Denton Article
Symposium: The Media and 9/11
LANGUAGE, SYMBOLS, AND MEDIA
Robert E. Denton, Jr.
On that bright, clear, and fateful day of September 11, 2001, 19 Saudis and al-Qaeda Operatives, wielding knives and box-cutters, hijacked four American aircraft. At 8:45 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11 departed Boston, Massachusetts in route to Los Angeles, California crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center with 81 passengers and 11 Crewmembers on board. Just 18 minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175, also in route from Boston to Los Angeles, with 56 passengers and 9 crewmembers hit the South Tower. At nearly 9:30 a.m., another flight headed toward Los Angeles, American Airlines Flight 77, Departed Dulles International Airport with 58 passengers and 6 crewmembers and crashed into the Northwest side of the Pentagon. Thirty minutes later, United Airlines Flight 93 departed Newark, New Jersey, this time in route to San Francisco, California with 38 passengers and 7 crewmembers. The flight crashed in a field in Pennsylvania resulting from a struggle between the hijackers and brave passengers. Many speculate the target of this flight was the U.S. Capital or even perhaps the White House.
The attacks upon America on September 11, 2001 are being characterized as this generation’s “Pearl Harbor.” The comparison is powerful. Especially since the fiftieth anniversary of D-Day, there is a plethora of books and films commemorating the heroics of those who fought with courage, commitment, and sacrifice during World War II. In the words of Tom Brokaw (in The Greatest Generation, p. xx.), they stayed true to the values “of pesonal responsibility, duty, honor, and faith”. Quite simply, as he proclaims in his best selling book, they are the “greatest generation any society has produced” (p. xxx.). The surprise attack upon our forces on the morning of December 7, 1941, characterized by President Roosevelt as “a day that will live in infamy,” changed the course of
LANGUAGE, SYMBOLS, AND MEDIA
Robert E. Denton, Jr.
On that bright, clear, and fateful day of September 11, 2001, 19 Saudis and al-Qaeda Operatives, wielding knives and box-cutters, hijacked four American aircraft. At 8:45 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11 departed Boston, Massachusetts in route to Los Angeles, California crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center with 81 passengers and 11 Crewmembers on board. Just 18 minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175, also in route from Boston to Los Angeles, with 56 passengers and 9 crewmembers hit the South Tower. At nearly 9:30 a.m., another flight headed toward Los Angeles, American Airlines Flight 77, Departed Dulles International Airport with 58 passengers and 6 crewmembers and crashed into the Northwest side of the Pentagon. Thirty minutes later, United Airlines Flight 93 departed Newark, New Jersey, this time in route to San Francisco, California with 38 passengers and 7 crewmembers. The flight crashed in a field in Pennsylvania resulting from a struggle between the hijackers and brave passengers. Many speculate the target of this flight was the U.S. Capital or even perhaps the White House.
The attacks upon America on September 11, 2001 are being characterized as this generation’s “Pearl Harbor.” The comparison is powerful. Especially since the fiftieth anniversary of D-Day, there is a plethora of books and films commemorating the heroics of those who fought with courage, commitment, and sacrifice during World War II. In the words of Tom Brokaw (in The Greatest Generation, p. xx.), they stayed true to the values “of pesonal responsibility, duty, honor, and faith”. Quite simply, as he proclaims in his best selling book, they are the “greatest generation any society has produced” (p. xxx.). The surprise attack upon our forces on the morning of December 7, 1941, characterized by President Roosevelt as “a day that will live in infamy,” changed the course of