Obama to Speak at 9/11 Anniversary

CNN) -- President Barack Obama plans to speak at the Washington National Cathedral on the evening of September 11 to commemorate the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, event organizers said Tuesday.



The three-day event, entitled "A Call to Compassion," is designed to "honor the memories of those lost, heal the wounds caused by terrorism and war, and gain new hope to move forward as a nation," a news release said.



It will begin on Friday, September 9, with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta speaking at "A Concert to Honor," a memorial concert dedicated to the victims of 9/11 as well as the more than 6,000 troops who have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.



On Saturday, September 10, families are invited to attend a free public concert, organizers said. This event will be called "A Concert to Heal."



Sunday, September 11, will mark the reopening of the National Cathedral following last week's 5.8-magnitude earthquake.



The day will begin with an interfaith vigil where religious leaders will gather in prayer as the cathedral tolls its 12-ton funeral bell to mark the moments when airplanes struck the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center, hit the Pentagon, and crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, said organizers.



Obama also plans to visit all three memorial sites on the morning of September 11, the cathedral said. Later in the evening, he and first lady Michelle Obama will attend "A Concert for Hope," where the president will deliver his speech.



"It is our hope that the Cathedral's commemoration, especially with President Obama's participation in it, will move us further down the path toward healing," said Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III.



The Washington National Cathedral joined with the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the Pentagon Memorial Fund, and the Flight 93 National Memorial to present the event.



http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/08/30/obama.september.11/index.html

Ground Zero Cross to be permanent artifact at 9/11 Museum

One of those artifacts, a cross-shaped steel beam found amid the rubble, has stirred controversy in recent days. American Atheists, a nonprofit group, filed a lawsuit arguing that the cross, which became a symbol of hope to many in the days after the attacks, violated the Constitution because it is a religious symbol and the museum is partly financed by the government.

Mr. Bloomberg, asked about the lawsuit, defended the cross, saying it was a part of history.

“In a museum you want to show things that impacted people’s behavior back then, even if you don’t think it was right,” he said. “Museums are for history.”

He noted that other religious artifacts would be displayed, including a Star of David cut from the steel of the towers, a Jewish prayer shawl and a Bible.

“A lot of people looked to religion for strength after the attack,” he said. “You shouldn’t tell people what religion to practice or whether to practice a religion, but you also shouldn’t prevent people from practicing any religion they want in any ways they want.”

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A Decade, and Counting, of Publicly Mourning 9/11

Carla Gilkerson, a 54-year-old school bus driver, sits at a table with friends at Abner's diner on Main Street in this small Ohio town. She's never been to New York City and doesn't know a soul who died on Sept. 11 — but talk of the terror attacks a decade ago immediately moves her to tears.

Step outside of Abner's and there, across the road at Main and Center Streets, is one of the largest Sept. 11 memorials outside the attack sites; a granite monument etched with all the victims' names, surrounded by four giant pieces of World Trade Center steel.

Gilkerson often walks and bikes past the memorial, stopping to run her finger over the names. "I feel like I knew them," she said. "And that I can keep their memory alive."

A decade of public mourning for the nearly 3,000 people killed in the nation's worst terror attack hasn't abated; in fact, it thrives in this country, from the steel memorial parks to the fake Statue of Liberty outside a Las Vegas casino to a tiny chapel by ground zero. The attacks have spawned a ritual of extravagant public mourning that hasn't waned; even Americans who didn't lose a loved one on Sept. 11 are still grieving as if they had.

Gilkerson says it best: "I think we'll always mourn our losses from that day."


AP
ADVANCE FOR USE SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2011 AND... View Full Caption
ADVANCE FOR USE SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2011 AND THEREAFTER - Victor, left, and Ben Ortega, brothers from El Paso, Texas, walk along the September 11 memorial outside the New York, New York Hotel and Casino, Wednesday, June 22, 2011, in Las Vegas. Across the country, an extravagant ritual of public grief for "our losses" has not abated in a decade, from public memorials of steel and photos to the palpable sadness of strangers. Experts say Americans are still processing the most tragic public event of their lifetimes, before they can begin to let go. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) CloseExperts in grief say the outsized sorrow for "our losses" is Americans' way of processing the most devastating public event of their lifetimes, which they need to do before they can begin to let go. "This," says Michael Katovich, a Texas sociology professor who teaches on death and dying, "is a process of solidifying our memories."

They're still grieving in Hilliard, a suburb of the state capital of Columbus, and an eight hour's drive from New York City. None of its 28,000 residents died on Sept. 11, yet the people who live in the new subdivisions and work in the small brick buildings that line the downtown still mourned. Mayor Don Schonhardt was one of the mourners, and he went to New York to ask authorities there for trade center steel for the city's memorial.

