As blood ran down the flight attendant's neck, they all prayed not to die. A dark-skinned man walked to the front of the plane to claim his next victim. He slowly thrust the cold, red blade of a knife into the pilot's neck. Many who saw screamed. They all knew then that they were going to die. The passengers felt the plane take wild turns and realized they had turned around. Shortly after this happened to four planes, all passengers died. Terrorists had taken control of planes in America. Four planes, nineteen terrorists, and nearly 3,000 deaths later, the United States of America was changed forever. On September 11, 2001, many people's lives were changed. Not only Americans, but also Muslims and Islamists have been affected. (A Nation Challenged 80). Family members and friends were lost, lives were taken, and New York City was torn to pieces. Two planes hit the Twin Towers, otherwise known as the World Trade Center. A plane landed on the Pentagon located in Virginia. A final plane landed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after being picked up by passengers. The nineteen men who hijacked these planes belonged to the Islamist militant group known as Al-Qaeda. (The 9/11 Commission Report). A New York Times editorial said: "It was one of those moments when history divides and we define the world as 'before' and 'after.' The Pentagon is almost a city in itself. 23,000 people work there every day and more than 200,000 phone calls are made daily via phones connected by 100,000 miles of telephone cable. (A Nation Challenged 24). American Airlines Flight 77 was intended to fly from Washington to Los Angles, California....... middle of papers ...... buildings filled with smoke. He had fine gray hair, almost white, which had lightened over time. His eyes seemed sunken in his face and his skin sagging. He looked younger than he really was and acted like one. He had family at home waiting for him to return, or at least praying that he would return. Mychal Judge was Firefighter Chaplin of the New York Fire Department. He was not required to go to the scene, but he chose to do so anyway. Father Judge was on his knees, giving last rites to a firefighter killed by a falling body. Because Mychal Judge was the first to be released from Ground Zero. The death certificate of this 68-year-old man was number one dated September 11, 2001. (One Nation 70). September 11, 2001 changed America and the world forever. No one would have ever thought that four planes and nineteen terrorists could do so much.