Ceremony Marks 13th Anniversary of Sept. 11 Attacks
This year marked the 13th anniversary of the bright morning when two passenger jets knifed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, another smashed into the Pentagon and a fourth was brought down in a field near Shanksville, Pa.
The 2,983 names that were recited out loud included six people who died in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
A bell sounded at six pivotal moments, signifying when the jets struck the towers, when the towers fell, and when the two other aircraft went down. Organizers said that for the first time the memorial plaza would be opened Thursday to the public from 6 p.m. until midnight.
A day of raw emotion for so many, Sept. 11 may be a bit tougher to get through for the 1,100 families that the support group Voices for September 11th says have never received word that the remains of their loved ones have been found.
“There’s nowhere else we can go—this is her cemetery,” said Zoe Kousoulis, the mother of 29-year-old Danielle Kousoulis, as she stood on the memorial plaza.
Danielle Kousoulis was hired by Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 employees in the Sept. 11 attack, on the day the towers reopened following the 1993 bombing, her mother said.
“I said, ‘Aren’t you worried they’re going to bomb it again?’ And she said, ‘Oh, they did it once they’re not going to bother it anymore,’ ” Mrs. Kousoulis said.Amid gray skies, the service started with the national anthem, which was timed to end at 8:46 a.m., when the first jet crashed into the North Tower.
A uniformed officer then sounded a large bell, marking the first of several moments of silence amid the hum of city traffic.
As the morning wore on, people could be seen embracing one another or putting an arm around the person next to them. Some dabbed their eyes. Others walked around, tears rolling down their faces, as they sought quiet refuge.
The service was closed to the public and emergency service personnel; only family members were allowed to attend.
In the crowd, some carried framed photographs, others held placards adorned with old pictures of their loved ones who died.
A few wore T-shirts bearing names, including that of Paul M. Fiori, a Cantor Fitzgerald employee whose daughter was 3 months old when he died.
“Thirteen years ago today, you put me to bed not knowing you would never see me again,” said Adriana Fiori, 13, of her father. She paused at the microphone before adding tearfully, “I miss you so much.”
Dignitaries in attendance included Mayor Bill de Blasio, former mayors Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Each one made his way through the crowd and shook hands with attendees.
The bell was tolled five more times—at 9:03 a.m. marking the moment the second jet struck the South Tower; 9:37 a.m., when the Pentagon was hit; 9:59 a.m., when the South Tower fell; 10:03 a.m., when Flight 93 crashed into the open field; and 10:28 a.m. when the North Tower fell.
Some family members said attendance at this year’s memorial service appeared to be down from previous years.
“Every year it seems less and less people,” said Larry Savinkin, of Brooklyn, who had a photograph of his son, Vladimir, on his blazer. The 21-year-old was an accountant with Cantor Fitzgerald.
A spokesman for the National Memorial said precise attendee numbers hadn’t been calculated on Thursday.
Another visitor, Frank Gotlibowski, of Rocky Hill, Conn., said the atmosphere at the sacred site had changed.
Mr. Gotlibowski makes the journey back to Ground Zero annually to honor his friend, Jeffrey Bittner, who worked in the south tower.
He said he noticed that, outside the plaza but not far away, few people stopped in recognition of the moments of silence.
“I know you’ve got to move on and it’s a new day, but it would be good if people stopped and remembered,” said Mr. Gotlibowski, who was carrying a placard bearing Mr. Bittner’s name, photograph and a picture of the Twin Tower before the attacks.
“People even bump into me with the sign now,” he said. “Take a minute; thousands of people lost their lives.”
