On the morning of September 11th 2001, four hijacked planes fell out of their designated routes and crashed as part of a terrorist attack. Two of these planes hit the twin towers, one hit the Pentagon, and one crash-landed into a field in rural Pennsylvania. All together, there were 2,996 deaths— including 2,606 at the World Trade Center, 125 at the Pentagon, 343 firefighters, 72 officers, 55 military personnel, 19 terrorists, and 265 plane passengers. Despite the geographically widespread tragedies, 9/11 is commonly seen as a New York narrative. When someone references the attacks, the planes crashing into the World Trade Center immediately come to mind. When one performs an internet search on the date, the top 5 results only pertain to New York. Furthermore, the official website (911memorial.org) focuses on the National 9/11 Memorial in New York, offering tickets to the memorial and museum, options for donating to the cause, and ways to get involved. The official logo for the National 9/11 memorial, online and in person, is composed of a black “9/“ and blue “11,” with the number eleven seemingly representing the two twin towers.
Is there a clear separation between “our story” (New York) and “their story” (The Pentagon + rural Pennsylvania)? The National 9/11 Memorial website offers a comprehensive, interactive timeline of the attacks. This timeline consists of 41 events spanning from 5:45AM to 10:30PM, with a mere four events dedicated to United Airlines Flight 93: when the plane took off, an emergency 9-1-1 phone call from aboard the plane, and the time the plane crashed. In contrast, there were five events dedicated to Flight 11 (which hit the North Tower), seven dedicated to Flight 175 (which hit the south tower), and four dedicated to Flight 77 (which hit the Pentagon). There were eleven events dedicated to the general New York City and WTC area. Details about the hijackers of Flight 93 are not even included in this timeline, whereas the names and times of arrival at their respective airports are detailed for AA Flights 11 and 77.
“Our story” is the story of New York. It is of mass destruction and death-- it is the New York narrative of tragedy, recovery, and rebirth. “Their story” revolves around those who gave up everything-- their families, their work, their lives-- to prevent this type of mass destruction. “Their story” is that of retaliation, heroism, and unrecognition. These are their stories.