Both planes were hijacked shortly after takeoff from Boston's Logan airport and flown off-course to New York. The first plane was an American Airlines commercial jet bound for the West Coast the second United flight 175 en route to Los Angeles. In a tragic and spectacular explosion that engulfed lower Manhattan in thick smoke and gray powder debris, two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City at around 9 a.m. The destruction of lives, and of a landmark
#The day of infamy speech free#
Speculation over the numbers that had died in the landmark office towers ran in the thousands, as rescuers worked feverishly to free survivors trapped beneath the rubble.New York City officials reported that 265 firefighters and 85 police officers were missing in the wreckage of the World Trade Center and.The four hijacked planes-turned-bombs between them carried 266 people.Rescue officials estimate between 100 and 800 people died inside the Pentagon.Bush warned that "the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts," there was nothing to do in the bright, crisp fall sunshine but to clean up, search for those responsible and mourn the dead. facilities worldwide, a day in which President George W. and force evacuations across the country and in U.S. After a day in which terrorists had managed to effectively shut down both cities, suspend all air traffic in the U.S. In Washington the Pentagon, still on fire, was deeply scarred along with Americans' collective sense of security. The sun rose Wednesday over the absence of a national landmark, a smoldering ruin in lower Manhattan where the World Trade Center towers had stood. He may be reached at 546-6126 on Twitter.Follow came, and everything was changed. Pepper or glass of milk, whatever your poison may be, and remember the men and women who changed the world.ĭavid Burge covers the military for the El Paso Times. Men like Chisolm and Marquez and the women who kept the economy going are now in their 90s. MORE: Bob Chisolm honored to serve country at D-Day, other historic battles Finally, Imperial Japan, perhaps the fiercest enemy that America has ever faced, was brought to its collective knees with the dropping of two atomic bombs, which set forth a destruction and terror the likes of which have never been seen before or thankfully since. With the Marines, they captured island after island in fierce fighting. In the Pacific, America rebuilt its crippled Navy and rose to become the most powerful naval fighting force ever to sail the seas. From the east, the Soviet Red Army, under Stalin’s orders of “not one step back,” held firm at Stalingrad and pushed the Nazi war machine back. The invasion of Normandy at D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge put the Nazis on the run from the west. MORE: Ray Marquez remains Marine at heart through three wars and retirementĪmerica and its allies, Great Britain and the Soviet Union, eventually started to turn the tide on the battlefield. The world was changing and World War II was the catalyst. They drove buses, trucks, kept the civilian side of the country moving forward and sowed the seeds of equality of the sexes that would emerge just a few decades later. Women all over the nation stepped forward and took the place of men in the economy, running the factories a la the iconic image of Rosie the Riveter.
The economy, on its deathbed from the Great Depression, had to spring to life and convert to a wartime juggernaut capable of producing tanks, warplanes and ships at a rate the world had never seen before or since. They, and other World War II veterans, are part of what journalist Tom Brokaw dubbed the “Greatest Generation.”įROM THE ARCHIVES: Interactive Pearl Harbor 75th anniversary timelineĭuring the early terrible days of the war on two fronts, it looked like the Axis Powers would triumph.Īmericans had to persevere through dark days - days of rationing of sugar, gas and other necessities. Young men like Robert “Bob” Chisolm and Ramon “Ray” Marquez saw their older brothers sign up to fight and they waited until they got older and they joined too. Young men of all races, classes and religions raced to enlist to fight Tojo, Hitler and Mussolini and the threat of global fascism.