I Miss You Daddy

Thirteen years ago, on the early morning of Sept. 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger airliners and redirected the course of modern history. Two of those planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were flown into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City; 37 minutes later, American Airlines Flight 77 smashed into the Pentagon. At 10:07 a.m., United Flight 93 went down in a field in Pennsylvania.

The attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people ushered in a new era of homeland security and launched more than a decade of war. Sound bites – some intentional, some spontaneous and some pulled from cellphone records – from that day and the days that followed are reminders of the confusion, fear and horror that characterized 9/11. The words of world leaders, the deceased and those who survived are part of the historical significance of that day.