, Washington. Bin Laden criticized the plan at first. First, believing that it was too elaborate. It should be noted that in as far back as December of nineteen ninety-eight, the director of Central Intelligence Counter-Terrorist Center reported to then President Bill Clinton.

Al-Qaeda was preparing for attacks in the US, including training personnel to hijack aircrafts. But the US government at the time didn't do much. nineteen ninety eight and early nineteen ninety nine. Bin Laden and Khalid met a number of times to discuss a new plan. Bin Laden had approved Khalid's planes operation.

but they had to narrow down their targets. While bin Laden wanted to target the US Capitol, the White House, and the Pentagon, which he believed would lead to a collapse of the federal government, Khalid pushed for the destruction of the World Trade Center. And thus the plan for 9-11 was born, and it was soon after when the four men from Germany traveled over, met with bin Laden, and were selected as a few of the operatives that would carry out the attack. So back to our

Afghanistan. After their meetings with bin Laden, their discussions of the attacks and their selections as leaders of the assault, Mohammed, Ziyad, and Ramzi headed back to Hamburg to obtain their new passports, claiming that their old ones were lost. In order to obtain U.S. visas. Marwin too headed back to his home country to obtain a new passport and visa as well. While back in Germany, the three attempted to present themselves as, quote, less radical. They stopped attending extreme.

Extremist masks. changed up their physical appearance and distanced themselves from friends and acquaintances. In 2000, all members that were to be involved in the September eleventh attacks began moving to the United States. Some members first settled in California.

While living in the San Diego area, a few members had seasoned passes to SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo. A few other future hijackers regularly visited Cheetahs, a local strip club, and at times, members would drive to Las Vegas for the weekend in a Toyota that they had.

Purchased. It was also in California where some members took their first flight lessons. They only took one lesson, then decided afterward to carry out their training at a different flight school. The instructor of that first California flight school would Go on to say in an interview, quote, The first day they came in here, they said they wanted to fly Boeings. We said you have to start slower, you can't just jump right into Boeings. two thousand Muhammad Atta, the ringleader.

Following in an email. Dear Sir, we are a small group of young men from different Arab countries. Now we are living in Germany since a while for study purposes. We would like to start training for the career of airline professional pilots. In this field, Any knowledge, but we are ready to undergo an intensive training program.

Up to ATP and eventually higher. Mohammed apparently sent a similar message to fifty to sixty different flight schools across America. Let's fast forward. At this point, twelve of the nineteen future hijackers are living in Florida.

About three weeks before September eleventh, the targets that the groups were told to destroy were assigned to four teams. All of the targets had codenames. The United States Capitol was nicknamed Of Law, the Pentagon was dubbed the Faculty of Fine Arts, and the World Trade Center was referred to as the Faculty of Town Policy.

In mid 2000, Mohammed, Ziyad, and Marwan, the three men who had personally met with bin Laden, came over from Germany after their visas had been approved and settled in Venice, Florida. By the end of 2000 and the beginning of 2001, all three had finished flight school and knew how to operate large planes. The day of terror was rapidly approaching, and they were all getting excited to die. While studying for the attacks, most of the high

Jackers watched training and promotional videos, took flight lessons, and became familiar with planes. But this wasn't enough. Chillingly, the future hijackers in the months before September 11th took multiple flights in first class so they could study the layout of the large planes, and to see exactly how flight procedures were handled in the U.S. Hundreds of

Flew with the future hijackers, and no one had any idea that they were in the air with them. But well in Florida, when they had some free time, what did these future hijackers do? It's somewhat surprising. A few of the hijackers, including the men, airplane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center named Marwan El Shehi allegedly spent hundreds of dollars at a time on sex toys and porn. Another hijacker worked as a stockboy at a local warehouse.

They at times visited Lowe's, Target, the pharmacy, and even at times the beach. A select few of the hijackers even purchased gym memberships and worked out frequently. Why? Because They were to be the muscle hijackers, or the ones that would take over the planes using physical force. Chillingly, at one point in his life, Muhammad Atta, the ringleader himself, had been an urban planner who claimed that he hated office buildings.

It should also be noted that eerie, the community where several of the hijackers lived was named Delray, Florida. And in July of 2001, just over a month or so before 9-11, Delray, the City, was selected to win the title of All-American City. Sadly though, right under the surface in Delray that summer was anti-American hate.

