Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 4, 2020
For the 19th year we will pay homage and respect to the fallen who were murdered by Muslim extremist terrorists on that clear, crisp, Tuesday morning when the screaming airplanes permeated the sunshine, penetrated their steel and glass targets, plunging the world into darkness and chaos.
The darkness is one from which we have still not yet fully recovered. There is a new brand of chaos under which we are imprisoned, also courtesy of another enemy of the United States - the Communist Party of China, and that chaos is Covid-19 or the Coronavirus.
Normally my 9-11 columns typically tend to stray from politics, as for one brief moment in time the country was united, giving truth to our name - the UNITED States of America. We were united because we had a common enemy - terrorists who hijacked four planes with the purpose of inflicting as much human carnage, physical destruction, and psychological damage to the people and places of these United States.
A brief timeline of the harrowing events of September 11, 2001:
Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights take off from Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and Newark airports, each headed for Los Angeles except the Newark flight, headed to San Francisco.
8:46 AM: American Airlines flight #11 is flown into #1 World Trade Center - the North Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the 11 crew, 76 passengers and hundreds inside the tower instantly. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.
9:03 AM: United Airlines flight #175 is flown into #2 World Trade Center - the South Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the nine crew, 51 passengers, and hundreds inside the tower instantly. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.
9:05 AM: President George W. Bush is alerted to what is now believed to be terrorist attacks. “Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” said Bush.
9:37 AM: American Airlines flight #77 is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the six crew, 53 passengers, as well as 125 military and civilian personnel on the ground. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.
9:59 AM: The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning 56 minutes. More than 800 civilians and first responders are murdered. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.
10:03 AM: United Airlines flight #93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, PA when passengers and crew storm the cockpit. There are no survivors of the seven crew and 33 passengers due to the murderous plot by the four Muslim extremist hijackers. Flight #93 was 20 minutes from Washington, DC where the White House and/or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets. This is an example of intended sacrifice - heroism, in fact, knowingly sacrificing their lives in an effort to prevent thousands more from perishing should that plane had reached its intended target.
10:15 AM: The damaged section of the Pentagon E-Ring collapses.
10:28 AM: The North Tower collapses after burning 102 minutes. More than 1,600 civilians and first responders are murdered. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.
5:20 PM: World Trade Center #7 collapses. The 47 story building had already been evacuated and no fatalities are reported.
8:30 PM: President George W. Bush addresses the nation.
Clearly the Muslim-extremist terrorists did not discriminate on September 11, 2001, nor have they done so since in their various formations. All freedom loving people must be vigilant at all times. The international terrorist, the domestic terrorist, and yes, even the politicians who call for the shrinking of the American military, the ceding of borders, and the adoption of socialism must not be allowed to garner or maintain a foothold in the fabric of America or in any elected office, locally, statewide, or federally.
In 2001, the terrorists hated us then as they still do now, for our freedoms and liberty. For our equality amongst people regardless of their race, religion, or creed. Now in 2020, we are being terrorized by the Covid pandemic that has crippled the economy, the educational system, people’s non-Covid related health, and common sense, while China thrives.
This is a pandemic for the ages, the likes of which has not been seen in a century. And it has been particularly political, mostly because there is a presidential election in fewer than eight weeks. Covid is driving the campaigns with as much force, and just as divisive, as the civil unrest that is destroying American city after city across the fruited plain. For the most part, liberal-Democrat governors and mayors seem more than a bit reticent to open their cities and states to commerce and classes, while conservative-Republican leaders were more eager to return to some sense of normalcy. Some of the more recalcitrant liberals have been New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, New Jersey Phil Murphy, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Some of the more forward thinking conservatives include Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Florida Governor Ron De Santis, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem - perhaps the boldest of any governor in the nation, not shutting down her state and with positive results. There is a clear divide here, those with elongated shutdowns, stifling economic regrowth, hoping to foster damaging statistics to hurt the president’s reelection chances, and those wishing to do right by their citizens - getting them back to work while still observing distancing with masks.
The continued shut down in New York will adversely affect the annual 9-11 ceremonies at Ground Zero. The six moments of silence and tolling of the bells at their assigned times will occur live on Friday, at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Reading the names of the victims of the terrorist attacks will not be conducted live. Instead a recording of prior years’ readings will be a woefully unacceptable substitute.
Masks and distancing can be observed for those who wish to participate and/or attend the ceremonies were they to be held as per usual. Name readers could easily be six feet apart or more at Memorial Plaza. Those who wish to attend for those readings could be admitted for each individual letter of the alphabet corresponding with a victim’s last name, with an entrance at one end of the plaza and an exit at the opposite end. I imagine few people would want to travel from out of town to attend this year and fewer still would attend due to their concern over Covid. It’s an outdoor event where distancing can be observed and masks worn.
The museum is currently closed, but will reopen on September 11 for victims’ families. It will reopen to the public on Saturday, September 12 with masks and distancing observed on both dates and forward.
Even more incredulous, is the cancelation of the Tribute in Light - the illumination in the New York City skyline of the Twin Towers. The first such tribute was shone on March 11, 2002 - twin beams of spotlights high into the sky - visible for miles - representing the fallen towers. That tribute ran until April 14 of that year, located a block from Ground Zero, where workers continued removing rubble and carefully sifting through it in search of victims’ remains.
Disjointed ceremonies to be sure, courtesy of the Chinese Communist Party and their “gift” of Covid-19 on the 19th anniversary of the worst terrorist attacks in American history. Regardless, we must never forget those who were murdered on that fateful day - black, brown, red, white, yellow, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, male, female, gay, straight. All were victims - terrorists don’t discriminate, they exterminate. On September 11, and on every day, remember the freedoms Covid stole from us, freedoms the terrorists resented and performed dastardly deeds to forever change the landscape of not just the United States, but the world. May the memories of the murdered be for a Blessing and may G-d continue to Bless the United States of America.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey in the shadow of the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, he was writing for a newspaper in northern Virginia, 10 minutes from the Pentagon.
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