(Atlantic) On September 11, 2001, the attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks carried out against the United States by the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.
Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. Two planes were flown into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City, while a third crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control of the aircraft. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and led the United States to launch the Global War on Terror, a foreign policy effort that continued for decades.
Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives that day. This week is the 25th anniversary, and a day to remember them, their families, and all who continue to carry the impact of that day.
Grace McAfee, Cass County Community Wellness Coordinator with Cass Health, along with the ARISE Board, American Legion Post #43, and VFW Post 3415, in remembrance of this tragic event, created a lesson plan for the school districts’ grades 3-5 and grades 6-12 designed to help students learn about and reflect on the events of September 11, 2001, and the impacts they had on the country and communities.
McAfee says it is important for the young people who were born and too young to remember how much life has changed without them knowing it.
McAfee says it is also important to remember September 12. She says this: when the communities came together, it wasn’t about who you voted for, wasn’t about the color of your skin; it was about what we can do for each other. McAfee says this is something she always taught in the classroom: that we need to remember September 12 more than September 11.
We will have more on September 11 and hear from others who remembered the day and the days following September 11, 2001.
