by Shanique Yates
September 11, 2024
“Today is a day of solemn remembrance as we mourn the souls we lost in a heinous terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001,” said Vice President Harris in a statement.
It has been 23 years since tragedy struck and changed our nation forever. On the morning of Sept. 11. 2024, the families of loved ones lost during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks gathered to pay their respects, vowing to never forget.
The ceremony on Wednesday morning honored all 2,983 of the lives lost during the attacks that took place on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C, as well as the individuals aboard Flight 93 in Stoystown, Pennsylvania, on that fateful day when al Qaeda hijackers attacked the nation, CBS News reports.
Additionally, the ceremony honored the lives lost during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which many consider “something of a deadly dress rehearsal for 9/11.” There were six lives lost during the attack that occured just eight years before Sept. 11th.
“Twenty-three years is like 23 seconds,” said one man in attendance in honor of his sibling. “On Sept. 11, my brother disappeared, but this place has become my altar,” one man said at the podium. “This ceremony is essential because that day he disappeared, but if I come here and I speak his name out loud, and you hear his name, he will never, never disappear.”
Survivors of the deadly attack were also at the memorial, with one man, Jan Demczur, recalling the events that transpired that day.
“I was firsthand who was there, and I know a lot of people who survived and not survive,” he said. On Sept. 11, 2001, he was among the window washers trapped in a North Tower elevator when the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center before using their tools to chip away at a wall to break free.
“I put my foot inside the hole, start kicking that, and there’s another wall,” said Demczur, “and I see the light.”
Along with family and friends, others in attendance included the nation’s current leader, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris. Former President Donald Trump and his current running mate, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, were also present at the ceremony.
“Today is a day of solemn remembrance as we mourn the souls we lost in a heinous terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001,” said Harris in a statement. “We stand in solidarity with their families and loved ones. We also honor the extraordinary heroism on display that fateful day by ordinary Americans helping their fellow Americans. We will never forget.”
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