Twenty-three years ago today, hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and a Pennsylvania field.
The attack on America claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 citizens on the planes and on the ground. Untold others have since died of complications from exposure to the toxic smoke and debris they climbed through to rescue others or search for the remains of those lost.
Each year there are multiple opportunities to mark those sacrifices and the heroism that showed itself that day.
The commemoration also honors those killed in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
Friends and family members of those killed will begin reading the names of the casualties of the terror attack at 9 a.m., shortly after the first period of silence to mark the times when the first plane struck and continue reading with interspersed moments of silence for the second plane, the Pentagon crash, when the south tower fell, the Pennsylvania crash, and the fall of the north tower.
Although the largest memorial event will take place in New York, other towns around the nation will also mark a day of service and remembrance. In Gainesville, Florida, there will be a gathering at city hall and all churches and houses of worship are asked to toll their bells at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane crashed into the south tower.
The passage of time since the terror attacks is changing the face of the observation, too.
Each year there are more young people who read the names of parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents who were victims of the attacks or were killed as they responded to the scene. Many of the younger observers weren’t born until years later and never got to meet those relatives they gather annually to remember.