America commemorates the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks
America commemorates the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with solemn ceremonies in Washington, New York and Shanksville, PA.
- Pam Offutt of Reisterstown holds her hand over her heart during a moment of silence in remembrance of the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks during pregame at Oriole Park at Camden Yards Wednesday, Sep. 11, 2013. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
- A man reflects on the benches of the Pentagon Memorial at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, Wednesday, September 11, 2013. There are 184 benches in the Pentagon Memorial representing the 184 people who died at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. (Pat Benic/Abaca Press/MCT)
- Children rest on the benches of the Pentagon Memorial at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, Wednesday, September 11, 2013. There are 184 benches in the Pentagon Memorial representing the 184 people who died at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. (Pat Benic/Abaca Press/MCT)
- Flags are waved on the bridge at Harrelson Boulevard/George Bishop Parkway over U.S. 17 Bypass in Myrtle Beach by members of Rolling Thunder and the Myrtle Beach Lions Club, Wednesday, September 11, 2013, to mark the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (Charles Slate/Myrtle Beach Sun-News/MCT)
- Jeanne Tallman, left, escorts her granddaughter Whitney Weeks, 3, as she hands a coloring she did to O’Fallon police officer Mike Plum after a ceremony honoring first responders in O’Fallon, Missouri, Wednesday, September 11, 2013. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT)
- Crystal Eubanks, a senior JROTC student at Beaumont High School, picks up flags that were knocked down over night outside the school, Wednesday, September 11, 2013. On Tuesday night ROTC students put up about 3,000 flags as tribute to the people who lost their lives in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT)
- President Barack Obama participates in a wreath laying ceremony at the Pentagon in remembrance of the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in Arlington, Virginia, Wednesday, September 11, 2013. (Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Pool/Abaca Press/MCT)
- Grapevine Fire Department Captain/Assistant Fire Marshal Craig Reed replaces a flag around a statue of a firefighter after photographing the statue at The Flight Crew Memorial in Grapevine, Texas, Wednesday, September 11, 2013, on the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. (Ian McVea/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT)
- Shafts of early morning sunlight wash across rows of flags placed in front of Beaumont High School in St. Louis, Wednesday, September 11, 2013. JROTC students at the school put up about 3,000 flags on Tuesday after school as a tribute to the people who lost their lives in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT)
- Penn State student Allie Coleman plants U.S. flags on Old Main lawn as the university played host to a ceremony Wednesday, September 11, 2013, in State College, Pensylvania. The event included the planting of 2,996 American flags to remember each lost life in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. (Nabil K. Mark/Centre Daily Times/MCT)
- Roses stand in an etched name at the 9/11 Memorial during a ceremony marking the 12th Anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York September 11, 2013. (David Handschuh/Getty Images)
- A Navy honor guard prepares a wreath before the arrival of United States Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell at the Flight 93 National Memorial during ceremonies commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2013 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
- Patrick White, a relative of crash victim Louis Nacke, pauses at his name at the Flight 93 National Memorial during ceremonies commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2013 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
- A woman touches a carnation left on a name inscribed into the North Pool during 9/11 Memorial ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2013 in New York City. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)
- A man walks through the 9/11 Empty Sky memorial at sunrise across from New York’s Lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, September 11, 2013. Americans commemorate the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with solemn ceremonies and pledges to not forget the nearly 3,000 killed when hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field. (Gary Hershorn/Reuters)
- A woman prays at the edge of the North Pool at the 9/11 Memorial during a ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2013. (Justin Lane/Getty Images)
- Rows of flags are placed on the Memorial section of the South Tower at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2013. (Chris Pedota/Reuters)
- Carrie Bergonia of Pennsylvania looks over the name of her fiance, firefighter Joseph Ogren at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. The nation is commemorating the anniversary of the 2001 attacks which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people after two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and one crash landed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Following the attacks in New York, the former location of the Twin Towers has been turned into the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. (Chris Pedota/Getty Images)
- Members of the Port Authority Pipes and Drums perform during a Port Authority Interfaith Remembrance Service at St. Peter’s Church on September 11, 2013 in New York City. The service, only blocks from where the Twin Towers once stood, honors the 84 Port Authority employees who were killed on September 11, 2001 in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, as well as the victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
- Members of the Port Authority Pipes and Drums perform during a Port Authority Interfaith Remembrance Service at St. Peter’s Church on September 11, 2013 in New York City. The service, only blocks from where the Twin Towers once stood, honors the 84 Port Authority employees who were killed on September 11, 2001 in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, as well as the victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Across the nation people remembered the victims on the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by observing moments of silence and reading aloud the names of the nearly 3000 people killed. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
- Firefighters and police salute during the playing of Taps at the at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. (David Handschuh/Getty Images)
- Marine veteran Andrew Lahey waits at the flagpole on the TCU campus where he played Taps, Wednesday, September 11, 2013, to mark the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. (Max Faulkner/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT)
- A New York City fireman looks on on the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
- New York City Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano comforts Hope McHale at a ceremony commemorating the 12th anniversary of 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2013 in New York City. McHale’s husband, fire marshal Martin “Woodie” McHale survived the collapse of the World Trade Center but died Christmas Eve 2012 of a heart attack. (John Moore/Getty Images)
