Its been 14-year when the unfortunate September 11 Twin Towers In New York City Was bombed by suspected terrorists, which many say it could be recalled as the genesis of terrorism in the global sphere.
14-year gone and many Americans and the world at large are still counting their loses to insurgency actitivies which has sacked many people from their homes in Syria, Irag, Lebanon and many Africa and Middle East countries of the world.
One wounders what could have resulted into these senseless killing while other attributed it to the act of who get dminace in the internation arena that now used religion and the medium of gaining international regonizion and discipleship to their leaders advantage.
Sadly though! the Sept. 11 victims'
relatives marked the anniversary of the terror attacks Friday in a subdued
gathering at ground zero, saying their determination to commemorate their loss
publicly hadn't dimmed even as 14 years have passed and crowds at the ceremony
have thinned.
Hundreds of
victims' relatives — fewer than thronged the observances in their early years —
gathered for what has become a tradition of tolling bells, moments of silence
and the reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror
strikes at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville,
Pennsylvania.
"We come
every year. The crowds get smaller, but we want to be here. As long as I'm
breathing, I'll be here," said Tom Acquaviva, 81, who lost his son, Paul
Acquaviva, a systems analyst who died in the trade center's north tower.
Carrying photos
emblazoned with the names of their loved ones, victims' relatives prayed for
peace, praised first responders and the armed forces and, mostly, sent personal
messages of enduring loss and remembrance to loved ones some had never even had
the chance to know.
"I wish I
could meet you," Valerie Arnold said to the memory of her uncle,
firefighter Michael Boyle, who was off-duty but responded to the attacks on
Sept. 11, 2001, before she was born.
For Nereida
Valle, who lost her daughter, Nereida De Jesus, "It's the same as if it
was yesterday. I feel her every day."
US President
Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama bow their heads during a moment of
silence to mark the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, at the White
House on September 11, 2015 in Washington, DC.© Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty
Images US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama bow their heads
during a moment of silence to mark the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terror
attacks, at the White House on September 11, 2015 in…
In Washington,
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stepped out of the White
House at 8:46 a.m. — when the first plane hit the north tower — to observe a
moment of silence. Later Friday, President Obama was scheduled to observe the
anniversary with a visit to Fort Meade, Maryland, in recognition of the
military's work to protect the country.
The Flight 93
National Memorial near Shanksville in western Pennsylvania was marking the
completion of its visitor center, which opened to the public Thursday. At the
Pentagon, Defense Secretary Ash Carter and other officials were joining in
remembrances for victims' relatives and Pentagon employees.
Elsewhere, Ohio's
statehouse was displaying nearly 3,000 flags — representing the lives lost — in
an arrangement designed to represent the sites of the attacks. Sacramento,
California, was commemorating 9/11 in conjunction with a parade honoring three
Sacramento-area friends who tackled a heavily armed gunman on a Paris-bound
high-speed train last month.
Some Americans
were observing the anniversary in their own ways.
"I don't go
to the memorial. I don't watch it on TV. But I make sure, every year, I observe
a moment of silence at 8:46," electrician Jeff Doran, 41, said Friday as
he stood across the street from the trade center, where the signature,
1,776-foot One World Trade Center tower has opened since last Sept. 11.
After years of
private commemorations at ground zero, the anniversary now also has become an
occasion for public reflection on the site of the terror attacks.
FILE- In this
Sept. 11, 2014 file photo, David Pykon, right, and his fiancΓ© Shelli Scrimale
embrace while observing the 13th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade
Center at the north pool of the memorial in New York. Pykon's brother,
Edward Pykon, was killed during the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. Nearly a decade
and a half after hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center’s twin towers, the
Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the anniversary continues
to be marked with observances around the country.© AP Photo/Julie Jacobson,
File FILE- In this Sept. 11, 2014 file photo, David Pykon, right, and his
fiancΓ© Shelli Scrimale embrace while observing the 13th anniversary of the
attacks on the World Trade Center at the north pool of the memorial in…
An estimated
20,000 people flocked to the memorial plaza on the evening of Sept. 11 last
year, the first year the public was able to visit on the anniversary. The plaza
was to open three hours earlier after the anniversary ceremony.
"When we did
open it up, it was just like life coming in," National Sept. 11 Memorial
and Museum President Joe Daniels said this week. While the memorial will still
be reserved for victims' relatives and other invitees during the morning
ceremony, afterward, "the general public that wants to come and pay their
respects on this most sacred ground should be let in as soon as possible."
In Washington,
some members of Congress planned to spend part of the anniversary discussing
federal funding for the ground zero memorial. The House Natural Resources
Committee has scheduled a hearing Friday on a proposal to provide up to $25
million a year for the plaza. The federal government contributed heavily to
building the institution; leaders have tried unsuccessfully for years to get
Washington to chip in for annual costs, as well.
An estimated 21
million people have visited the plaza for free since its 2011 opening.
The museum, which
charges up to $24 per ticket, has seen almost 3.6 million visitors since its
May 2014 opening, topping projections by about 5 percent, Daniels said. Any
federal funding could lead to expanded discounts for school and other groups,
but there are no plans to lower the regular ticket price, he said.
This year's
anniversary also comes as advocates for 9/11 responders and survivors are
pushing Congress to extend two federal programs that promised billions of
dollars in compensation and medical care. Both programs are set to expire next
year.
Army Sgt. Edwin
Morales had those responders in mind as he attended the ground zero ceremony in
remembrance of his cousin firefighter Ruben "Dave" Correa.
"We must
never forget that day. People are still dying because of what happened,"
both on battlefields and from illnesses that some who responded to the attacks
have developed after exposure to toxic dust, Morales said.
