Four to commemorate the exact times planes crashed into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and the field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where passengers thwarted a planned attack in the US Capitol in Washington.
Advertisement
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie attend ceremonies to mark the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks at the National 9-11 Memorial in New York, United States September 11, 2016.
In the 15 years since the attack, almost every minute, every detail, every anecdote from victims, eyewitnesses and relatives has been reconstructed in documentaries, feature films and books.
Writing on Twitter Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry said, “On 9/11, we remember those we lost, those who tried to save them”.
Ceremonies marking Sunday’s 9/11 remembrances began to unfold early on the east coast as crowds gathered from NY to Pennsylvania, Washington D.C. and beyond. Thousands of people demonstrated in Barcelona to call for the creation of a new Mediterranean nation, as they celebrate the Catalan National Day holiday. It was the worst attack on USA soil since Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941 at the start of World War II. Video showed her knees buckling as three people helped the 68-year-old.
He adds, “During the ceremony, she felt overheated so departed to go to her daughter’s apartment, and is feeling much better”.
Neither Clinton nor Trump made public remarks at the ceremony, where politicians haven’t been invited to speak since 2011.
Clinton – a former NY senator – has frequently highlighted her efforts, including in a campaign ad released Friday, to aid those affected by the World Trade Center collapse.
The first of what will be six moments of silence was observed at 8.46am ( 8.46pm Singapore time) – the time when the first hijacked passenger jet hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
James Johnson, a retired New York City police sergeant who is now police chief in Forest City, Pennsylvania, came to ground zero for the first time since he last worked on the rescue and recovery efforts in early 2002. “Today, let’s honor the lives and tremendous spirit of the victims and responders”, tweeted Clinton, who was a US senator from NY at the time of the attacks.
“September 11, 2001, touched every single one of us”, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday during a memorial service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the city’s fire department.
On Saturday, one day prior to the anniversary, bicyclists rode along the newly opened September 11th National Memorial Trail in Pennsylvania, beginning at the Flight 93 National Memorial.
Bagpipes played and bells tolled in solemn tributes. The presenters each read about 30 names, ending with a few words about their own loss. It will also include moments of silence and the tolling of bells.
Memorial ceremonies also are underway at the sites of the other crash sites.
The United States, but more increasingly Europe, have been hit by such attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and the 2015 San Bernardino killings in California.
But they are keeping traditions that have made the ceremony a constant in how America remembers September 11, even as ground zero and the nation changes.
In New York City, crowds for the ceremony have diminished over the years. Each year, family members spend hours reading out the names of all the dead at the memorial, an increasing number of them young adults who never or barely knew lost parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents.
Advertisement
Gordon Felt, the president of the Families of Flight 93, an advocacy group that helped push for and design the park, said just one aspect of the memorial remains to be completed, the Tower of Voices.
