Flag honoring victims, heroes of 9/11 hangs in fire department

by Sue Serdinak

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists carried out suicide attacks on the United States.

First an American Airlines plane then a United Airlines plane were hijacked and flown into the North and South towers of the 110-story World Trade Center in New York City. In less than an hour another American Airlines plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Terrorists commandeered another United Airlines plane and were flying toward D.C. when passengers overwhelmed the hijackers in the cockpit, and the plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field, killing all on board.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed as a result of the exploding, burning and collapsing structures and thousands were trapped and injured. The safety forces faced a difficult and dangerous job of evacuating people from the inferno, ignited by the fuel from the airplanes. About 15 minutes after the initial attacks in New York, both towers collapsed, killing or injuring fleeing occupants and many of the rescuers, including 343 fire fighters and 60 police officers.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum opened in 2014 at the World Trade Center. The names of all 2,983 victims of the attack are engraved on bronze panels in the memorial.

Richfield resident Ellen Daniels, who participated in a meeting at Windows on the World restaurant in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, visited the site in 2006 and St. Paul’s Chapel, where many first responders slept and ate during the search for survivors. She purchased a replica flag that lists all the victims of the attack.

Last year she presented the flag to Richfield Village, and Fire Chief Phil McLean built a frame for it. The flag hangs in the fire department in recognition of those who died directly from the attack and those who continue to suffer from the effects of the toxic air that enveloped the site.

Congress has directed that September 11 be named Patriot Day and become a National Day of Service and Remembrance. The mastermind of the attack, Khalid Sheekh Mohammed, was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and held by the CIA. Since 2006 he has been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His military trial was set to start on Jan. 11, 2021. However the COVID pandemic might cause a delay.

Feature image photo caption: This flag that is a replica of one that hangs in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum hangs in the Richfield Fire Department.