Families honor 2,977 loved ones lost A day to remember
Biden & Bruce join families in tribute at WTC
A firefighter gazes heavenward during Saturday’s ceremony at the September 11th Memorial Plaza. Three presidents joined victims’ family members, each bearing a red rose, to gather under clear blue skies mirroring those of that sparkling September morning two decades ago. One child took the podium to say of the grandfather she never had the joy of meeting, “I’m pretty sure we would have had a lot of fun together.”
Twenty years on, New York has not forgotten.
Rock superstar Bruce Springsteen, a surprise guest, serenaded the relatives of those slaughtered in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with an acoustic rendition of his song “I’ll See You In My Dreams” as they gathered on Saturday to honor their lost loved ones at the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.
Mourners, each bearing a red rose, solemnly paced the 9/11 Memorial Plaza under clear blue skies that recalled those of that sparkling September morning two decades ago — a late-summer day that was plunged into nightmare as America was assaulted by passenger planes transformed into missiles by al Qaeda terrorists.
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden joined the crowd. Among the other dignitaries attending were former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama; former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Gov. Hochul and former Gov. George Pataki; Mayor de Blasio and former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg; state Attorney General Letitia James; and Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams.
Biden did not take the podium to speak. The president departed without fanfare moments after a bell tolled to mark the attack on the Pentagon, leaving 30 minutes earlier than the White House had previously announced.
Due to coronavirus restrictions, the audience was limited to VIPs and relatives of those slain on 9/11.
The controversial stricture meant that hero first responders and the families of hundreds who later died of 9/11-related illnesses were barred from attending.
Hundreds of active and retired firefighters from New York to Orange County, Calif., gathered outside the Engine Co. 10/Ladder Co. 10 firehouse on Liberty Street, directly across from Ground Zero. They were joined by supporters wearing FDNY T-shirts and carrying small American flags.
“On September 11th, 2001, the department didn’t simply lose 343 members,” said Capt. Frank Stonitsch of Engine 10. “We lost one member 343 times.”
A heavily armed corps of state and federal counterterrorism police and Secret Service personnel massed nearby, many carrying long guns and wearing flak jackets.
Family members permitted inside the tight cordon were drawn to the 9/11 Memorial’s black parapets surrounding the waterfall fountains that mark the footprints of the fallen Twin Towers.
There they placed American flags, photos, mementos and red, white and yellow roses at the engraved names of lost loved ones.
They wept and hugged. One elderly mourner carried a homemade
poster for Danielle Kousoulis, a vice president at Cantor Fitzgerald who died at age 29 on the 104th floor of the North Tower.
“We miss you, we love you,” the poster read.
At the center of the remembrance was family members’ recitation of the names of the 2,977 people killed in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania on 9/11 — a roll call that has become a cathartic tradition.
The names of the six people killed in the 1993 terror bombing of the World Trade Center were also included.
A cellist played as the first 40 names were read by relatives of Edward J. Papa and Vladimir Savinkin.
“Dad, we miss you every day,” Papa’s daughter, Margaret Papa, said at the end of the litany.
Many of the readers were children, born years after the worst terror attack on American soil stole the lives of their uncles, aunts and grandparents.
“Your spirit lives on,” said young Robert McIlvaine, who balanced on a high riser to reach the microphone as he spoke of his uncle, Robert G. McIlvaine.
“I’m honored to carry your name, and I’m living proof that life goes on,” the boy said.
The roster was halted six times for the tolling of a bell to mark the successive moments of unspeakable carnage on that dark day — starting at 8:46 a.m., when a hijacked American Airlines passenger jet plowed into the North Tower, and ending at 10:28 a.m., when the North Tower collapsed.
Biden and the first lady traveled to Shanksville, Pa., for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial, where former President George W. Bush had earlier in the day given an impassioned speech on national unity.
Former President Donald Trump released a video statement paying tribute to 9/11 heroes, and visited a Manhattan precinct and firehouse.
The FDNY held its annual memorial service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral to remember the 343 members it lost on 9/11 and the hundreds more who have since succumbed to Ground Zero-related illness.