15 YEARS AGO America remembers September 11

Posted on 09/12/2016 | About New York City, New York

Organizers estimated 8,000 people gathered Sunday at the lower Manhattan spot where the twin towers once stood. Sunday's ceremony began with a moment of silence and tolling bells at 8:46 a.m., the time when a terrorist-piloted plane slammed into the World Trade Center's north tower. Then began a nearly four-hour recitation of the names of those killed.

“It doesn't get easier. The grief never goes away. You don't move forward - it always stays with you,” said Tom Acquaviva, who lost his son, Paul.
For Dorothy Esposito, the passage of 15 years feels “like 15 seconds.” Her son, Frankie, was killed.
About 1,000 people gathered for a name-reading observance in Shanksville, Pennsylvania where one of the planes hijacked by terrorists crashed in a field 15 years ago.
They gathered at Flight 93 National Memorial. Forty passengers and crew members died in the Pennsylvania crash. The United Airlines flight was heading from Newark, New Jersey to San Francisco when it crashed after passengers and crew members fought the terrorists for control of the plane.
At a Pentagon ceremony, President Barack Obama praised military members and others who have helped the US fight terrorism, urged Americans not to let their enemies divide them and called the country's diversity one of its greatest strengths.
“We stay true to the spirit of this day by defending not only our country, but also our ideals,” he told hundreds of service members, survivors and victims' relatives.
In New York, some victims' relatives said their loss had inspired them to help others.
Jerry D'Amadeo said he worked this summer with children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 26 children and adults were massacred in 2012.
“Sometimes the bad things in our lives put us on a path to where we should be,” said D'Amadeo, who was 10 when he lost his father, Vincent.
James Johnson was at ground zero for the first time since he last worked on the rescue and recovery efforts in early 2002, when he was a New York police officer. The 9-11 museum and memorial plaza, three skyscrapers and an architecturally audacious transit hub have been built on land that was a disaster zone when he last saw it.
“I've got mixed emotions, but I'm still kind of numb,” said Johnson, now a police chief in Forest City, Pennsylvania. “I think everyone needs closure, and this is my time to have closure.”
Cathy Cava, on the other hand, has attended all 15 anniversary ceremonies since she lost her sister, Grace Susca Galante.
“I believe most of her spirit, or at least some of her spirit, is here,” Cava said. “I have to think that way.”
At sundown, twin towers of light rose above the lower Manhattan skyline, an annual tribute to those who lost their lives. The beams from 88 searchlights represent the World Trade Center towers. They stayed lit until dawn Monday.