A decade of remembrance - Ten years, 10 stories

MOVING FORWARD

“September 11 was just a Tuesday, until September 11, 2001,” New York Fire Fighter Mike Moran said.

Moran is one of six surviving members of FDNY, Ladder Company No.3. He had just arrived home when the first plane hit the World Trade Center.
The entire crew who relieved his shift died while charging into the Second Tower as it collapsed.

Stories like Moran’s are common when hearing about the attacks.

But after a decade, many survivors are moving forward and focusing on the future of a reborn America.

Ninety percent of the worker rebuilding the WTC and 9/11 Memorial were personally affected. Those from generations of builders, and workers with no prior experience in construction, felt it was his or her duty to pitch in and help rebuild their shining city.

Communities across the country have rallied their support for families and survivors of 9/11 through service.

In Santa Ana, Assemblyman Jose Solorio, KidWorks and OneOC are hosting a special 9/11 Service Project Day, where the community will come together to paint a mural and complete several other city beautification projects.

“I go to church on Sundays, and I will keep the families and survivors in my prayers,” sophomore Jaime Mendoza said. “It’s not really a day you celebrate because of the tragedy involved. But I will definitely remember it for the rest of my life.”

A DECADE OF REMEMBRANCE

In Retrospect – Ten years have passed, and though time cannot bring back the lost, it can help ease the pain. Here is a visual history remembering the events of 9/11.

9/11/2001Emergency crews try to extinguish ﬁres at the Pentagon after an airplane crashed into the building following similar attacks on the World Trade Center on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.Photo courtesy Chuck Kennedy / MCT
9/11/2002NYPD officer Dona Chilson tries to remain composed across the street from Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2002 as the bells tolled during the fourth moment of silence for those killed at the World Trade Center.Photo courtesy Barbara Davidson / MCT
9/11/2003Fiona Havlish, whose husband was killed in the terrorist attacks, sits in what she calls her “meditation room” at her home in Lower Makeﬁeld, Penn., August 2003.Photo courtesy April Saul / MCT.
9/11/2004Lori Schertzer looks for the name of her brother among a list of victims during ceremonies at the World Trade Center site on Sept. 11, 2004, marking the third anniversary of the attacks.Photo courtesyDon Fisher / MCT
9/11/2005Brooklyn ﬁreﬁghter Mark Rizzuto takes in the view of Lower Manhattan — former site of the World Trade Center — from Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2005.Photo courtesy Alan Solomon / MCT
9/11/2006Families that lost loved ones embrace during the reading of names at the September 11 Commemoration Ceremony at Ground Zero in Manhattan, Sept. 11, 2006.Photo courtesy Bruce Gilbert / MCT
9/11/2007Visitors unfurl a ﬂag at the temporary memorial for the Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville, Penn. during a ceremony for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 2007.Photo courtesy Laurence Kesterson / MCT
9/11/2008Judi Reiss touches her son Joshua’s name, etched into the glass railing at the twin fountains in the 9/11 Memorial Park in Penn- sylvania. Joshua died in the 9/11 attack.Photo courtesy Clem Murray / MCT
9/11/2009At the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Penn., Chris Lander and Josh Barnhart pause at the memorial wall during a ceremony Sept. 11, 2009.Photo courtesy Laurence Kesterson / MCT
9/11/2010About 1,000 relics recovered from 9/11 are stored in Hangar 17 at JFK Airport in N.Y. This collection only accounts for .5 percent of the debris ﬁeld from Ground Zero.Photo courtesy Douglas Kilpatrick / MCT
9/11/2011Workers lead a tour of the World Trade Center site, April 12, 2011, to show the extensive plumbing work completed. Millions are expected to visit the World Trade Center site after it partially opens later this year with a 9/11 memorial that appears simple and serene: an endless stream of water cascading into two massive voids where the Twin Towers once stood.Photo courtesy David Bergeland / MCT