Bells tolled at ground zero and solemn tributes took place across the country as Americans looked back on Monday at the horror and legacy of 9/11.
People gathered at memorials, firehouses, city halls, campuses and other places to mark the 22nd anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack on US soil.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed when hijacked planes crashed into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the attack reshaped American foreign policy and domestic fears.
“For those of us who lost people that day, that day is still happening. Others continue. And you find a way to move forward, but that day always happens to you,” said Edward Edelman as he arrived at ground zero to honor his slain brother-in-law, Daniel McGinley.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to attend a ceremony at a military base in Anchorage.
His visit, en route to Washington, DC, from trips to India and Vietnam, was a reminder that the impact of 9/11 was felt in every corner of the country, however remote.
The hijacked plane attack claimed nearly 3,000 lives and reshaped American foreign policy and domestic fears.
People pay tribute to the victims of 9/11 on the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks at Ground Zero in Manhattan on September 11, 2023. Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images
A US soldier lays a flower near Ground Zero ahead of a memorial service. Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images
On that day, “we are one country, one nation, one people, as it should be. That’s the feeling — that everyone came together and did what we could, where we were, to try to help,” said Eddie Ferguson, fire rescue chief in Virginia’s Goochland County.
It is more than 100 miles from the Pentagon and more than three times as far as New York.
But a sense of connection is enshrined in a local memorial that incorporates steel from the destroyed twin towers of the World Trade Center.
The predominantly rural county of 25,000 people held not just one but two commemorations: a morning service focused on first responders and an afternoon ceremony honoring all the victims.
Vice President Kamala Harris with Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul at the 9/11 memorial service.REUTERS
Other communities across the country pay their respects with moments of silence, tolling bells, candlelight vigils and other activities.
In Columbus, Indiana, 911 dispatchers broadcast warning messages to police, fire and EMS radios throughout the city of 50,000, which also held a public memorial service.
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts raise and lower flags at a memorial in Fenton, Missouri, where the “Heroes Memorial” includes a steel piece of the World Trade Center and a plaque honoring 9/11 victim Jessica Leigh Sachs. Some of his relatives live in the suburbs of St. Louis with 4,000 residents.
“We’re just a small community,” said Mayor Joe Maurath, but “it’s important for us to continue to remember these events. Not just 9/11, but all the events that made us free.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pays tribute to the victims at the Pentagon.REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Monmouth County in New Jersey, which is home to several 9/11 victims, is making September 11 a holiday this year for county employees so they can attend the memorial.
As another way to mark an anniversary, many Americans do volunteer work on what Congress has designated as both Patriot’s Day and the National Day of Service and Remembrance.
At ground zero, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to join the ceremony at the Sept 11 Memorial and National Museum plaza. The event will not feature a speech from a political figure, but will instead give a podium to relatives of the victims to read the names of the victims for an hour.
Flags at half-staff near the Capitol building in Washington, DC to honor the anniversary of the attack. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
James Giaccone signed up for the recitation this year in memory of his brother, Joseph Giaccone, 43. The family attends the ceremony every year to hear Joseph’s name.
“If their names are said out loud, they won’t go away,” James Giaccone said in a recent interview.
The reminder was important to him.
“I hope I never see the day when they minimize this,” he said. “It was a day that changed history.”
Biden, a Democrat, would be the first president to commemorate September 11 in Alaska, or anywhere in the western US
Harris paid tribute to the victims at the World Trade Center with other New York officials including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani attends a memorial service in Manhattan.ADAM GRAY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
He and his predecessors have gone to one attack site or another in most years, although Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama each marked anniversaries on the White House lawn at times.
Obama followed one of those celebrations by recognizing the troops with a visit to Fort Meade in Maryland.
First lady Jill Biden will lay a wreath at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon.
Members of the NYPD and FDNY participate in the ceremony at Ground Zero.Niyi Fote/TheNEWS2 via ZUMA Press Wire
A ceremony to honor the victims of 9/11 at the FDNY firehouse in Manhattan.Paul Martinka
In Pennsylvania, where one of the hijacked jets crashed after passengers tried to storm the cockpit, a memorial and wreath-laying is scheduled at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Stoystown operated by the National Park Service.
Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is expected to attend the ceremony.
The memorial site will offer new educational videos, virtual tours and other materials for teachers to use in the classroom.
Educators with more than 10,000 students have signed up for access to the free “National Learning Day” program, which will be available throughout the fall, organizers said.
“We need to pass that message on to future generations,” said memorial spokeswoman Katherine Hostetler, a National Park Service ranger.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
