Then and Now: A Reflection on 9/11 and the Death of Osama Bin Laden

On September 11, 2001, the United States of America was heinously and dastardly attacked by a terrorist plot orchestrated by the leader of al Qaeda. On a sunny, clear-skied September afternoon, at 8:46 a.m., the North Tower of the World Trade Center was attacked by a plane that was hijacked by terrorists. Several minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., a second plane hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Below is an account from an Easton, Connecticut resident, Lee Hanson, as reported in the 9/11 Commission Report:

THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT
"WE HAVE SOME PLANES"                                                             

The Hijacking of United 175

“United Airlines Flight 175 was scheduled to depart for Los Angeles at 8:00. Captain Victor Saracini and First Officer Michael Horrocks piloted the Boeing 767, which had seven flight attendants. Fifty-six passengers boarded the flight.

United 175 pushed back from its gate at 7:58 and departed Logan Airport at 8: 14. By 8:33, it had reached its assigned cruising altitude of 31,000 feet. The flight attendants would have begun their cabin service.

The flight had taken off just as American 11 was being hijacked, and at 8:42 the United 175 flight crew completed their report on a "suspicious transmission" overheard from another plane (which turned out to have been Flight 11) just after takeoff. This was United 175's last communication with the ground.

The hijackers attacked sometime between 8:42 and 8:46. They used knives (as reported by two passengers and a flight attendant), Mace (reported by one passenger), and the threat of a bomb (reported by the same passenger). They stabbed members of the flight crew (reported by a flight attendant and one passenger). Both pilots had been killed (reported by one flight attendant).The eyewitness accounts came from calls made from the rear of the plane, from passengers originally seated further forward in the cabin, a sign that passengers and perhaps crew had been moved to the back of the aircraft. Given similarities to American 11 in hijacker seating and in eyewitness reports of tactics and weapons, as well as the contact between the presumed team leaders, Atta and Shehhi, we believe the tactics were similar on both flights.

The first operational evidence that something was abnormal on United 175 came at 8:47, when the aircraft changed beacon codes twice within a minute. At 8:51, the flight deviated from its assigned altitude, and a minute later New York air traffic controllers began repeatedly and unsuccessfully trying to contact it.

At 8:52, in Easton, Connecticut, a man named Lee Hanson received a phone call from his son Peter, a passenger on United 175. His son told him:

‘I think they've taken over the cockpit-An attendant has been stabbed and someone else up front may have been killed. The plane is making strange moves. Call United Airlines-Tell them it's Flight 175, Boston to LA." Lee Hanson then called the Easton Police Department and relayed what he had heard.’

Also at 8:52, a male flight attendant called a United office in San Francisco, reaching Marc Policastro. The flight attendant reported that the flight had been hijacked, both pilots had been killed, a flight attendant had been stabbed, and the hijackers were probably flying the plane. The call lasted about two minutes, after which Policastro and a colleague tried unsuccessfully to contact the flight.

At 8:58, the flight took a heading toward New York City.

At 8:59, Flight 175 passenger Brian David Sweeney tried to call his wife, Julie. He left a message on their home answering machine that the plane had been hijacked. He then called his mother, Louise Sweeney, told her the flight had been hijacked, and added that the passengers were thinking about storming the cockpit to take control of the plane away from the hijackers.

At 9:00, Lee Hanson received a second call from his son Peter:

‘It's getting bad, Dad-A stewardess was stabbed-They seem to have knives and Mace-They said they have a bomb-It's getting very bad on the plane-Passengers are throwing up and getting sick-The plane is makingjerky movements-I don't think the pilot is flying the plane-I think we are going down-I think they intend to go to Chicago or someplace and fly into a building-Don't worry, Dad If it happens, it'll be very fast-My God, my God.’

The call ended abruptly. Lee Hanson had heard a woman scream just before it cut off. He turned on a television, and in her home so did Louise Sweeney. Both then saw the second aircraft hit the World Trade Center.

At 9:03:11, United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center.51 All on board, along with an unknown number of people in the tower, were killed instantly” (9/11 Commission Report, Page 7-8).

