What you should know
- It is 20 years since the terrorist attacks against the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon, which occurred on September 11, 2001. A group of heroes managed to thwart a possible third attack after causing a plane to crash in Pennsylvania.
- Using hijacked planes as missiles, terrorists inflicted the deadliest terror attacks on American soil, claiming nearly 3,000 lives, bringing down the Twin Towers, and ushering in an era of fear.
- The United States commemorates this Saturday the historic anniversary under the cloak of a pandemic and in the shadow of a frenzied withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, which fell into the hands of the same militant rulers who gave refuge to the conspirators of the 2001 attacks.
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NEW YORK – Twenty years ago, September 11 dawned as bright as any other day, but by midnight, 9/11 became a staggering starting point for a new era of terror, war, politics, patriotism, and tragedy.
The United States commemorates this Saturday the historic anniversary under the cloak of a pandemic and in the shadow of a frenzied withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, which fell into the hands of the same militant rulers who gave refuge to the conspirators of the 2001 attacks.
“It’s difficult because you expected this to be a different time and a different world. But sometimes history begins to repeat itself and not in the best way, ”said Thea Trinidad, who lost her father in the attacks and signed up to read the names of the victims at the ceremony at ground zero in New York.
The pain of losing colleagues during the tragedy lives on even though 20 years have passed since then.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to travel to the three attack sites: New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
In a video posted Friday night, he lamented the continued losses from September 11.
“Children have grown up without parents and parents have suffered without children,” said Biden, a childhood friend of the father of a 9/11 victim, Davis Grier Sezna Jr.
But the president also highlighted what he called the “core lesson” of September 11: “that at our most vulnerable point … unity is our greatest strength.”
Former President George W. Bush, the nation’s leader on September 11, will attend the Pennsylvania memorial and his successor, Barack Obama, to ground zero. The only other post-9/11 US president, Donald Trump, plans to be in New York, in addition to providing remarks at a boxing match in Florida that night.
Other celebrations, from the laying of a wreath in Portland, Maine, to a parade of fire trucks in Guam, are planned in a country that is now littered with 9/11 memorial plaques, statues and gardens.
Using hijacked planes as missiles, the attackers inflicted the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil, claiming nearly 3,000 lives, bringing down the Twin Towers and ushering in an era of fear.
Security was redefined, with changes to airport checkpoints, police practices, and government surveillance powers. In the years that followed, virtually any major explosion, accident, or act of violence seemed to raise a terrifying question: “Is it terrorism?” Some acts of ideological violence and conspiracies followed, although federal officials and the public of late have become increasingly concerned about threats from domestic extremists after years of targeting international terrorist groups in the wake of 9/11.
New York faced questions early on about whether it could ever bounce back from the hit to its financial center and restore a sense of safety among crowds and skyscrapers. New Yorkers eventually rebuilt a more populous and prosperous city, but they had to consider the tactics of an empowered police department after 9/11 and a widening gap between the haves and the have-nots.
A “war on terror” led to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the longest American war ended last month with a massive and hasty airlift interrupted by a suicide bombing that killed 169 Afghans and 13 American servicemen and claimed responsibility for to a branch of the Islamic State extremist group. The United States is now concerned that al-Qaida, the terrorist network behind 9/11, may regroup in Afghanistan.
Two decades after helping classify and treat wounded colleagues at the Pentagon on September 11, retired Army Colonel Malcolm Bruce Westcott is saddened and frustrated by the continuing threat of terrorism.
“I always felt like my generation, my military cohort, would take care of it, we wouldn’t pass it on to anyone else,” said Westcott, of Greensboro, Georgia. “And we passed it.”
For Angelique Tung, who was at the mall for a business meeting on September 11 and escaped down 77 flights of stairs, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan sparked empathy for the troops who served there. Some now wonder if their efforts and sacrifices made a difference, prompting Tung to think of a question that has been asked since he survived 9/11.
“I hope that after 20 years, other people ask that question: What benefit can you get out of this?” Said Tung, of Wellesley, Massachusetts.
September 11 fueled a wave of shared pain and common purpose, but it soon subsided.
American Muslims endured suspicion, surveillance, and hate crimes. The quest to understand the catastrophic cost of terrorist attacks led to changes in the design of buildings and emergency communications, but also fueled conspiracy theories that sowed a culture of skepticism. Schisms and resentments grew over immigration, the balance between tolerance and vigilance, the meaning of patriotism, the correct way to honor the dead, and the scope of a promise to “never forget.”
Trinidad was 10 years old when she heard her father, Michael, say goodbye to his mother over the phone from the burning mall. He remembers the pain, but also the companionship of the days that followed, when all of New York “felt like family.”
“Now when I feel like the world is so divided, I just wish we can get back to that,” said Trinidad, from Orlando, Florida. “I feel like it would have been such a different world if we could have held onto that feeling.”
INTINERARY OF THE 9/11 CEREMONY
The ceremony will be exclusively for members of the 9/11 family. Access to the ceremony area is at 7:00 a.m., and the commemoration is expected to conclude at approximately 1:00 p.m.
Below is the chronological order of the ceremony, provided by the National Museum and Monument of September 11:
- ANNUAL COMMEMORATION CEREMONY IN MEMORIAL PLAZA DEL WORLD TRADE CENTER
The event begins at 8:30 am The 9/11 Memorial Plaza and Museum will be closed to the public during the 17th anniversary ceremony. These sites will reopen their doors at 3:00 pm
- MINUTES OF SILENCE IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS
The first minute of silence is scheduled for 8:46 am, which coincides with the tragic moment when the first of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11, hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Organizers encourage houses of worship to ring their bells at that time.
At 9:30 am, the second minute of silence will take place, which coincides with the exact moment in which the second plane crashed into the South Tower.
At 9:37 am the third minute of silence is scheduled, which marks the moment in which American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, a tragedy in which all 64 passengers died.
The fourth minute of silence will take place at 9:59 am, which would be the time the South Tower collapsed.
The fifth moment of silence is scheduled for 10:03 a.m., which was when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all 44 passengers on board.
The sixth and final minute of silence is scheduled for 10:28 am, which marks the collapse of the North Tower.
- READING THE NAMES OF THE VICTIMS
The reading of the names will also take place from Memorial Plaza at the World Trade Center as part of the solemn ceremony.
The Chapel of Saint Paul, which miraculously remained intact despite the fall of the buildings, will ring its bell in honor of the victims at 8:45 a.m.
Reading will continue until 1:00 pm, when the program is expected to conclude.
This event also includes the names of the victims of the attack on February 26, 1993, in which 6 people died.
The honor guard will be presented by members of the Fire Department, NYPD, and Port Authority Police.
The officer expressed that his faith kept him strong during the tragedy.
- TRIBUTE OF LIGHT IN LOWER MANHATTAN
The iconic beams of light will be projected at dusk from the terrace of the Battery Parking Garage, to the south of the 9/11 Memorial. If the sky is clear, the hologram can be seen about 60 miles from Lower Manhattan.
The Tribute of Light is generated by 88 7,000-watt bulbs, which are distributed in two 48-foot beams of light.
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