A Morning That Changed America

CREST HAVEN – An unassuming collection of light stones and metal remnants rests just north of the main entrance to the Cape May County Administration Building at 4 Moore Road. None of them were there Sept. 11, 2001. On that fateful day all of the artifacts were still parts of the World Trade Center Twin Towers, the Pentagon and the field in Shanksville, Pa. where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed.
Freeholders will place a wreath near that memorial as a tribute to those slain by terrorists in the planned attack on the nation. The monument was dedicated Sept. 11, 2013 by a tree that had been planted years before, also as a memorial to those who died that day.
Since the first anniversary of the morning that changed America, the county has held an annual Patriot Day ceremony outside the administration building at 5 p.m. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.
Firefighters from departments throughout the county have attended to pay homage to their fallen brothers and sisters who rushed into the hellish conflagration as others were fleeing from it.
Cadets from the Cape May County Police Academy, likewise, attend to recall those in the law enforcement community who did, on that day, what they may someday be expected to do in the line of duty. They will salute in unison as a Coast Guard bugler plays “Taps” following a three-volley salute by the ceremonial detail from the Coast Guard Training Center Cape May.
Brief Timeline of Events
American Airlines Flight 11 with 92 aboard the Boeing 767 took off from Boston’s Logan International Airport headed for Los Angeles. Hijackers crashed the plane into floors 93-99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. All aboard as well as many in the building were killed.
United Airlines Flight 175 with 65 aboard the Boeing 767 took off from Boston also destined for Los Angeles. Hijackers overtook the flight crew and crashed into floors 75-85 of the World Trade Center South Tower at 9:03 a.m. killing all aboard and many in that building.
American Airlines Flight 77 took off with 64 aboard the Boeing 757 from Dulles International Airport, just outside the nation’s capital at 8:20 a.m. At 9:37 a.m. hijackers crashed the plane into the western side of the Pentagon claiming 59 lives aboard and 125, military and civilian inside the building.
United Airlines Flight 93, with 44 aboard the Boeing 757 departed Newark International Airport for San Francisco. At 10:07 a.m. crew and passengers communicated with families and friends and learned of the earlier attacks and crashes. They tried to regain control of the jetliner but hijackers crashed the aircraft into the field at Shanksville, killing all aboard.