1.888.282.0970    

   Gifts for the Health Professional

Prints by Category

About Historical Medical Art

E Pluribus Unum, 9-11-01

The beginning of this great American tragedy occurred at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 11, 2001. A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 11, crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York. The aircraft was a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles with 81 passengers and 11 crewmembers aboard. The impact created a gaping hole in the building and set it afire.

A second hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 175, slammed into the south tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 a.m. The Boston to Los Angeles flight had a manifest of 56 passengers and 9 crew members. The plane exploded on impact setting the tower afire and delivering a mortal wound to the structure.

President George W. Bush on a speaking engagement in Sarasota, Florida, stopped and announced to the American people that the country had suffered "an apparent terrorist attack". The message was delivered at 9:30 a.m.

At 9:43 a.m. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The Boeing 757 was en route from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles with 58 passengers and 6 crew members aboard.

The south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed at 10:05 a.m., plummeting to the streets below and creating a massive cloud of dust and debris covering much of Manhattan. Five minutes later at 10:10 a.m. a fourth hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh. The plane was en route from Newark to San Francisco caring 37 passengers and 7 crew members.

At 10:28 a.m. the north tower of the World Trade Center collapsed releasing a tremendous cloud of smoke and debris. The 47 story Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex was reported on fire at 4:10 p.m., a result of the collapse of the north and south World Trade Towers. By 5:20 p.m. this building also falls.

Speculation of responsibility for the terroristic attacks point to a Saudi militant who was suspected of coordinating the bombings of two United States embassies in 1998. By 4:00 p.m. a news service national security correspondent reports that United States officials feel there are "good indications" that Osama bin Laden is involved in the attacks.

Anne Crawford's rendering of the carnage of 9-11-01 is but a glimpse of the horror of the day. Over 5000 innocent men, women and children were killed. Many heroes stepped forward and will never be forgotten: firemen, policemen, physicians, nurses, emergency medical personnel, clergy, and just ordinary people helping people. Perhaps the true heroes were those who lost their lives. It was but yet another day that will forever live in infamy for this great country of ours. Sadly, ever so often we are asked to remember what it is that gives us our strength as one nation, indivisible. It is the heart, the breath, the lives blood that makes us what we are as a people. The memory is and must always be, E Pluribus Unum.