My neighbor left a passive-aggressive note on my windshield last week saying "your car is visually offensive, wash it or park down the street." My car is a 2004 honda civic with a peeling clear coat, so fair enough, but the note was signed "- A Concerned Aestheticist." so instead…
The day after the towers fell, a priest named Lyndon Harris walked down Broadway toward St. Paul’s Chapel. He had already decided it was gone. When he saw the spire, he wept.
On September 11, 2001, and the U.S. airspace was closed down, international flights that were enroute to the USA had to land somewhere, and for many of those flights, the “somewhere” was Gander, Newfoundland. The people of the tiny town of Gander opened their homes and hearts to the thousands of refugees on that day and several following days.
This CBC documentary tells the story.
Here’s the story, as told by Caryn’s Thoughts in 2020:
When the United States closed its airspace that day, it left literally thousands of people out over the oceans with nowhere to go…almost. Those that had not passed the point of no return, most likely turned around, but there were many planes that had to go on. Nevertheless, they could not land in the United States, so our neighbors in Canada came to the rescue.
9:39 a.m. — Passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93 begin calling 911 and loved ones after the plane is hijacked. The Boeing 757 was en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco.
Passenger Lauren Grandcolas calls her husband, Jack, and leaves a voicemail: “I just wanted to tell you I love you. We’re having a little problem on the plane. … I’m totally fine.
“I just love you. Please tell my family I love them, too.”
9:42 a.m. — For the first time in history, the Federal Aviation Administration grounds all civilian flights and orders all commercial traffic over America to land. At one point, Air Force One is the only passenger jet in the air, transporting Bush to an undisclosed location.
Around this time, the U.S. Capitol and White House are evacuated once it became clear high-value locations were being targeted.
10:03 a.m. — Passengers and surviving crew members on board Flight 93 disrupt the hijackers’ plans after learning about the other planes hitting the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
The voice recorder on the plane catches what sounds like passengers using a food cart to break into the cockpit. The hijackers are heard discussing whether to intentionally crash the plane, short of their reported intended target in Washington.
As the hijackers and passengers struggle for control, the plane crashes in a field in Stonycreek Township in southwest Pennsylvania. The 9/11 Commission later concluded that Flight 93 probably was headed for the U.S. Capitol.
I sent an email of condolence to Deena Burnett, wife of Tom Burnett, Jr. I didn’t know what else to do; I just knew I had to do something to acknowledge their sacrifice.
Stella's Place 