On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, a planned attack conducted by the terrorist group al-Qaeda was unleashed on the United States.

Two planes were hijacked from two major U.S. passenger air carriers, United Airlines and American Airlines, and were run into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon, and a fourth was taken over by its passengers and crashed into a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, preventing even more death and destruction.

These tragic events left America with 2,996 dead and more than 6,000 injured. This day has been remembered since as one of great pain and sorrow.

 Sept. 11, although clouded by the destruction of terrorism, does have a brighter side.

On this day in 2001, junior Lauren Browning was born. About having her birthday on 9/11, she said, “Well, it’s kind of weird.” She continued by saying that when people find out that she was born on Sept. 11, 2001, they usually react by saying, “On the day, really?” She added when adults learn about her birthday, they usually follow with their own stories of their whereabouts on 9/11.

 Her dad, Charlton, recalls that morning well. He remembers thinking that it was just a normal day to be born. “Boy, was I wrong,” he wrote in a text. After the first plane crashed, Mr. Browning said he recalled being asked to come to the operating room. In his text, he wrote, “When I arrived there were 13 doctors and nurses. They were huddled around my wife but were intently listening to a small boom box that had the radio on listening to the news.

“About 10 minutes after the second plane crash, Lauren was born.”

Lauren’s mom, Michelle, remembers waiting to go into surgery and watching the planes crash into the World Trade Center. She wrote in a text, “As I was in surgery all the doctors and nurses were talking about the news.”

After the second plane had hit the second tower, Mr. Browning wrote that the terror attacks in New York City stopped for him that day and he got to enjoy his precious gift from God. That was the one great thing that happened on that fateful day, he wrote.