She’s on a journey to make sure no one forgets.
A 27-year-old Air Force Captain who recalls crying out for her “Daddy” after soldiers rescued her from the Pentagon’s day care center on Sept. 11, 2001 is honoring the 2,977 people killed that day by running a mile for each life lost.
Hanna Born — who was among the youngest survivors of the terror attacks — began her ongoing journey before last year’s 9/11 anniversary and has so far completed nearly 1,000 miles through occasional runs as part of “an enduring promise” to the victims.
“I want to do something that lasts longer than just the anniversary of September 11th, and I want to do something that’s personal in a way that matters to everyone who is still here and still impacted by what they lost that day and who they lost on that day,” Born, a pilot, told The Post.
She will mark off some more miles during this year’s 9/11 observance by running in an event for the 34.3 Foundation, which every year runs from Long Beach, Long Island to the World Trade Centerin honor of the 343 FDNY members killed on the tragic day.
Born dedicates every mile to an individual lost on that day by proclaiming their name out loud, which she documents and shares with nearly 30,000 supporters on social media.
As someone who experienced that day herself in her earliest memories, that many of her peers and following generations were losing a connection to the tragedy.
“[I] just kind of felt over time, like there was this fading of our promise to never forget, which you often hear associated with 9/11,” she said.
She and her then-four-month-old sister, Heather, were in the Pentagon’s daycare center that morning when hijacked Flight 77 smashed into the building just several hundred yards away.
Born, who was just shy of her third birthday, says she carried memories of her playing with dance ribbons in the center before alarms went off, announcing that the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 had hit the building at 9:37 a.m.
The rest of the day is “cloudy,” but the runner says snapshots are clear — like how soldiers showed up at the door to evacuate the kids, rushing the infants out in cribs, and the moment she shouted out for “Daddy” when he was reunited with his daughters.
Her mother was a squadron commander at Bolling Air Force Base who jumped into action in the wake of the attacks.
“My parents always made it very clear that it was a traumatic experience, but our family was very fortunate that day because we were united and a lot of people were not, unfortunately, given that same outcome,” said Born.
Born walked away from the crash with lingering trauma that her parents helped her work through by reframing the memories not on the horrors of the day, but to remember how heroes showed up to help others at the risk of their own lives.
She and her sister were ultimately inspired to follow in their parents’ footsteps and join the military — Born is an instructor pilot in the Air Force, while Heather is stationed in Okinawa with the Navy.
“We wanted to find a way to give back to a bigger purpose in our own lives,” Born said.
Born expects the mission to take roughly three years — and is peppering the mileage through impressive feats like Ironman triathlons and the upcoming New York City Marathon.
She’s also using her platform to raise money for the 9/11 Legacy Foundation, which educates future generations on the tragedy.
“My hopes were that if a family member sees it and they hear their loved ones’ names spoken aloud, they’ll feel like they’re still supported even 25 years later. And I hoped for a younger generation that might not have been around that day, that they understand not only how impactful it was as an event in our nation’s history, but how impactful it was at a personal level for every family member that’s still here and wishes that person was here with them,” explained Born.
The post One of 9/11’s youngest survivors recalls Pentagon attack — and how she’s now running 2,977 miles to remember those killed appeared first on New York Post.
