The Horror During and After the Attacks on 9/11

On the day of September 11, eighteen years ago, an Islamic terrorist group planned four specific terrorist attacks on the United States. They hijacked four United States passenger airplanes. The terrorists crashed them into the Twin Towers, D.C., a Pennsylvania field, and the Pentagon in Washington. This act of terrorism affected people across the entire world.

Not long after the Twin Towers fell, the nation started to grieve; people all around the country began to show respect and demonstrate their patriotism. The 9/11 memorial was built to honor and remember the two thousand, nine hundred seventy-seven people that were killed on September eleventh terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. It is also for the six people killed in the bombing at the World Trade Center in February 1993. Millions of people travel to come and visit the Memorial to pay their respects to all who lost their lives. Many participate in moments of silence; some have brought flowers to decorate a specific name of a loved one.

People flew American Flags from their front porch or attached them to their car antennas. Other people pinned a flag to their lapel, or wore it on a t-shirt. Multiple different sport teams delayed or rescheduled their games, and celebrities organized performances and concerts to benefit toward what was lost. Thousands of people gathered in public places, like New York City’s Union Square Park, to have tributes for the lost and to share grief with others. There was a sense of unity, but they all felt different about what to do in response. Everyone had their own thoughts and opinions about it, but they all agreed that no matters what happens they have to be together.

The attacks on 9/11 resulted in the most concentrated emergency-service response in U.S. History. The response was foremost and first the Fire Department. One hundred or more EMS units and dozens of private ambulances raced to the site, and they set up for triage centers to ferry the wounded to hospitals. More than two thousand New York Police Departments and Port Authority officers secured the area while rescuing survivors and searching the towers. 9/11 was on the five five-alarm responses, this involved more than two hundred fourteen FDNY units, consisting of fifty-eight ladder trucks, one hundred twelve engines, seven squad companies, dozens of chiefs, four marine units, five rescue companies, and support units, numerous command, and communication.

After the first tower collapsed, back-up units were sent in and off-duty firefighters and companies “self dispatched” went to the site without orders. Multiple ambulances and police officers did the same thing. It also become a lot more difficult to communicate when the North Tower collapsed. Many upper officers and the Chief of Department were killed, the department was left with no central command. Some of the firefighters and police officers were still in the Second Tower after the First collapsed due to poor communication. Others evacuated from the building, but they lost more than one hundred of them when the Second Tower collapsed. Thousands of first responder teams risked their lives without hesitation to try and save all of the innocent people. So many were lost and trapped in the buildings that were attacked by terrorists on 9/11.

Hundreds of people also contributed in donating blood. People all kinds of different blood types joined in to help save lives. By the time they were rescued, many people had lost a lot of blood and needed more to survive. It showed a lot of kindness and integrity for people to willingly give and donate blood. Around thirty-six thousand units of blood were donated to the New York Blood Center in the days after September eleventh. People desperate to do something came together with donations of about four hundred fifty milliliters each. In general, about sixty thousand more units of blood were donated in the fall than they would of before the attacks happened. America’s response of grieve eventually turned into frustration and anger. People tried to blame others for the attack. Arguments and wide discussions were brought about on who people put the blame on. The anger turned into violence, and there were many cases about people killing each other because of disagreements.

Americans eventually turned to faith. The attacks on 9/11 shattered the comfort and stability in American lives. The lives of many Americans were changed by the unexpected loss of their loved ones. This led to an increase in church attendance and Bible sales after the terrorist attacks. Some peoples’ religious beliefs were just as important to them before as they were after. Others began to go more in depth with a religion more than they had before. The vulnerability left some people wanting to belief and feel safe again. Even though many already has a strong belief in a religion, the 9/11 terrorist attacks impacted religion and faith largely as a whole. The attack on September eleventh led to America getting in wars. The U.S. troops in an attempt to dismantle the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the attacks and remove the government harboring it. The United States invaded Iraq and deposed President Saddam Hussein two years later.

There were a lot of new policy advancements that resulted from the attacks on September eleventh. The government of the United States formed the Department of Homeland Security. It was formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service until George W. Bush signed for the Department of Homeland Security. It is a cabinet-level department of government of America charged with protecting the territory of America responding to natural disaster and from terrorist attacks. Two of the agencies in the Department of Homeland Security are Customs Enforcement and Bureau of Immigration; it is now known as the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE. An Act of Congress called the USA Patriot Act was signed by the United States President George W. Bush. Also, there was an establishment of the Transportation Security Administration that was handled.

