Remembering the children who lost their lives on the fateful 9/11 flights
On a clear, September morning, residents of New York City were going about their normal Tuesday routines when a plane suddenly collided with the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46am.
Over the next two hours, three further planes crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington DC, and a field in Pennsylvania.
All around the world, people turned on radios and televisions to watch the tragedy of the unexpected terrorist attacks unfold.
In the aftermath, it was found a total of 2,996 people died on 9/11 at the hands of the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda.
A nation mourned the lives lost and it’s estimated that over 3,000 children lost a parent that day. However, there were also eight children on those tragic flights who also lost their lives.
Children who, as President Bush said at the time, were ‘the most important person on the Earth to somebody.’
In different circumstances these youngsters would all be adults now, maybe even with families of their own, had such an atrocity not occurred in their short lives.
Here, we remember the eight children who lost their lives on that fateful day 23 years ago.
Christine Lee Hanson, 2
The youngest of the children killed, two-year-old Christine from Groto, Massachusetts, was described as a busy toddler who loved going to the playground and helping her dad in the garden.
Her grandmother, Eunice Hanson, gave Christine a Peter Rabbit teddy to commemorate she had been born in the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. Both Peter Rabbit and a red Teletubby went everywhere with little girl.
Her parents, Peter and Sue Kim Hanson, left their home in Massachusetts to visit relatives in Los Angeles. After the visit, the family had planned to visit Disneyland with their daughter for a fun trip.
However, on the morning of 9/11, Peter placed a frantic call to his father telling him, ‘Dad, I think they’re going to crash the plane.’ At 9:03am, their plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
In 2014, Christine’s cherished keepsakes were donated to the 9/11 Memorial Museum by her grandparents. Still on Peter Rabbit’s torso are two Winnie the Poo stickers the little girl had stuck on her beloved toy. ‘She put stickers on everything she liked,’ remembered her grandmother, Eunice. ‘I suppose it was her mark of approval.’
In an interview with NBC last year, Eunice shared how Christine was a ‘kind’ child, ‘who bubbled’.
‘If she did get into mischief, she found a way to make everyone laugh,’ she added.
David Brandhorst, 3
Three-year-old David was a vegetable loving toddler who adored Lego and going to his swimming lessons every week.
The sister of his father, Ronald, has spoken about how the ‘gentle’ little boy often chose cherry tomatoes over cake and ice cream at a birthday party.
David’s fathers, Daniel Brandhorst and Ronald Gamboa, had been together since 1987 and decided to grown their family 10 years later by adopting David, who called Ronald ‘daddy’ and Daniel ‘papa’. They lived together in Los Angeles.
Both men were said to relish fatherhood, with a close friend saying the toddler was the ‘loving focus of their lives.’ Family members recalled the couple had made plans to adopt more children.
On September 11, David boarded flight 175 at Logan Airport with his fathers to return home to Los Angeles following a visit to Cape Cod.
Following the tragedy a plaque was added in the little boy’s memory at the West Hollywood playground that David loved to go to with his dads. On it are the words: ‘five more minutes Daddy!’, to mark just how much the toddler enjoyed spending time there.
Juliana McCourt, 4
Even at just four years old, Juliana had a wittiness about her that got her the nickname ‘Miss J’ by those who knew her well.
Her grandmother, Paula, has said that the little girl was ‘a a nurturer like her mother.’
The youngster, who lived in New London, Connecticut, got on the United Airlines Flight 175 with her mum, Ruth, who had made an elaborate plan to to take Juliana to Disneyland for a fun getaway.
Ruth had planned to fly with her best friend, Paige Farley-Hackel, however Paige decided to take a different flight and instead, the pair made arrangements to meet in Los Angeles.
Paula said that with Ruth’s long, red hair and Juliana’s blond locks, the mother-daughter pair would have looked ‘striking’ sitting on the plane together.
Ron Clifford was the brother of Ruth and had witnessed the crashing of a plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He didn’t know at the time, but it was the plane his sister and niece were on board.
While the little girl’s father – who was not on the plane – told ABC News, ‘I will never be able to look at this child again. This child will never be in my life. She was so beautiful. It’s a way of almost denying it, but it’s the only way I can cope at this point.’
