September 11, 2001, A Date Which Will Live in Infamy

On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt told the Congress and the citizens of this country that December y7, 1941, would be, “A date which will live in infamy…” The Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and sunk most of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet and destroyed many aircraft on the ground at then Army Air Corps bases. The Navy and Marine Corps suffered a total of 2,896 casualties of which 2,117 were deaths (Navy 2,008, Marines 109) and 779 wounded (Navy 710, Marines 69). The Army (as of midnight, 10 December) lost 228 killed or died of wounds, 113 seriously wounded and 346 slightly wounded. In addition, at least 57 civilians were killed and nearly as many seriously injured. (World War II History Info)

Little did we realize that 60 years later our Nation would suffer another, “Date which will live in infamy…”. Nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. Two were crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. One was crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field in near Shanksville, PA while a group of passengers tried to overpower the terrorist hijackers.

A total of 2,993 people were killed, including the 19 terrorists--246 on the four planes (from which there were no survivors), 2,603 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon. Some 411 of the rescue workers who ran into the Trade Center towers were killed when the towers collapsed.

This tragedy and Pearl Harbor will always be remembered as “dates of infamy”. Take time today to pause and remember those who were lost on September 11, 2001. Take time to remember those who are seving in our military, police and fire departments.