Lest We Forget: The Events Of 9/11

Many New Yorkers were still drinking their morning coffee. Parents said goodbye to their children. Workers were at their desks. It was otherwise a normal Tuesday.

At 8:46 a.m., five hijackers crashed American Airlines flight 111 into the World Trade Center's North Tower. As the world raced to their TV sets, millions everywhere saw the second plane, United Airlines flight 175, crash into the South Tower on live television. That was 9:03 a.m.

Then, 34 minutes later, hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon.

After an hour of flames, the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m.

Let's roll

Finally, a fourth flight was hijacked. Passengers and crew attempted to seize control over the four hijackers. United Airlines flight 93 was believed to be headed to the Capitol Building or the White House. Instead, at 10:03 a.m., it crashed outside Shanksville, PA.

That's when passenger Todd Beamer, then 32, uttered his famous last words, "let's roll." He bravely made a credit card call from a phone on the back of the plane and gave details to a GTE customer service person, Lisa Jefferson. 

Learning that hijackers had flown other planes into the Twin Towers, passengers decided to change their fate. As they began to overtake their enemy, Jefferson reportedly heard Beamer say "Are you guys ready? Let's roll."

Beamer's daughter was born four months later.

Streets of smoke

By 10:28 a.m., the North Tower had burned for nearly two hours and eventually gave way. Images of giant smoke clouds chasing New Yorkers replayed on our TVs for days and years to come, burning permanent images in our memories.

In a total of one hour and 42 minutes, history as we know it changed.

By 5:21 p.m., a third building in the World Trade Center complex collapsed from fire and structural damage.

Death toll

Not including the highjackers, 2,977 people died that day. Many died from smoke inhalation. Others made the choice to leap to their deaths. Hundreds, if not thousands of shoes were found around the site from victims literally having jumped out of them.

True heroes

Over 400 first responders laid down their lives. They ran into the fires. They ran into the smoke. They ran up the stairs. And yet, the buildings continued to collapse down on them.

The New York City Fire Department lost 341 firefighters and 2 paramedics. The New York City Police Deparment lost 23 officers. From the Port Authority Police Department, 37 officers sacrificed their lives. Another eight paramedics and private emergency medical technicians also died.

Since then, hundreds and thousands of victims continue to be identified. Many more were injured. And many still have yet to be found.