This Sunday marks the 15th annniversary of the attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City.
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The Al-Qaeda attacks killed 2,753 people in NY, 184 at the Pentagon in Washington, DC and 40 on Flight 93 – which had been heading towards the United States capital when the passengers and crew staged a rebellion and the hijackers crashed the plane into a field in Pennsylvania.
Relatives began the solemn hours-long reading of the names of the dead were read out in a remembrance service at Ground Zero in NY on the site of the destroyed World Trade Center, where a memorial – and a rebuilt Freedom Tower – now stand.
Obama said at a Pentagon memorial service that he is inspired by the resilience of the victims’ families.
Memorial services have been held across the United States to mark 15 years since the September 11th attacks.
The cold front had already passed both ceremonies helping to send drier and more comfortable air through the area.
At Ground Zero, where the towers stood, the first moment of silence will be observed at 8:46 a.m. ET – the time the first plane hit the North Tower. The presenters each read about 30 names, ending with a few words about their own loss.
Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump arrived at Ground Zero on Sunday for the ceremony.
“September 11, 2001 touched every single one of us”, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday at at memorial held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for city firefighers. The World Trade Center transit hub opened in March, with a soaring Oculus centerpiece. Clinton left the 9/11 commemoration ceremony early after she felt overheated and went to her daughter’s apartment, the Clinton campaign said.
It might be hard to believe, but it has been a decade and a half since 2,996 innocents lost their lives in one of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil. “You don’t move forward – it always stays with you”, Tom Acquaviva, who lost his son, Paul.
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. He said he worked this summer with children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 26 children and adults were massacred in 2012. I think everyone needs closure, and this is my time to have closure..
In the ceremony at the Pentagon, President Obama said the nation will never forget the lives of those killed in the September 11 attacks.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, observe a moment of silence during a ceremony at the Pentagon Memorial, Sept. 11, 2016.
Hundreds of people gathered for a ceremony at the site of the former Twin Towers in NY, to remember those who died. Thursday, officials announced plans for a performing arts center at the site, saying Barbra Streisand would be the chairperson for the project.
For the first time, the Shanksville ceremony is being held outside the Flight 93 National Memorial that opened past year rather than at the granite mall that runs along the crash site.
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She notes how bittersweet even the most special of occasions can be, “you are happy for your children and the things they are doing, but then you are sad that Dave is not there to share that and to see it”.