On September 22, 2001, as a Vernon Town Council member, I wrote the following editorial to several local papers in Tolland County, as a formal response to the attacks that occurred:

September 22, 2001: Letter to express my concerns and thoughts about the terrorist attacked on the United States of America

Dear Editorial Board Editor:

“I write you this letter to express my concerns and thoughts about the terrorist attack on the United States of America. Every place that I have gone since the attack I have seen concern and support for those who have died and for those who have lost family and friends.”

“These terrorists through their acts are trying to steal from Americans that which I have always known and that which I want my child to be able to experience as an American — safety. Here today, we are at war with a hostile enemy that attacks the core of American freedom and the cornerstone of a capitalist society. This country and our allies need to ferret out these terrorists and move away forever these cloudy skies that opened up to pour the reign of terror over our county. My wife and I want our child and our neighbor’s children to be free from threats at all times. I want children and their parents to feel that they do not have to fear that this will happen at any time in any place in this country again.”

“This is an issue that many other countries around the world face as a consequence of internal struggle or regional struggle or religious disagreement; this has now come to rear its ugly head in our county. I do not want to worry when my child gets on the bus or when we walk through a city that someone who has no regard for his own life and will take his own life and try to take all the lives around him because his religious belief urges him to do so. In this country we accept the principle that religions are different and individuals do not try to force their individual religious beliefs on others but accept that if there is a disagreement people will agree to disagree. A high wall of separation between church and state allows Americans to do so without fear that a choice in religion will jeopardize one’s life. As we have seen when a group attacks persons because of their religious beliefs the law of our land steps in and punishes those attackers for the attack. The punishment is not for the disagreement over belief but it is for the attack against the other person. That punishment is rooted in our American law, the law acts as a safety blanket, as most trust that it will be followed and when it is not followed then it will be enforced then the attacker is punished. We, as Americans, need not fear a person’s free exercise of religion, but Americans should fear the attack on those who exercise free choice because that is what the terrorists have attacked—free choice, free thought, and freedom.”

In this country the law is our safety blanket that provides us comfort; most look to the law for guidance. In this county we have had violence and civil terrorism, but it has been by citizens and it is American law that punishes and deals with this internally. When Timothy McVeigh bombed the federal building—fear reared its ugly head but our laws in this country punished him. That punishment may not have corrected the wrong committed against those who lost family and friends but it acts as a deterrent through its enforcement and provides some small amount of just dessert. When the children in Colorado killed their classmates in Columbine—here in this country and in many towns around this country including Vernon we took defensive safety precautions to make sure that this could not happen again.

The terrorists that have attacked our citizens are not subject to our controls. I am thankfully we have a strong military and our government is committed to placing the constraints and deterrents on these types of attacks which will thwart them in the future, just as we have done internally with violence and civil terrorism. Thus it is time that we fix this wrong and feel safe in our freedom and free movement again. We need not be fearful for the future but resolute in our position as American citizens. We need only believe and our beliefs will overcome evil. I believe that those evil attackers’ impositions of their beliefs on our country through terror on American citizens will not stand but will be snuffed out at home in America and in the world.

As a citizen I will do what my country call on me to do, whether that be give blood, give money, give my service to the country or give my life to make sure that my wife, my child, my family and my countrymen will be able to once again feel safe, as I have felt safe throughout my entire life.”

Now, nine years, seven months and twenty days later, Osama bin Laden, the perpetrator of the worst attack by a foreign enemy on American soil in our Nation’s history, has been brought to justice. Upon the news the America killed bin Laden, late into the evening on Sunday, May 1, 2011, I issued the following statement(s):

Mayor McCoy’s Statement on the Death of Osama Bin Laden

“The death of Osama Bin Laden marks an historic moment in our history. Nearly ten years ago today, America suffered the worst attack from a foreign enemy on American soil. Today’s news reminds us of the loss and heartache suffered on September 11, 2001, however it also reminds us of  America’s perseverance and strong will to uphold freedom, liberty and justice. Today, we have upheld those very principles. I would like to thank the brave men and women in the armed services for unselfishly fighting to keep America safe and free.”

Thank you To the United States Government for Ridding The World of the Murdering Terrorist Bin Laden

“Great News and Headlines Today- we are now one step closer to a safer and free world society again. We now need to finish the job by catching the rest of the Bin Laden command and cell members, then the world will be rid of these murdering terrorists.”

“Then freedom & safety can return for all to enjoy once again.”

-Mayor Jason L. McCoy

Vernon Connecticut