9/11

The four attacks spanning some 77 minutes would kill 2,977 people that day. They would not be the only victims of those Sept. 11 attacks. More than 4,600 first responders and survivors have since died from cancers and other ailments incurred by toxic dust, fumes and fibers from the debris; thousands more continue to suffer.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York told OSV News the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, which will be marked with solemn ceremonies across the U.S., should be observed with memories of lives lost and impacted by the day’s events.

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recalled the heroic deeds of first responders and security forces during the Sept. 11 attacks around the country on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the day’s harrowing events.

There isn’t a day that goes by that Tom and Beverly Burnett don’t think about Sept. 11, 2001, and what that day cost their family: the life of their son, Tom Burnett Jr., who helped to lead the effort to take back United Airlines Flight 93 from its terrorist hijackers.

Twenty years ago, an abandoned strip mine in western Pennsylvania transformed in one shocking moment into a national shrine, a living testament to the courage of everyday Americans faced with a life-or-death choice.