Tribute 9-11: Ten years later we remember
Posted Sep 11, 2011 1:50 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW YORK – The horrifying images from ten years ago are still fresh in the minds of many across the world, as the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks marks a time to remember the victims and brave souls who risked their lives during the attacks.
Reporter Carl Hanstke, who covered the aftermath of the attacks from Ground Zero ten long years ago, is in New York and provided pictures, feedback and commentary on the memorials.
Ground Zero was transformed into a centrepiece of mourning and remembrance Sunday morning, as relatives of those killed in the 9-11 attacks gathered at the former site of the World Trade Centre in Lower Manhattan.
Now standing where the twin towers used to is a new memorial featuring a pool of flowing water and the names of all the victims of the 9-11 attacks etched in granite.
There was music, words from the president and moments of silence to mark the exact moments when the towers were struck and then eventually collapsed.
Family members, some clutching pictures of their lost loved ones, arrived and many broke down in tears as they stared at or ran their fingers over the engraved names.
The name of every victim was read aloud by family members during the lengthy and emotional ceremony.
Thousands of people lined the streets, including one woman named Sarah, who choked-up and cried every time one of the children who lost a parent read that parents name.
“It was I miss you daddy, or I wish I could have known you daddy, or you were my daddy for x number of years,” Sarah said. “Because I’m a mom, being a mom I couldn’t imagine my kids growing up without their dad.”
Canadians were among those who flocked to Ground Zero Sunday to be a part of the tenth anniversary ceremony, and not just because of the 24 Canadians who lost their lives in the attacks.
“I’ll just be thinking of all the people that were lost, and their families, and the lives that were changed forever, my heart just goes out to them,” one woman said.
Ten years later many of the same memories and fears that still exist, but as the turnout and support in Sunday’s ceremony proved, the spirit of those in New York and across the entire United States has proven unbreakable.
