By Jennifer Peltz and Karen
Matthews, NEW YORK US
Americans looked back Monday
on 9/11 with moments of silence, tearful words and appeals to teach younger
generations about the terror attacks 22 years ago.The United Airlines plane that was hijacked before it was crashed into the South Tower of New York’s World Trade Center in 2001
“For those of us who lost
people on that day, that day is still happening. Everybody else moves on. And
you find a way to go forward, but that day is always happening for you,” Edward
Edelman said as he arrived at New York’s World Trade Center to honor his slain
brother-in-law, Daniel McGinley.
President Joe Biden, speaking
at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska, urged Americans to rally around
protecting democracy. His visit, en route to Washington from a trip to India and Vietnam, is a reminder that the impact of 9/11
was felt in every corner of the nation, however remote.
“We know that on this day,
every American’s heart was wounded,” Biden said. “Yet every big city, small
town, suburb, rural town, tribal community — American hands went up, ready to
help where they could.”
Nearly 3,000 people were killed when
hijacked planes crashed into the trade center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania
field, in an attack that reshaped American foreign policy and domestic fears.
On
that day, “we were one country, one nation, one people, just like it should
be,” Eddie Ferguson, the fire-rescue chief in Virginia’s Goochland County, said
by phone before the anniversary.
The predominantly rural county
of 25,000 people has a Sept. 11 memorial and holds two anniversary
commemorations, one focused on first responders and another honoring all the
victims.
At
ground zero, Vice President Kamala Harris joined other dignitaries at the ceremony on the National Sept. 11
Memorial plaza. Instead of remarks from political figures, the event features
victims reading the names of the dead and delivering brief personal messages.
Some included patriotic
declarations about American values and thanked first responders and the
military. One lauded the Navy SEALs who killed al-Qaida leader and 9/11 plotter
Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. Another appealed for peace and justice. One
acknowledged the many lives lost in the post-9/11 “War on Terror.” And many
shared reflections on missing loved ones.
“Though we never met, I am
honored to carry your name and legacy with me,” said Manuel João DaMota Jr.,
who was born after his father and namesake died.
To Gabrielle Gabrielli,
reading names “is the biggest honor of my life.” She lost her uncle and
godfather, Richard Gabrielle.
“We have to keep the memory of
everybody who died alive. This is their legacy,” Gabrielli said, heading into
the ceremony.FILE — An American flag flies from a makeshift altar overlooking the ongoing investigation of the United Flight 93 crash site, in Shanksville, Pa., Sept. 16, 2001.
Biden, a Democrat, became the
first president to commemorate Sept. 11 in the western U.S. He and his
predecessors have gone to one or another of the attack sites in most years,
though Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama each marked the
anniversary on the White House lawn at times, and Obama also visited Fort Meade
in Maryland.
Bells tolled at ground zero
and solemn tributes unfolded at the other two attack sites and across the
country as Americans looked back on the horror and legacy of 9/11. (Sept. 11)
Warning of a rise in extremism
and political violence, Biden told service members and their families that that
“every generation has to fight” to preserve U.S. democracy.
“That’s why the terrorists
targeted us in the first place – our freedom, our openness, our institutions.
They failed. But we must remain vigilant,” he said.
First lady Jill Biden laid a
wreath at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon, where a giant American flag hung
over the side of the building. Earlier, bells tolled, and musicians played taps
at 9:37 a.m., the time when one of the hijacked jets hit the military
headquarters.
“As the years go by, it may feel that the world is moving on or even forgetting what happened here on Sept. 11, 2001,” but the Defense Department will always remember, Secretary Lloyd Austin said. He deployed to Iraq in the war that followed the attack.
Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff,
laid a wreath at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville,
Pennsylvania, where another plane crashed after passengers tried to storm the
cockpit. Earlier Monday at the memorial, a rabbi from Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life
synagogue, where a gunman killed 11 worshippers in 2018, called for ensuring
that younger people know about 9/11.
“With memory comes
responsibility, the determination to share our stories with this next
generation, so that through them, our loved ones continue to live,” Rabbi
Jeffrey Myers said. The memorial is offering a
new educational video, virtual tour and other materials for classroom use.
Many Americans did volunteer
work on what Congress has designated both Patriot Day and a National Day of
Service and Remembrance. Others gathered for anniversary events at memorials,
firehouses, city halls, campuses and elsewhere.
In Iowa, a march set off at
9:11 a.m. Monday from suburban Waukee to the state Capitol in Des Moines. In
Columbus, Indiana, observances include a remembrance message sent to police,
fire and EMS radios. New Jersey’s Monmouth County, which was home to some 9/11
victims, this year made Sept. 11 a holiday for county employees so they could
attend commemorations.
Pepperdine University’s campus
in Malibu, California, displayed one American flag for each victim, plus the
flags of every other country that lost a citizen on 9/11. Reflecting the
tragedy’s scope, U.N. General Assembly President Dennis Francis exhorted world
nations Monday to counter extremism, build tolerance, “join hands and say never
again.”
Fenton, Missouri, is more than
650 miles (1,050 kilometers) from the attack sites. But the St. Louis suburb, population
4,000, holds an anniversary ceremony at a memorial that includes steel from the
World Trade Center’s fallen twin towers and a plaque honoring Jessica Leigh
Sachs, a 9/11 victim with relatives in town.
“We’re just a little bitty
community,” Mayor Joe Maurath said ahead of the anniversary, but “it’s
important for us to continue to remember these events. Not just 9/11, but all
of the events that make us free.”
No comments:
Post a Comment