Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on America and communities across the country are pausing to mark the solemn occasion.
On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four planes, crashing two into the Twin Towers of New York City’s World Trade Center, the third into the side of the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C. in Arlington, Virginia, CNN reported. The fourth plane was brought down in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Almost 3,000 people were killed at the three locations in only a few hours.
Still, more than two decades later, about 40% of victims, or 1,100 people who were thought to have died, are still not identified. But efforts continue as two more victims were recently identified through DNA testing.
The three sites — Ground Zero, the Pentagon and Shanksville — will each hold a ceremony to remember the lives lost that day, The Associated Press reported.
Vice President Kamala Harris will be part of the ceremony at the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum plaza where each name of the victims will be read by their relatives.
James Giaccone is taking part once again, reading the name of his brother, Joseph, who was 43 when he was killed in the attacks.
“If their name is spoken out loud, they don’t disappear,” Giaccone said, according to the AP. “I hope I never see the day when they minimize this. It’s a day that changed history.”
The names of the victims of the Feb. 26, 1993, World Trade Center Bombing will also be read, WABC reported.
There will also be six moments of silence during the New York ceremony — one each for when the towers were hit, when they fell, when the Pentagon was hit and when United Flight 93 crashed, according to WABC.
The event is expected to finish at 12:30 p.m.
You can read the names on the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s website.
But the ceremonies are not just at the three memorial sites. President Joe Biden will stop at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska, to participate in a ceremony while he is en route back to Washington, D.C. after his trip to India and Vietnam for the G20 summit.
This is the first time a president has marked the anniversary in the western part of the country, with each of his predecessors holding an event at the White House and visiting at least one of the sites during the day, the AP reported.
First lady Jill Biden, however, is scheduled to lay a wreath at the Pentagon’s 9/11 memorial, while Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is scheduled to appear at the ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial, the AP reported.
Finally, The Tribute in Light will once again become a beacon in the night sky, honoring those who were killed 22 years ago. The lights, installed on the roof of the Battery Parking Garage just south of the memorial, will stretch four miles into the sky, mimicking the shape and orientation of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, WABC reported. They will be lit from dusk until they fade away at dawn. They can be seen in a 60-mile radius from Lower Manhattan, NY1 reported.
Flags will be flown at half-staff and 16 state landmarks and bridges will be bathed in blue to mark the anniversary.
Article by: Natalie Dreier