In an even more tragic twist, the plane that Paige had decided to take was American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the North Tower shortly before Juliana and her mum also lost their lives.
Bernard Brown II, 11
Bernard was described by his mum as a little boy who ‘lived to go to school’.
It was the 11-year-old’s love of learning that saw him heading out of his hometown of Washington D.C. on an adventure to the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary off the coast of California, with a group of teachers and two other students.
Bernard was renowned for his spelling, drawing, and ‘zest’ for living.
Out golfing for the day, Bernard’s father, a Navy chief petty officer who worked in the Pentagon, had talked to his son about the fear he had about flying in preparation for his flight to California.
‘To be honest, we talked about death,’ Bernard Sr. told NBC. ‘I just told him, “Don’t be afraid. Just listen to what the people tell you, and the instructions. You’ll be all right; you’ll be fine.” He said, “Daddy, I’m scared,” and I said, “Hey, don’t be scared; don’t be afraid to die. Because we are all going to die someday.”’
Little did he know it would be one of the last conversations he would have with his beloved son, who was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 am.
A keen basketball player, Bernard’s mother said he had just purchased a pair of Air Jordan sneakers – ones he was wearing on that momentous trip.
Asia Cottom, 11
Asia was on the same plane as Bernard Brown. It was a dream trip for the smiley, eager-to-learn sixth grader. The 11-year-old had just started at a new school, Bertie Backus Middle School, in Northeast Washington.
Her father, Clifton Cottom, helped to coach basketball, patrolled the halls, and worked as a book clerk in the school same school.
Clifton told a news outlet his daughter was a ‘charmer who was trying hard to grow up,’ and that she dreamt of becoming a pediatrician. She loved jumping rope and her mother, Michelle Cottom, remembered her daughter loving ‘Tweety gear.’
Staff at the school described Asia as a kind-hearted kid, who helped other students with learning difficulties. Neighbours remembered how Asia greeted them when she was playing outside her house with her younger brother.
The day after the hijacking, one of Asia’s teachers attempted to talk to the class about what had happened: ‘We are missing someone today. Do you know who that is?’ she asked. Some of the children replied. ‘Yes,’ they said. ‘Asia.’
Rodney Dickens, 11
The last of the three children chosen to participate in the trip to study ecology in California beside National Geographic Society researchers, Rodney accompanied Bernard and Asia on the trip of a lifetime. It was the first time he had ever been on a plane.
One of Rodney’s classmates at Ketcham Elementary School remembered him as a kind kid ‘who loved Pokémon’ and ‘helped other people with their homework if they didn’t understand it.’
Even though Rodney, who was 11, grew up in a dangerous Washington neighbourhood alongside his two brothers and two sisters, he always made the honour roll at school.
His mother, LaShawn, was a single parent who was raising her children with the help of her extended family, and she encouraged her beloved son to always try and be a role model to his siblings.
Rodney loved reading, playing on the computer, and spending time with his brothers and sisters, but his aunt, Cynthia Dickens, said his favourite thing to do was watch professional wrestling on TV.
‘I don’t care what he was doing, he made it home to see wrestling,’ Cynthia remembered.
Dana, 3, and Zoe Falkenberg, 8
Charles Falkenberg and his wife Leslie Whittington were on their way to Australia from their home in University Park, Maryland, with their two young daughters, Dana, three, and Zoe, eight, on the morning September 11.
Leslie was planning to work for a few months at the Australian National University in Canberra, and the family had ended up boarding American Airlines flight 77, after missing their connecting flight on the long haul journey.
Dana was remembered as a funny, intense, and charming little girl with curly ringlets. It was reported she was seen as a miracle by her parents.
Meanwhile, Zoe was one of the top students at University Park Elementary and was actively involved in Girl Scouts, ballet, and swimming.
Like many children her age, she adored reading Harry Potter books and had planned to have a Beanie Baby party with her friend when she returned from the family trip abroad.
The girls sat next to their father on the flight, ready to start the next leg of their adventure, but then around 8:54 am, the flight deviated from its course, crashing into the Pentagon.
Two plush toys, a cuddly bear and a dinosaur, are held in the 9/11 memorial to remember the young, beloved sisters.
This article was originally published on September 11, 2023.
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