- Hope McHale weeps at a firefighters’ memorial during a ceremony commemorating the 12th anniversary of 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2013 in New York City. McHale’s husband, fire marshal Martin “Woodie” McHale survived the collapse of the World Trade Center but died Christmas Eve 2012 of a heart attack. The New York City fire department (FDNY), held a wreath-laying ceremony at the New York City Fire Museum to honor the 343 firefighters who died in the attacks on September 11, 2001. (John Moore/Getty Images)
- Paul Britton, whose sister Marion Britton was among the crash victims, walks back from the crash site at the Flight 93 National Memorial during ceremonies commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2013 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
- Visitors attend ceremonies at the Flight 93 National Memorial commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2013 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
- Visitors attend ceremonies at Flight 93 National Memorial commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2013 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
- United States Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell (L) greets families at the Flight 93 National Memorial during ceremonies commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2013 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
- United States Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell (2R) visits the Flight 93 National Memorial during ceremonies commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2013 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
- United States Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell wipes her brow after greeting families at the Flight 93 National Memorial during ceremonies commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2013 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
- Participants stand at attention during an event on the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, at the Pentagon memorial near Washington September 11, 2013. Bagpipes, bells and a reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed when hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field marked the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2001. (Jason Reed/Reuters)
- Members of the ‘Police Emerald Society’ unit salute during a memorial in front of the World Trade Center Memorial at the Los Angeles Fire Department Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center in Los Angeles on September 11, 2013, to commemorate the 9/11 attacks. The memorial is dedicated to the 343 New York firefighters who lost their lives at the World Trade Center disaster. (Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images)
- Los Angeles city officials, including Mayor Eric Garcetti (4th R) attend a memorial in front of the World Trade Center Memorial at the Los Angeles Fire Department Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center in Los Angeles on September 11, 2013, to commemorate the 9/11 attacks. The memorial is dedicated to the 343 New York firefighters who lost their lives at the World Trade Center disaster. (Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images)
- New York City firefighters from Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9, stand during a moment of silence at a ceremony in a park dedicated to honoring members of the firehouse on West 48th Street who lost their lives in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center on the 12th anniversary of the attacks in New York, September 11, 2013. 15 fire fighters from Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9 died in the 9/11 attacks, the most of any fire company in New York. (Mike Segar/Reuters)
- A note is left on the name of a victim etched in the wall at the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial during a ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York September 11, 2013. (Justin Lane/Reuters)
- A prayer card is left at the South Pool of the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. (Mary Altaffer/Getty Images)
- (L-R) Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) wave American flags along with other members of Congress as they sing “God Bless America” during a September 11th remembrance ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol September 11, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) speaks during a September 11th remembrance ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol September 11, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
- Members of Congress observe a moment of silence during a September 11th remembrance ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol September 11, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) bow their heads in prayer during a September 11th remembrance ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol September 11, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
- A flag and photograph of New York City Fire Department fire fighter Michael L. Bocchino is placed on his name at the South reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2013. (Stan Honda/Reuters)
- A rose is left by the names engraved in the South Pool of the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. . (Mary Altaffer/Getty Images)
- A woman pauses at the South reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2013. (Stan Honda/Getty Images)
- Daniel Henry, a Port Authority of New York/New Jersey police officer, pauses during a moment of silence at 9:01 am EDT, at the South reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2013. (Stan Honda/Getty Images)
- A woman pauses along the edge of the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial during a ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2013. (Justin Lane/Reuters)
- An attendee touches the stone with names of victims at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York September 11, 2013 (Chris Pedota/Reuters)
- Building are reflected in one of the pools of the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. The nation is commemorating the anniversary of the 2001 attacks which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people after two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and one crash landed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Following the attacks in New York, the former location of the Twin Towers has been turned into the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. (Alejandra Villa/Getty Images)
- Mercedes Arias listens as they read the name of her father Joseph Amatuccio at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York September 11, 2013. (Alejandra Villa/Reuters)
- Ester DiNardo, mother of Marisa DiNardo, clutches her image while attending the 9/11 Memorial ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2013. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)
- A woman pauses along the edge of the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial during a ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2013. (Justin Lane/Reuters)
- New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly (R) hugs a friend at the South Tower reflecting pool of the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. (Stan Honda/Getty Images)
- Chundera Epps, sister of victim Christopher Epps, mourns during the ringing of the first bell during the 9/11 Memorial ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2013 in New York City. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)
- A couple pauses along the edge of the North Pool at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. (Justin Lane/Getty Images)
