The names of each of the almost 3,000 victims of the September 11 attacks were read at a ceremony at the September 11 memorial plaza, at the World Trade Center site in New York City.
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In Lower Manhattan, family members of victims will gather at the World Trade Center for a ceremony that begins with a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., the time that the first plane hit the North Tower on this day in 2001.
The country’s leading 2016 presidential candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, paid their respects at Ground Zero but halted their political campaigns for the day.
The former first lady left the ceremony at Ground Zero after becoming faint from the heat, according to her aides, as video footage showed her being helped, knees buckling, into her van by secret service agents.
Obama said at a Pentagon memorial service that he is inspired by the resilience of the victims’ families. George W. Bush and his wife, Laura Bush, will attend the Cowboys-New York Giants game in Dallas, it said.
“We wonder how their lives might have unfolded – how their dreams might have taken shape”, Obama said during his last time overseeing an anniversary of September 11 as president.
Four of those mark the exact times four hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon near Washington D.C., and a Pennsylvania field. With our stronger defenses, terrorists often attempt attacks on a smaller, but still deadly scale.
The president said those killed were “from all walks of life, all races and religions, all colors and creeds, from across America and around the world”.
“We just decided as a family since it was the 15th anniversary that we would all get together and make a bus trip to NY to celebrate her life”, Keaton said.
A moment of silence was observed at the U.S. Open to mark the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
“Parents of the deceased are getting older, younger people usually can’t make it because of work obligations”, said Tom Acquaviva of Wayne, N.J., whose 29-year-old son, Paul, a father of two, died on 9/11.
Commemorations unfolded in NY and outside Washington, where hijackers piloted planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and at a rural field in Pennsylvania, where a plane crashed after passengers fought back against their hijackers.
“We know that our diversity, our patchwork heritage is not a weakness”, Obama said.
The US government says the country is now better protected against a 9/11-style terror attack, but the new threat is the lone-wolf assailant.
James Johnson was at ground zero for the first time since he last worked on the rescue and recovery efforts in early 2002, when he was a NY police officer. It certainly changed the lives of Americans, especially individuals and families whose loved ones perished in the attack.
Stephen Clark, superintendent of the National Parks of Western Pennsylvania, said attendance is up at Flight 93 since the opening of the visitors center in 2015. We honor the courage of those who put themselves in harm’s way to save people they never knew.
“This summer I had the privilege of working with kids who had their own tragic loss, kids of Sandy Hook”, Mr d’Amadeo said.
Organizers included some additional music and readings Sunday to mark the milestone year. Thursday, officials announced plans for a performing arts center at the site, saying Barbra Streisand would be the chairperson for the project. “That we stay true to ourselves”.
The crowd has thinned somewhat at the anniversary ceremony in recent years.
A new member of the Friends of Flight 93 who wore a button with the likeness of the plane’s Captain Jason Dahl, given to her by his family, Petrusic was touched by the ceremony and said, “It’s important to remember”.
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I believe most of her spirit, or at least some of her spirit, is here, Cava said.
