24 Years Later: Ceremony Commemorates 1993 WTC Bombing

The 24th anniversary of the first attack on the World Trade Center was commemorated with solemn ceremony on the 9/11 Memorial plaza yesterday. The bombing in the WTC parking garage killed six people and injured more than 1,000 people on February 26, 1993.

Taking place at the North Pool where the names of the victims are etched in bronze, the annual tribute welcomed relatives, survivors, friends and Port Authority officials to remember John DiGiovanni, Robert Kirkpatrick, Stephen A. Knapp, William Macko, Wilfredo Mercado and Monica Rodriguez Smith and her unborn child.

Following an NYPD, FDNY and PAPD pipes and drums honor-guard procession, 9/11 Memorial President Alice M. Greenwald and Port Authority officials reaffirmed the importance of honoring and recalling the lives lost that snowy day nearly a quarter of a centry ago.

“We are gathering today, 24 years since the first terror attack on the World Trade Center, to remember and commemorate the lives of Monica, Wilfredo, William, Stephen, Robert and John,” Greenwald said. “We come together today, and always, to ensure their stories will not be forgotten, that they will be shared beyond the tender memories of families and friends, and with the millions of visitors who come to the Memorial and Museum each year to gather in tribute and to pay their respects.”

A moment of silence was held at 12:18 p.m., the time of the 1993 attack, followed by the reading of the victims’ names aloud by family members and the placement of roses on the memorial.

Kirkpatrick, Knapp, Macko and Smith were Port Authority employees. Mercado worked for Windows on the World restaurant and was checking in food deliveries, while DiGiovanni was a dental salesman visiting the building at the time of the blast.

Click here to learn more about the 1993 bombing.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff