In all, 2,974 victims were killed by the Sept. 11 attacks: 2,750 connected to the World Trade Center, 40 in Pennsylvania and 184 at the Pentagon. Those numbers do not include the 19 hijackers. - Associated Press, September 11, 2007.
Today, I read the above statement while catching up on my morning news on jsonline.com this morning. In six years I have heard the death toll numbers stated over and over to me and never once had I stopped to think about the 19 hijackers. I don’t want to say that I assumed they were counted in the deaths, but I guess I never stopped to think that they weren’t included either. On four planes, in a matter of hours, 2,974 people had their lives taken to them by 19 men who will never be remembered as anything other than “the hijackers”. Their own cowardly deaths remain unaccounted for, while our own innocent citizens receive celebration for their courageous and tragic deaths on that fateful day. The number 2974 will never be tainted by evil, but will be remembered in reverence.
And I have to admit that that simple fact alone made me smile from within.
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"The number 2974 will never be tainted by evil, but will be remembered in reverence." It never occured to me that the hijackers weren't accounted for. I'm also very glad they weren't. (nice post)
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