In response to the attacks, legislation to strengthen national security was swiftly passed. Also, airport security has significantly changed and become more advanced. The invention/creation of Transportation Security Administration now helps guard the United States airports. They require an ID, and the name must match the ticket. Majority of the travelers must remove their shoes at the checkpoints. Everyone’s luggage whether carry-on and checked must be screened. Liquids allowed through security must be no larger than 3.4 ounces. A lot of travelers must remove laptops and toiletries from their bags. During screening, most people must remove outerwear or extra layers during the screening. Enhanced pat downs are sometimes administered during the screening. At the airline gated areas only ticketed travelers are permitted, no welcome committees. There are now reinforced cockpit doors that are locked during flights. All of the advancements have made security lines longer, and you have to wait longer to go through all the processes before you can get on the plane.

Another change that occurred because of the attacks on September eleventh was the structure of buildings. The new One World Trade Center is made up of reinforced concrete walls. Original concrete can withstand three thousand to six thousand pounds of compression pressure per square inch. The concrete that made up the One World Trade Center has a compressive strength of twelve thousand per square inch. High strength, needle-like steel microfibers were mixed into the concrete to strengthen the concrete blast resistance and toughness. These bonds help prevent the spread of any damage or cracks that occur from an extreme force or explosion.

Another response to September eleventh was that the crude oil prices drastically rose. Earlier in the year of 2001, the price of a barrel of crude oil was $21.84. About a decade later, the cost approximately quadrupled to $95.73, this broke the record that was originally in 1860. By 2017, the crude oil price stood at about double the cost from 2001. Since last September, the price of Crude oil $69.91 per barrel of oil. The cost per barrel of oil still has never returned to its original price before the attacks of terrorism in 2001.

The United States Immigration and customs enforcement drastically changed after September eleventh. Nearly doubling from 2001, the number of people that were so-called voluntary departed or were deported increased heavily. A cause of the increase in deportations was the increase in the spending money of the border security. Another reason for the spike in deportations was the Secure Communities, a newly formed immigration enforcement program. This program required local law enforcement to share the arrestees’ fingerprints with Homeland Security. When the fingerprints are scanned through a database, and if they turn up an immigration hold, they can be delayed until the federal immigration authorities arrive. The Secure Committee also authorize the local police officers to serve as immigrant agents whether they want to or not. There were also a lot of criminal deportations. A lot of people even charged with a crime, may not even committed a crime, may be deported. If they did commit a crime, it was minor, and deportation was not necessary.

The terrorist attacks on September eleventh caused anti - Islamic violence in the United States. According to the Pew research Center surveys, approximately half of the United States muslims say it is more complicated to live in the United States since the terrorist attacks in 2001. Instantly ensuing September eleventh, violent and brutal acts against the Muslims arose. There were almost one hundred recorded anti - Muslim FBI assault cases.

Emerging nearly two decades after, many September eleventh related illnesses arose in effect of the terrorist attacks. Multiple illnesses including post - traumatic stress disorder, cancers, digestive diseases, respiratory diseases, and more have became to be known. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created the World Trade Center Health Program to greater treat those with reported symptoms relating to September eleventh. Since this was created, tens of thousands of people have applied and among those 1,744 have passed away.

More than half the people that applied are in the age range from 45 to 64, and the majority of them served as responders or helped with recovery and rescue. It also serves as a building to treat servers and survivors from the Shanksville and Pentagon crash site. A lot of people have seen this center as a place of understanding and help specifically for those who were involved in the events of 9/11, or the responders involved in the Pennsylvania incident.

President George W. Bush reacted to the events on September eleventh by giving a speech about how he took the attacks and what he thought. He spoke about how our way of life and freedom was under attack and forever changed. He made clear that although the terrorist attacks could shake the buildings and cities, they could not move the foundations of America. It was also said that America was the target because it was the most brilliant beacon for opportunity and freedom. He reasoned that the United States was faced with the worst of human nature and managed it in the greatest way possible. Acting very professional, George Bush reacted in a very appropriate manner in his speech. He gave thanks with gratitude to the members of Congress who have supported and helped guide him in response to the attacks. President Bush ended the speech with a sympathetic heart and a reassuring closing.