Remembrance

Five years ago, at this time, the South Tower of the World Trade Centre in New York collapsed due to terrorist attacks.

Here is a short timeline:


8:46 Flight 11 strikes the North Tower
9:02 Flight 175 strikes the South Tower
9:37 Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon
9:59 The South Tower collapses
10:06 Flight 93 crashes near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, apparently after passengers attempted to wrestle control, thereby saving others on the ground at whatever the unknown target, most likely in Washington, DC
10:38 The North Tower collapses

For a detailed timeline of that day, go to 911Timeline.net (although you may want to take some of their comments with a grain of salt; they make some that might be considered more conspiracy theory than anything else)
For an extremely detailed timeline of events leading to and following the events, go to the Centre for Cooperative Research's Complete 9/11 Timeline

There are a total of 2,973 victims who died in the attack, along with 19 hijackers. Another 24 remain missing.

For a list of those who died, along with profiles, try
CNN's memorial page
For a look at the numbers involved, check out New York Metro. They are current as of a year after the tragedy.
And of course, there's the Wikipedia article on the attacks and their consequences

5 years ago, I heard about the attacks when I came into work, then like so many others watched as the events unfolded on television. When the towers collapsed, I was watching with a resident who was from New York. His fiancee went by the WTC daily, and he was worried for her. He could point to where relatives lived from the footage shot from above Manhattan. I couldn't imagine his worry and pain.

For those directly affected by this tragedy, I hope the last five years have brought some healing. For the families, responders, survivors, and those who toiled for months to piece through the wreckage, September 11th remains in the forefront of their lives. The rest of us can afford to set aside a little time each year to remember.