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Grim Toll of 9/11 Still Being Borne 12 Years Later
On 9/11 Anniversary, Paying Tribute and Taking Stock Amid New Turmoil Abroad
(about 5 hours later)
Michael Ollis was not even in high school when terrorists slammed jetliners into the World Trade Center towers.
Michael Ollis was not even in high school when terrorists slammed jetliners into the World Trade Center towers.
This summer, 12 years later, he was serving his third combat tour with the United States Army when insurgents attacked his base in Afghanistan.
This summer, 12 years later, he was serving his third combat tour with the United States Army when insurgents struck his base in Afghanistan.
Staff Sergeant Ollis, 24, a Staten Island native, was killed. He was one of 92 New Yorkers who enlisted after 9/11 and died in battles that were spawned in the smoldering rubble of ground zero.
Staff Sergeant Ollis, 24, a Staten Island native, was killed. He was one of 92 New Yorkers who enlisted after the Sept. 11 attacks and died in battles that were spawned in the smoldering rubble of ground zero.
As the families of those killed on 9/11 gathered on Wednesday morning in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia to mark the anniversary of the attacks, Sergeant Ollis’s death, one of thousands during a decade of war, offered a reminder that the costs of what happened 12 years ago are still being borne across the globe.
Sergeant Ollis’s name was not mentioned in the memorial ceremonies that took place Wednesday morning in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, but as the families of those killed on Sept. 11 gathered, his death and those of the thousands of others during a decade of war were reminders that the costs of what happened 12 years ago were still being borne across the globe.
And with the nation once again in the midst of a debate about America’s role in the world and the wisdom of launching military strikes, the memorial ceremonies offered not just an occasion to pay tribute, but a moment to take stock.
And with the nation once again in the midst of a debate about America’s role in the world and the wisdom of launching military strikes, the ceremonies offered not just occasions to pay tribute, but also to take stock.
Edwin Aviles, 41, who lives in Brooklyn and was working near ground zero just before the memorial Wednesday, said time had done little to ease his sense that there are enemies looking to harm New York.
Edwin Aviles, 41, who lives in Brooklyn and was working near the memorial just before the ceremony there, said time had done little to ease his sense that there were enemies looking to harm the city. “Just like then, just like now, we got to stay on point,” he said. “Got to stay on top of everyone else. Anything can happen at any given moment.”
“I don’t think anything has changed,” he said. “Just like then, just like now we got to stay on point. Got to stay on top of everyone else. Anything can happen at any given moment.”
At the Pentagon, where 184 people had been killed, President Obama noted the continuing threat. “Let us have the strength to face the threats that endure, different though they may be from 12 years ago, so that as long as there are those who would strike our citizens, we will stand vigilant and defend our nation,” Mr. Obama said.
At the Pentagon, where 184 people were killed on 9/11, President Obama noted the continuing threat.
The president paid tribute to the four Americans who died a year ago in an attack on the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. On Wednesday, a car bomb exploded there outside the Libyan foreign ministry, causing no casualties, according to official news media, but drawing attention to the significance the day holds for extremists as well.
“Let us have the strength to face the threats that endure, different though they may be from 12 years ago, so that as long as there are those who would strike our citizens, we will stand vigilant and defend our nation,” he said.
In New York, the anniversary ceremony at the trade center site, where 2,753 had died, has taken on the familiarity of ritual.
The president paid tribute to the four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, who died one year ago in an attack at the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. On Wednesday morning, a car bomb exploded outside the Libyan foreign ministry in Benghazi, causing no casualties, according to state media, but offering a reminder that the day holds significance for extremists as well.
As in past years, Bruni Sandoval came to remember her friend Nereida De Jesus. “It helps a little,” she said.
In New York, the anniversary ceremony has taken on the familiarity of ritual.
Families gathered quietly between the reflecting pools, the rush of water and the distant notes of bagpipes the only sounds rising above the crowd.
Bruni Sandoval has come each year to remember her friend, Nereida De Jesus. “It helps a little,” she said.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo arrived on a Harley-Davidson, having joined the musician Billy Joel, firefighters and others in a tribute ride from a Midtown firehouse.
Families began to gather quietly between the reflecting pools, the rush of water and the distant sounds of bagpipes the only sounds rising above the crowd.
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus performed the national anthem, then bagpipers and drummers played a dirge.
The ceremony at ground zero began with bagpipers and drummers; the Brooklyn Youth Chorus performed the national anthem.
At 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane struck the north tower in 2001, there was a moment of silence. (In Washington, Mr. Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., their wives by their sides, stood on the White House lawn, heads bowed.)
At 8:46 a.m., when the first plane struck the north tower, there was a moment of silence. In Washington, President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., their wives by their sides, stood on the White House lawn, heads bowed.
At 9:03, a second pause was observed for the moment a plane hit the south tower. There were four more moments of silence interrupting the annual reading of the names of those who had died at the trade center — for when each tower fell and for the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93 into a field in Pennsylvania, killing all 40 passengers and crew members.
A military bugler played taps, as the couples held their hands over their hearts. They then turned and walked silently back into the residence.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose term is ending this year, presided over the ceremony for a final time. Elected to office just weeks after the attacks, Mr. Bloomberg has taken a forceful role in shaping New York’s efforts both to honor its dead and to rebuild ground zero.