Before we get to the night of September 10th, I want to point something out. I've always thought that the date 9-11 was chosen as some sort of a symbol, a cry for help. After all, you dial 911 in America to reach emergency services. I've also always thought That it was crazy too how the 11 and 9-11 is almost reminiscent of the Twin Towers, one and one standing side by side, just like the World Trade Center. But as it turns out, the date wasn't picked for its symbolic value.

Mohammed Atta decided on 9-11 for allegedly two reasons. One, it was the week after Labor Day, and as people were returning to work, the airports wouldn't be as crowded. Also, 9-11 that year fell on a Tuesday, and Mohammed assumed that as it was a week

Airports wouldn't be as crowded, the planes wouldn't be as full, and it would be easier to hijack a somewhat emptier flight than a full one. In the days before September 11th, the hijackers laid low. Most stayed in hotels on the East Coast, some visited ATMs, and others said goodbye to their loved ones. Allegedly, one of the hijackers even hired an escort from a local agency in Boston. But on the evening of September 10th, all of these future terrorists engaged in the same behavior.

Following instructions, they washed their bodies and shaved off excess hair. They were also instructed to quote forget this world. It's hard to imagine what those 19 men were feeling at the time. Not only were they about to Commit suicide, but they were also about to commit mass murder. No matter how they all felt though, or where they were staying, all nineteen men went to bed that night for the very last time, then woke up early the next morning and headed to the house.

That morning all 19 hijackers checked in for their flights, headed through security, and made it to their departure gates with no issues. No one noticed the box cutters that they had smuggled on board, or the fake bombs. Hijackers walking casually through the security screening in the airport. Nobody had any idea what these men were about to do.

And in an infuriating twist, a number of the hijackers, while going through airport security, were selected for additional screening procedures, but the only thing that these procedures guaranteed was that the selected person's check baggage was kept off of their next flight until it was

Confirmed that the passenger had boarded. In addition, a few of the hijackers were deemed suspicious by the customer service representative at the check-in counter. And even though these men raised suspicions, once again, the only repercussion that they faced was that their check baggage was kept.

Off of their flight until the passenger had boarded. And finally, one of the hijackers sent off both metal detectors at the security checkpoint that they were passing through. Even though security camera footage that was seized and scoured by authorities later showed that the hijacker had

suspicious item in his back pocket. The agent at the security checkpoint didn't notice it and allowed the hijacker through the checkpoint and into the airport. Mohamed Ada and Abdul Amari both flew that morning from Portland, Maine to Boston, Massachusetts. It was at the Logan Airport in Boston where they would board Flight 11. At the same airport in Boston was another team waiting to board their flight. Mohammad Ada took a phone call from Marwin, the soon-to-be pilot of the plane that would

Run into the South Tower a short time before boarding their flights. This would be their last communication. It was soon after this call when all 19 hijackers would board their planes and take off into the skies.

The impact that 9-11 had on the world was massive. First of all, not even a month passed after the events of 9-11 before the US Army invaded the world. Afghanistan, in an attempt to squash Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. This military engagement would end up becoming the longest war in United States history. As I'm sure many of you guys already know, the last US Army troops just left Afghanistan a few weeks ago. The military engagement was Absolute chaos and death.

During the war, more than 6,000 Americans were killed and roughly 44,000 Americans were wounded. After the 9-11 attacks, many government agencies were formed, including the Department of Homeland Security and And the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The TSA or Transportation Security Administration was also formed. Before, airlines were left to hire their own private security officials.

Conduct pre-flight security checks. Now that task is left up to the government, and the restrictions on passengers are much more stringent. And finally, Americans lost their privacy to some degree. US intelligence agencies became much bolder. They began spying on normal Americans. They collected emails.

Phone calls, sometimes from individuals with no connections to terrorists or terrorism. Some people have become angry with these practices, while others have asked the question, what do I have to hide? The world that day was. Changed forever in just a matter of hours, and the world will never be able to go back to where it was before nine eleven. It's a sad fact, but that's just reality.

But no matter what, we want to end today's episode with a few survival stories from 9-11. Of people that should have died that day, but didn't. Only by pure luck. A man named Joseph Lott was supposed to be at a work conference at the Windows on the World restaurant in the North Tower that morning. But before that,

That meeting, a colleague named Elaine Greenberg gifted him with a red and blue tie. Joseph was flattered by her gift and went to put the tie on, but Elaine told him that if he was going to wear it, he needed to go change shirts because it didn't. Match. So Joseph went all the way back to his hotel, changed shirts, and then made his way back to the North Tower. As he walked inside the building and approached the elevator, he felt Flight 11 hit the tower.

