LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Sunday marks 21 years since the tragic tragedy of September 11, 2001 changed the lives of four Arkansas natives forever.
On that day in 2001, American Airlines flight attendant Sara Low, Malissa White, Sailor Nehamon Lyons IV and United Airlines Flight 93 passenger Tom Burnett did not get the chance to go home to their families.
According to a 9/11 memorial website, hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into floors 93 to 99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. Sara Low of Batesville was one of the flight attendants on that flight.
Low was a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and according to the memorial website, she was dedicated to her flight career despite having degrees in banking and finance.
The terrorist attacks killed 2,753 people in New York, according to information from the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Malissa White, from Bald Knob, was one of the victims of the attacks. She worked for an insurance company on the 99th floor of the North Tower in the World Trade Center.
On the 20th year anniversary of 9/11, White’s sister Sylvia Ball said she had prayed that her sister did not go to work when she heard the news. However, she said she learned that White was at work at the time of the attack.
Less than an hour after the North Tower was struck, another hijacked plane crashed into the pentagon. Pine Bluff native Nehamon Lyons IV was one of 184 people killed in that attack.
Lyons served in the U.S. Navy. He had transferred to the Pentagon in 2001 and worked as an Operations Specialist 2nd Class, according to a website dedicated to the victims of the Pentagon attack.
Arkansan Deena Burnett also lost her husband that September morning. Tom Burnett was one of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93.
The hijacked plane’s route was changed to head to Washington, D.C., according to information from the National Park Service. Before the hijackers could reach their target, Burnett along with other passengers overtook the cockpit. This led to the plane crashing into a field in Pennsylvania.
On this day 21 years ago, America faced a horrific series of events. There have been numerous memorials created to honor the victims killed on 9/11. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, The Pentagon Memorial and The Flight 93 National Memorial are just a few of the many sites dedicated to the 2,996 victims.
