2. What Happened?
Four airplanes were hijacked by terrorists the morning of September 11, 2001 to attack the United States.
AA Flight 11 took off at 8:00 from Boston to LA.
AA Flight 175 took off at 8:14 from Boston to LA
American Airlines Flight 77 took off at 8:20 from Washington D.C. to LA
United Airlines Flight 93 took off at 8:42 from Newark, N.J to San Francisco.

4. What Happened?
At 8:46 Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
At 9:03 flight 175 crashed into the south tower.
Both towers collapsed
2603 confirmed dead in NYC

5. What Happened? Flight 77 hit the Pentagon at 9:38
Fortunately, the portion of the Pentagon that was hit was under construction
125 Pentagon employees were killed

6. What Happened?
Flight 93 was believed to be headed to the White House. It did not reach its target. The passengers on the plane fought back and the plane crashed outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania

7. Why? The terrorist group Al Qaeda claimed responsibility.
Osama bin Laden was their leader

8. Why? In 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan
Osama bin Laden led a fight against the invaders
Islamic fighters from all over the world went to Afghanistan to fight for bin Laden

9. Why? U.S. Government supported bin Laden & his fighters
The U.S. gave bin Laden weapons & intelligence to fight against the USSR
After the USSR withdraws from Afghanistan, the U.S. cut off bin Laden

10. Why?
Saudi Arabia asked for assistance to protect them from Saddam Hussein
In 1990, the U.S. government sent our military to Saudi Arabia
The US military was now near Mecca, the holiest place for the Muslim religion.

11. Why?
Osama bin Laden wanted all Western influence out of the Middle East.
al Queda wants the religion of Islam to control all governments and vowed revenge after the US brought its military to Saudi Arabia
al Queda is not sponsored by a country, but is a separate terrorist organization.

12. Why?
al Qaeda wants a “Holy War” between Muslims & the rest of the world
They have carried out terrorist attacks against US and its allies throughout the world

13. The Response US government decided to respond using its military
US military ordered the Taliban in Afghanistan to turn over Osama bin Laden
The Taliban refused & the US invaded

14. The Response Goal was to look for bin Laden
US military sent roughly 30,000 troops into Afghanistan
Goal was to look for bin Laden
The Taliban was over thrown

15. The Response Osama bin Laden fled to neighboring Pakistan.
Acting on U.S. intelligence, a Navy SEAL operation was launched and bin Laden was killed in his compound on May 2, 2011.

16. The Response
Since 9/11, many devote themselves to a day of service in honor of the lives lost by tragic terrorist events.