Remembering 9/11
Psalm 27:11 Teach me how to live. O Lord, lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me.
Tuesday 8:45 AM September 11, 2001 a clear fall morning in NYC. Prior to that time everyone was going about their daily jobs, office workers, police officers, paramedics, pilots, passengers and firefighters, seemingly just another day.
Then disaster struck as nineteen hijackers flew two planes into the twin towers, a third plane into the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In a short time almost 3,000 people were killed. Psalm 35:15 But they are glad now that I am in trouble; they gleefully join together against me. I am attacked by people I don’t even know; they slander me constantly.
These attacks targeted our civilian population, our financial markets and our military.
Psalm 17:11 Evil people are eager for rebellion, but they will be severely punished.
At World Trade Center 343 firefighters and paramedics died. NYC police department lost 23 officers and the Port Authority lost 37 officers.
At the Pentagon 125 military and civilians died along with all 64 passengers on the plane.
Flight 93 crashed killing all 44 people on board. It is believed the hijackers were attacked by the passengers, probably keeping the plane from its intended target. People from 78 countries died in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.
Almost 2,000 more first responders and other people have died since 2001 from cancer and other diseases caused by the smoke, dust and other contaminants. It is estimated that by 2021 that more people will have died from cancer than died directly in the attacks. The number of people that are still living with horrific burns and PTSD are difficult to determine. I read that a single persons death directly affects 40 other people. Countless kids without their mothers or fathers, brothers or sisters. Kids that were born in that time frame are now 18 years old.
The above are more than just numbers on a page, they represent real people who had families and plans for their lives. What kind of people were lost? Future doctors, firefighters, police officers, military minds, in other words people we needed, people their families needed.
As you head out to work or school in the morning remember how fragile life is. Take time to say I love you and linger a little longer in that embrace! Psalm 112:6 Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will long be remembered.
amallory54 