Americans will commemorate the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 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.
Today’s 12th anniversary may not capture the same attention as others, such as two years ago, when the 10th anniversary was also the first following the death of Osama bin Laden from a May 2011 raid by U.S. forces in Pakistan.
New York City, still scarred from the attacks that brought down the Twin Towers, will repeat the ritual of reading of the names of the 2,983 people who died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pa.
Nineteen hijackers also died in the attacks later claimed by bin Laden and al Qaeda, leading directly to the U.S. war in Afghanistan and indirectly to the invasion of Iraq.
A citywide moment of silence will be held at 8:46 a.m. in observance of the time American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower, followed by another at 9:03 a.m. when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower.
Further moments of silence will be observed at 9:37 a.m., when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon; at 9:59 a.m. when the South Tower fell; at 10:03 a.m. when United Flight 93 hit the ground near Shanksville; and at 10:28 a.m. when the North Tower collapsed.
The ceremony will be held at the National September 11 Memorial plaza, where two reflecting pools mark the footprints of the original Twin Towers.
At the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, where today’s ceremony will include bell-ringing and wreath-laying, officials gathered Tuesday to mark the groundbreaking for a visitor center.
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell drove the first stake to mark the site, which is on a ridge overlooking the spot where United Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, after passengers fought back against hijackers. People who lost family members in the crash also participated, and former Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney attended the ceremony.
The 6,800-square-foot visitor center is designed so that the building will be broken in two at the point of the plane’s flight path overhead and is expected to open in late 2015. The ridge will be built up to give people a clear view of the crash site, which is near a memorial wall that lists the names of all 33 passengers and seven crew members who were killed.
Flight 93 was traveling from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco when it was diverted from the likely goal of crashing it into the White House or Capitol.
In Washington today, President Barack Obama will attend a private Pentagon ceremony for victims’ relatives and survivors of the attacks, which will include a wreath-laying and remarks from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Martin Dempsey. Hagel and Dempsey will both attend a second ceremony later in the Pentagon’s center courtyard.
The World Trade Center site, meanwhile, is undergoing reconstruction.
Two skyscrapers are nearly completed on either side of the plaza, including One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet. There are plans for two more very tall buildings at the site plus a museum, still under construction beneath the reflecting pools, and a grand entrance to a functioning transportation hub.
A number of cities will hold ceremonies including 21-gun salutes, moments of silence, and memorial services on Wednesday to remember those who lost their lives including the police officers and firefighters killed working to save the victims of the attacks.
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