NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are marking 24 years since September 11, 2001, attacking with selems ceremonies, volunteer work and other tributes to the victims.
Many of the nearly 3,000 loved ones killed will join senior officials and politicians at commemorations in New York, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania on Thursday.
Others choose to mark the day with a more intimate gathering.
James Lynch, who lost his father, Robert Lynch in the World Trade Center attack, said he and his family would attend the ceremony near his hometown in New Jersey before spending the day on the beach.
“It’s one of those things that there are all kinds of sadness. I don’t think it’s going to go away,” Lynch said as he, his partner and his mother joined thousands of volunteers. Prepare meals for the poor At the 9/11 Charity Event held in Manhattan the day before the anniversary. “I think finding that joy in sorrow was a big part of my growth in this way,” he said.
Memories are held during a growing political tension. The 9/11 anniversary, often promoted as a national unity day, comes the day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk I was shot and killed While talking at a university in Utah.
Silence’s Name and Moment Reading
Authorities say Kirk’s murder is expected to promote additional security measures around the 9/11 anniversary ceremony at New York’s World Trade Center site.
At Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, the victims of the attack are read aloud by their families and loved ones at a ceremony attended by Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, Second Lady Ushavance. A moment of silence marks the exact time when a hijacked plane raided the iconic twin towers of the World Trade Center, and when a skyscraper fell.
In the Pentagon in Virginia, 184 service members and civilians were killed when hijackers led the jetliner to US military headquarters. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will attend services Thursday evening before heading to the Bronx for a baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers.
And in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a similar ceremony, characterized by moments of silence, name readings and laying wreaths, honors the victims of Flight 93. The service will be joined by Veterans Secretary Doug Collins.
Like Lynch, people across the country are celebrating their 9/11 anniversary with service projects and charity. Volunteers will take part in food and clothing drives, park and neighborhood cleaning, Bloodbank and other community events.
The reverberation continues from the attack
Overall, the attacks by al-Qaeda extremists have killed 2,977 people, including many financial workers at the World Trade Center and firefighters and police officers trying to save lives in the burning buildings.
The attack reverberated worldwide, changing courses of US policy both domestically and internationally. it is” Earth War on Terrorism “And US-led invasion Afghanistan and Iraq Related conflicts that killed hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians.
The hijacker was killed in the attack, but the US government struggled to conclude a long-standing legal case against a man accused of masterminding the plot. The former al-Qaeda leader was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and later taken to a US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but has never been tried.
The New York anniversary ceremony took place on September 11th at the Memorial Museum and Museum. There, two commemorative pools ring out at waterfalls and parapets, with names of the dead engraved on them.
The Trump administration is the federal government Maybe I’ll control it Of the Memorial Plaza and its underground museum, it is now run by a public charity chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent critic of Trump. Trump has spoken about making the site a national monument.
In the years since the attack, the US government has spent billions of dollars providing health care and compensation, bringing to tens of thousands of people Exposed to toxic dust When the Twin Towers collapsed, it was a huge wave across parts of Manhattan. More than 140,000 people are still registered to monitor programs aimed at identifying people with health conditions that may be associated with soot hazardous materials.
__
Associated Press reporter Michael Hill in Albany, New York and Darlene Superyu in Washington contributed to the story.
___
Follow Philip Marcelo https://x.com/philmarcelo