At 9:03, a second moment of silence marked the moment a second plane hit the south tower. There would be four more moments of silence interrupting the reading of the names -- twice to mark the time when each tower fell and to mark the moments of the attacks on the Pentagon and on Flight 93, which crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
In 2002, when he first ascended a podium overseeing a vast pit of rubble, there was a moment of seeming national unity and moral clarity. But that clarity long since eroded in the sands outside Fallujah and the ancient alleyways of Baghdad.
The ceremony will also be the last over which Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg presides.
As Mr. Obama, who was elected on a promise to disentangle the country from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has tried to rally the nation to support a possible military intervention in Syria, he has been met with resistance.
Elected to office just weeks after the attacks, Mr. Bloomberg has taken a forceful role in shaping New York’s efforts both to honor its dead and to rebuild ground zero.
Even in the solemnity of the recitation of the victims’ names at ground zero, one woman, there to honor her uncle, José Manuel Cardona, had a message for the president: “Please don’t bring us to another war.”
He will continue to play a role, in his capacity as the chairman of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum foundation. But next year his place will be occupied by one of the winners of the mayoral primary held Tuesday.
In Damascus over the weekend, Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader who the Obama administration contends used chemical weapons to kill his own people, invoked the memory of Sept. 11 in warning against an attack on his country. Such a strike, he told Charlie Rose of CBS News, would help “the same people that killed Americans” that day.
Bill de Blasio, who won the most votes in the Democratic primary, was at the ceremony, as was the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, who was soundly beaten after holding a commanding lead in early polls.
Closer to home, a day before New York City’s primary elections, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly tried on Monday to inject the politics of Sept. 11 in the campaign for mayor, saying the candidates had not taken the threat of terrorism seriously.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo arrived at the ceremony on a Harley-Davidson, having joined the musician Billy Joel, firefighters and others in a tribute ride from a Midtown firehouse to ground zero.
In Lower Manhattan, healing the physical scars of the attack continues, though slowly and behind schedule. In the past year, the city celebrated the topping off of 1 World Trade Center, its spire fixed 1,776 feet above ground.
He was joined by Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Gov. George E. Pataki.
Work on the World Trade Center Transportation Hub has finally moved above ground, offering the public a glimpse at the grand design soon to be finished.
In 2002, when Mayor Bloomberg first ascended a podium overseeing a vast pit of rubble, there was a moment of seeming national unity and moral clarity.
But that clarity long since eroded in the sands outside Fallujah and the ancient alleyways of Baghdad.
As President Obama, who was elected on a promise to disentangle the country from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has tried to rally a war-weary nation to support a possible military intervention in Syria, he has been met with resistance.
Even in the solemnity of the reading of the victims name at ground zero, one woman, there to honor her uncle, José Manuel Cardona, had a message for the White House: “President Obama, please don’t bring us to another war.”
Meanwhile, Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader who the Obama administration contends used chemical weapons to kill his own people, invoked the memory of 9/11 in warning against an attack on his country. Such a strike, he told the broadcaster Charlie Rose, would help “the same people that killed Americans on the 11th of September.”
Closer to home, the politics of 9/11 re-emerged as a campaign issue hours before primary voters went to cast their ballots on Tuesday, when Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly blasted the field of candidates for not taking the threat seriously.
“The analysis of the Police Department, the intelligence community, our recent experience tells us that New York remains squarely in the cross hairs of global terrorism,” he said. “This is a time for vigilance, not complacency.”
In Lower Manhattan, healing the physical scars of the attack has been slow but progress is now evident. The wildly over-optimistic promises of a decade ago are starting to take shape, even if they are still under construction.
In the past year, the city celebrated the topping off 1 World Trade Center, its spire rising 1776 feet.
Meredith Feiner, 28, who works in Lower Manhattan, said she was proud to see the new building rising, the construction cranes towering overhead.
“It never would have had to be rebuilt if something terrible had not happened,” she said.
Work on the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, designed by Santiago Calatrava of Spain, has finally moved above ground, offering the public a glimpse at the grand design soon to be completed.
The National September 11 Memorial and Museum remains on track to open next spring.
The National September 11 Memorial and Museum remains on track to open next spring.
Once the museum opens, the annual anniversary will no longer bear the main weight of remembrance, either for New Yorkers or for the millions who visit the city.
Once the museum opens, the annual ceremony will no longer bear the main weight of remembrance, either for New Yorkers or for the millions who visit the city.
By next Sept. 11, the museum devoted to memorializing the attacks and their aftermath will open to the public. Still a vast subterranean construction site, a series of chambers as vast and as hermetic as a pharaoh’s tomb, the museum will eventually offer an array of historical exhibits, personal tributes and archaeological artifacts.
Still a subterranean construction site, a series of chambers as vast and as hermetic as a pharaoh’s tomb, the museum will eventually offer an array of historical exhibits, personal tributes and archaeological artifacts.
Last week the last of the large-scale artifacts – like a burned-out fire truck and a 36-foot-tall steel column from the south tower – were fitted into place.
Last week, the last of the large-scale artifacts — including a burned-out fire truck and a 36-foot-tall steel column salvaged from the south tower — were fitted into place.
