12 years ago tomorrow morning, on September 11, 2001, 2,977 people from 93 nations were killed during the attacks on the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and*Flight 93.* As those who were able to escape the attacked towers ran to safety, first responders ran in to save those who were trapped or injured. Most of those first responders never made it out alive, along with those who were originally in the towers before the planes struck, and those passengers in the hijacked planes. Tomorrow morning, please take a moment of silence to honor those whose lives were lost during these terrorist attacks. At 8:46 AM the hijacked plane Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower, at 9:03 AM flight 175 struck the South Tower. At both times, please take a moment to contemplate what the families of these victims have lost, and what the first responders gave up while trying to save others. Total number killed in attacks in New York: 2,753 Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343 Number of NYPD officers: 23 Number of Port Authority police officers: 37
I was working motors in our Traffic Division on that day. I was towing out the radar trailer to an assigned spot, and stopped by a drive thru to pick up a cup of coffee. I saw the TV inside with several folks standing around it. I parked the truck with the radar trailer attached to it and went inside to see what all the commotion was about. That was when the second plane hit the tower. On this same day, we were joining with several other area police traffic officers and our job was issue as many tickets to motorists violating any law around the school areas because the school year had just started. I told my boss that I would stop all violators, but refused to issue a citation because all citizens had been traumatized enough for one day. I was reprimanded for this, but 12 years later I still believe I made the right decision.
I also was working night shift, and asleep at the time. My wife called me up, and spent the rest of the day in disbelief watching it on television all day
