Memorial Honors 9/11 With Ceremony, Tribute in Light

Honoring the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and aboard Flight 93, the 9/11 Memorial hosted a commemoration ceremony on the plaza yesterday morning. At night, the memorial’s annual Tribute in Light illuminated the New York City skyline in an annual tradition.

This year marked the first anniversary of the tragedy with a completed museum, which became available to the public in May this year. It remained open to families from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and first responders from 12:30 to 9 p.m.

Families began gathering on the memorial for the ceremony, which took place between the two Memorial pools, starting at around 7 a.m. Victims’ family members were selected to read different portions of the list of the 2,983 individuals killed in the 1993 and 2001 attacks. Bells tolled and moments of silence were held at the precise times that the attacks occurred and the buildings fell.

“While today will recall painful memories, let us also fill the hours celebrating the lives of loved ones taken too soon,” 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels said. “Let us relive the compassion felt on that day and the days that followed, and honor the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who risked their lives to save others. Today, let our thoughts and prayers be with the families, who with us all, are helping to make sure this country never forgets.”

During and after the ceremony, family members placed tributes on the bronze memorial pools on or next to their loved ones’ names. Some honored the victims with flowers; others used handwritten notes and photographs.

At night, the Tribute in Light – two blue lights reaching about four miles high to represent the approximate locations of where the Twin Towers once stood – was viewable from the open plaza starting at 6 p.m. The memorial plaza stayed open until midnight for the public, also for the first time since the memorial opened.

Click here for photos from the 9/11 anniversary ceremony. 

By Jordan Friedman, 9/11 Memorial Research and Digital Projects Associate