Elaine Greenberg and the 100 other people at the conference. the side in the tower that day, Joseph Lot would escape all because he went to change his shirt. Another man named Michael Lomanaco was a chef at the Windows of the World restaurant. He was supposed to clock in that morning at 8 30 a.m., but he was running behind because he made a quick stop to get a new page.

That morning. Over 70 of his colleagues would die in the towers. But Michael's life was spared. A woman named Monica O'Leary was laid off the day before the attacks on September 10th, 2001. And although at the time it's Seemed like a very low point in her life, it ended up saving her life. Because the next day, right where she worked, the plane hit the towers. And all of her former colleagues would

David Corvette would survive the attacks on the World Trade Center because he offered to walk a client downstairs to the security desk. He would have normally made his assistant do it, but she was eight months pregnant. So he did it instead. David would make it out of the towers alive that day, but all of his colleagues would perish. Nicholas Rayner was supposed to be on American Airlines Flight 11, but he ended up missing the flight because he sprang his ankle hiking right before.

Interestingly enough, Seth McFarland, the creator of the popular cartoon show Family Guy, one of our favorite shows, was supposed to be on United Airlines Flight 175 that day, but his travel agent had accidentally told him the wrong time. Time for his departure. When he arrived at the gate that morning, they informed him that he had just missed the flight. The next thing he knew, Crashing into the World Trade Center across TV.

Army official Philip Smith would later say that the plane that hit the Pentagon hit at the strongest point of the building with the least amount of people. And that if the hijacker would have hit any other wedge on the building, he could have killed up to five thousand people.

A crew of firefighters led by Captain Jay Jonas were evacuating the towers when they made the heroic decision to help an injured woman named Josephine Harris. As they stopped to help her, the tower collapsed. But because of their exact position within the stairwell, Made it out alive. Dozens of others had similar stories to this one. Like the people who slept in that morning because the New York Giants game.

The night before, or the employees who decided to take the next elevator up the towers because it was already too full, or even people who decided to stop and look at the Manhattan skyline for a few minutes that morning. All of these Stories are from people who, without even realizing, made a decision that day that would save their lives. So the next time you're sitting in annoying traffic.

Or you stop for a bite to eat, remember that wherever you are in life is exactly where you're meant to be. A man named Garrett Graft wrote a book about 9-11, and in his research, he stated, quote, One theme that never ceases to amaze me, the sheer randomness of how the day unfolded. Who lived, who died, who was touched, who escaped? One thousand times a day.

Which elevator to board, whether to run an errand or stop for coffee before work, never realizing the possibilities that an alternate choice might have meant. In the 18 years since 9/11, each of us have made literally 1 million. Such decisions, creating a multitude of alternate outcomes we'll never know.

Ground Zero used to be a site of disaster where rubble Filled the streets. Now, 20 years later, it serves as a beautiful memorial remembering what happened on that tragic. In September of two thousand one In place of where the World Trade Center once stood. Now two twin memorial pools and the names of every nine eleven victim. are inscribed into the bronze parapets around it. Every year To pay their respects. Next to some of the names are flowers.

and memorabilia that family members will leave from time to time. This memorial is the only closure that they will ever be. But despite all the hatred and horror that occurred at the Center on 9-11, there is now a sense of peace that resides over the memorial. Although we normally tell stories about Americans murdering each other, we thought it was important to tell you one of America's most prolific murder stories.

Especially on its 20th anniversary. 9-11 was my first memory ever. I was only four years old when it happened, but I remember all of my loved ones crying. and the collective sadness that it left on everyone. I hope today, 20 years later, you can reflect on all that was lost on September 11, 2001. All of the people who went into work that morning and never made it back home, think of their friends and family members and what they're going through today. Think of the first responders.

The pilot on Jason Dahl was married to a woman named Sandy, who after the attacks said, quote, If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there's no time for hate. End quote nine eleven is a great reminder that our days are not promised and that everything can change in the blink of an eye. So enjoy every moment you're given. Be kind to one another. Tell your friends and family how much you love them. Never take your life for granted.

To end today's episode, instead of saying our usual catchphrase and discussing the paranormal and everything. I'm just gonna end the podcast with the outro music and then place at the very end of this edit a minute of silence. So if you're listening, Don't turn the podcast off yet. Listen to the silence for a minute before you start your next next activity or whatever show you're gonna listen to next, and use that minute to really reflect on life, love, liberty, and uh

America. Those lives that were lost. It's Colin here signing off. And Courtney. And we'll uh we'll see you on the next one.