By Jennifer Peltz and Karen Matthews, Associated Press
September 11, 2017
Holding photos and reading names of loved ones lost 16 years ago, 9/11 victims' relatives marked the anniversary of the attacks at ground zero on Monday with a solemn and personal ceremony. About a thousand 9/11 family members, survivors, rescuers and officials were gathered as the ceremony at the World Trade Center began with a moment of silence and tolling bells. Then, relatives began reading out the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the deadliest terror attack on American soil. As they read, some said they couldn't believe 16 years had passed since a tragedy that still seemed, on the anniversary, so present. Some had never even had a chance to meet the relatives they lost. "I wish more than anything that I could have met you," Ruth Daly said, her voice breaking, after she read names in remembrance of her slain grandmother, Ruth Sheila Lapin. "I'm very proud to be your namesake. I hope you're watching down on me from heaven." Others hoped for a return to the unity they sensed after the attacks.
Sixteen years later, the quiet rhythms of commemoration have become customs: a recitation of all the names of the dead, moments of silence and tolling bells, and two powerful light beams that shine through the night. President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker observing the anniversary for the first time as the nation's leader, observed a moment of silence at the White House with first lady Melania Trump. The Trumps also planned to participate in a 9/11 observance at the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are hosting a private observance for victims' relatives there at 9:11 a.m. Monday. After the names are read at that ceremony, there's a public observance, with a wreath-laying and remarks. Construction continues at the Shanksville memorial, where ground was broken Sunday for a 93-foot (28 meters) tall Tower of Voices to honor the 33 passengers and seven crew members who died. Most recently, plans were announced this spring to transform a grassy clearing on the memorial plaza into a walkway and area dedicated to 9/11 rescue and recovery workers, including those who died of illnesses years after being exposed to smoke, dust and ash at ground zero.
