9781422277164

The Pentagon was another target on 9/11. One of the planes was smashed into the side of the massive building.

went about its business, 19 terrorists—most from Saudi Arabia—boarded four planes in three cities: Boston, Washington, and Newark, New Jersey. Acting under orders from al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan, including bin Laden, the men used box cutters to take over the planes. The terrorists eventually steered two of the planes into the World Trade Center’s twin towers, and aimed one at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after a group of passengers stormed the cockpit and wrested control from the hijackers. All those aboard the four airliners were killed, as were nearly 3,000 people on the ground. More than 6,000 were injured. Although there had been terror attacks in the United States before, 9/11 shook the country to its core.

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