On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda operatives executed four coordinated hijackings of commercial flights in the U.S., successfully crashing two planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and one into the Pentagon in Virginia. The day will forever be remembered for the devastating loss of civilian life and damage left in the wake of the attacks, but also for the series of events it put into motion that changed the world and defined a decade in Afghanistan.