To understand more about the World Trade Center, consider the following:
the complex covered 16 acres when it was finished
each floor was 50,000 ft.²
68 miles of steel were used in the construction of the building
the concrete used could have built a road from New York to Washington DC
the twin towers had more than 16 miles of staircases
the building had 20,000 elevator doors
six banks, five investment firms, and three insurance companies called their headquarters home
more than 50,000 people worked there
200,000 people, half of them tourists, moved through the building each day
every president since 1973 paid a visit
in 1993 the basement of the World Trade Center was bombed, killing six people, and injured 1000
1300 pounds of explosives were used to rip through the garage
on September 11 the building was 95% full
$110.3 million in gold and $120.7 million in silver are buried in the rubble
nine chapels serving six different faith groups were in the tower
29 countries had trade mission offices
79-year-old Albert Joseph refused to retire and escaped the World Trade Center and got buried in the collapse, and was rescued and lived until January 2002
the body of the beloved chaplain of the fire departments, Rev. Mikal Judge was found
Michael Kingston with his guide dog and with his friend David Frank lead people for one hour to their escape
former quarterback of the New York fire Department football team, Patrick John Lyons, rushed into the towers to rescue fellow firefighters trapped on the 15th floor. His body was never found
many other examples can be given of heroes and of victims in this horrendous terrorist attack
in the greater scheme of history our nation has existed but a few short years. During that time, we have survived the war of brother against brother on our own soil. We survived dramatic financial losses of plummeting economic news, of young people rebelling against the establishment. And we have survived two world wars, international hostile engagements, and a conflict not supported by many average citizens. We survived riots, major political scandals, and the assassination of presidents and other leaders. We have coped, we have regrouped, we have re-examined. But one thing we have not done is that we have not become a defeated people!