- Shanhellen Jiminez (L) of Brooklyn, who lost her mother Elena Ledesma on 9/11, makes a rubbing of her mother’s name at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. (David Handschuh/Getty Images)
- A woman holds a picture at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. The nation is commemorating the anniversary of the 2001 attacks which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people after two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and one crash landed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Following the attacks in New York, the former location of the Twin Towers has been turned into the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. (David Handschuh/Getty Images)
- People visit the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. The nation is commemorating the anniversary of the 2001 attacks which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people after two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and one crash landed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Following the attacks in New York, the former location of the Twin Towers has been turned into the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. (Alejandra Villa/Getty Images)
- U.S. President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and his wife Jill Biden observe a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington September 11, 2013, on the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. (Larry Downing/Reuters)
- US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden observe a moment of silence to mark the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 11, 2013. (Jewel Samad/Getty Images)
- US President Barack Obama places a wreath at the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial park to mark the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 11, 2013. (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
- US President Barack Obama wipes sweat during a memorial service at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial September 11, 2013 in Washington, DC. Obama attended the event to mark the 12th anniversary of terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
- A group of about 60 men organized by the F3 fitness fellowship gather to say a prayer for the victims of the 9/11 attacks after their run in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, September 11, 2013 to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the runs rescue workers made at the World Trade Centers in New York City following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. (Chris Seward/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT)
- People gather around the South Tower pool during memorial ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
- A couple enjoys dinner over looking the Brooklyn Bridge as the Tribute in Light illuminates the sky over the Lower Manhattan skyline a day ahead of the 12-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the Brooklyn borough of New York on September 10, 2013. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)
- New York City’s Tribute In Light shines in Manhattan (R) as a Brooklyn subway passes on the eve of the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center on September 10, 2013 in New York City. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
- A woman looks out at New York’s Lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center from inside the 9/11 Empty Sky memorial at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, September 11, 2013. Americans commemorate the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with solemn ceremonies and pledges to not forget the nearly 3,000 killed when hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field. (Gary Hershorn/Reuters)
On 12th anniversary, America remembers 9/11 attacks
Victoria Cavaliere and Mark Felsenthal, Reuters
2:20 PM EDT, September 11, 2013
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Bagpipes, tolling bells and a reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 people who died when hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field marked the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2001.
More than a thousand people gathered Wednesday on a hot and hazy morning at the National September 11 Memorial plaza in Manhattan, for the annual reading of victims’ names from both the 1993 and 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center.
Bagpipes and a youth choir opened the solemn proceedings, held around two memorial pools in the footprints of the twin towers on the 16-acre site of the former World Trade Center complex.
Many of those reading from the list of names directly addressed their own lost loved ones in emotional tributes.
“Cathy, your brothers and sisters still miss you. All the people whose lives you touched,” said Eleanor Salter, whose daughter, Catherine Patricia Salter, perished. “As for me, life goes on. But it would have been really fun with you around. I miss your smile.”
Gabriella Scibetta was only 4 years old, and her brother Vincent was a baby, when their mother, Adriane Victoria Scibetta, died in the South Tower.
“Vincent and I love and miss you, you’ll never be forgotten,” Scibetta said.
In keeping with a tradition begun last year, no public officials spoke at the New York ceremony, although former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, his successor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, and other city and state leaders were in attendance.
In Washington’s memorial service at the Pentagon, President Barack Obama called on Americans to pray for those whose lives had been lost.
“Let us have the strength to face the threats that endure, different though they may be from 12 years ago, so that as long as there are those who would strike our citizens, we will stand vigilant and defend our nation,” Obama said.
The morning after a speech in which he urged Americans to support his proposal to use military force against Syria, in retribution for President Bashar al-Assad’s poison gas attack on his own people, Obama also reflected on the limits of force.
“Let us have the wisdom to know that, while force is at times necessary, force alone cannot build the world we seek,” Obama said.
Americans observed a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. EDT (1246 GMT), the time American Airlines Flight 11 smashed into the North Tower and there was a second pause at 9:03 a.m. (1303 GMT) when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower.
More moments of silence came at 9:37 a.m. (1337 GMT), when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon; at 9:59 a.m. (1359 GMT) when the South Tower collapsed; at 10:03 a.m. (1403 GMT) when United Flight 93 hit the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and at 10:28 a.m. (1428 GMT), when the North Tower fell.
Nineteen hijackers were killed in the suicide attacks, for which Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda claimed credit, leading to the U.S. war in Afghanistan and indirectly to the invasion of Iraq.
Twelve years later, two skyscrapers have been nearly completed on either side of the plaza, including One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at a symbolic 1,776 feet, a number chosen for the year of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
At the Flight 93 National Memorial wall in Pennsylvania, the National Park Service’s ceremony of remembrance on Wednesday included a reading of the names of the passengers and crew, a ringing of bells, a wreath-laying and tributes.
(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in New York and Mark Felsenthal in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone, Bernadette Baum and Gunna Dickson)
Esther Lefcourt
Sep 11, 2013 @ 17:45:41
Thank you.