"We felt it was important to be a community in middle America that would say to the U.S. and the world, that we do remember what happened that day," Schonhardt said.

The memorial fills a city block in the center of town with its two pieces of rusted track from the subway that ran underneath the World Trade Center, and two other large hunks of twisted metal from the towers themselves.

Las Vegas has a permanent memorial at the fake Statue of Liberty outside the New York, New York-Hotel Casino. There's a rotating exhibit of items that were left at the casino in the days after the attacks. Recently, about a dozen Fire Department and police T-shirts from around the U.S. were on display in the shadow boxes, which are lighted at night. The hundreds of other items are archived and stored at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. In a city of excess and fantasy, the memorial — which is across the street from the MGM Grand casino and its golden Lion statue and from Excalibur, a medieval-themed gambling hall — is a sober reminder of reality, and visitors stop and peer into the shadow boxes while walking from one casino to the next.

EDITOR'S NOTE — Tamara Lush is traveling the country writing about the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/tamaralush.



http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=13933576&page=2

Somerset Co. Businesses Prepare For 10th Anniversary of 9/11

Posted: 2:08 pm EDT May 19, 2011
Updated: 2:26 pm EDT May 19, 2011

SOMERSET, Pa. -- Somerset County is bracing for what's expected to be a record tourist season.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and the first phase of the Flight 93 National Memorial is expected to be complete.

On Thursday, the county's business community got a head start on preparing for thousands of anticipated visitors.

Officials said an estimated 350,000 people are expected to visit the county this year, which is 250,000 more than the county usually welcomes each year. Many businesses have already seen a boost from tourists who travel to pay their respects at the Flight 93 Memorial.

In response, the Chamber of Commerce teamed up with the Allegany College of Maryland to host a breakfast meeting for business leaders. Participants got a refresher from the National Park Service on the memorial's design and a rundown of the planned events on Sept. 10 and 11. They also got a look at how to maximize the huge boost in tourism.

Ron Aldom of the Chamber of Commerce said, "We really need to be at our best. We need to be able to connect and give people the best experience that we can. Not only do we need to provide services, But we need to make them really appreciate being here, staying here and return here."

Additional classes will be held through June. For more information, call the Somerset Campus of Allegany College of Maryland at 814-445-9848.

Stay with WJACTV.com, WJAC-TV News and WJACTV.com Mobile for continuing coverage.

Saratoga Springs sculpture will resurrect 9/11 steel

The steel lies bent, ripped and twisted in the soggy yard at the steel-fabrication plant in Gansevoort. It makes no sound, but speaks a language all Americans understand.

In 3 1/2 months, residents of the Capital Region will become part of the conversation when a large sculpture fashioned from the beams is unveiled outside the Saratoga Springs City Center. The five pieces, weighing from 2,000 to 10,000 pounds, once stood straight and pure as part of the World Trade Center.

When the terrorist-stricken towers collapsed 10 years ago, they became part of the rubble -- and then part of the approximately 1 percent of the steel preserved by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owned the 110-story buildings. The salvaged steel was stockpiled in a hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport for distribution to groups and communities, primarily for memorials.

Using the steel for art has been much rarer, says Elizabeth Dubben, project manager for the sculpture and director of exhibitions for Saratoga Arts, the nonprofit organization that is overseeing the project. She says she believes it will be the first large sculpture of World Trade Center steel in the country.

Called "Tempered by Memory," the sculpture is being created by Capital Region artists John Van Alstine and Noah Savett. They've worked as sculptors for decades and exhibited many outdoor pieces.

"We're chomping at the bit to get going," Savett said last week.



Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Tempered-by-Memory-1387212.php#ixzz1MvzXqWS2

President Obama Visits FDNY "Pride of Midtown"

President Obama made a pilgrimage to a Manhattan firehouse Thursday that lost more than a dozen men on 9/11 - just five days after he green-lighted the execution of their killer, Osama Bin Laden.

It was the first stop on a triumphal-but-solemn tour of the city that will take Obama to Ground Zero for the first time as President.

Obama was expected to break bread with the city's Bravest at the "Pride of Midtown" firehouse, where the names of the 15 firefighters who perished in the ruins of the World Trade Center are immortalized on a plaque.

By noon, Obama should be at Ground Zero.

There will be no triumphal speech about dispatching Navy SEALs to slay the dragon who brought down the twin towers.

This visit, White House spokesman Jay Carney said, is "to help New Yorkers and Americans everywhere to achieve a sense of closure."

"The president believes it's appropriate and fitting to travel to New York this week in the wake of the successful mission to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice," Carney said.

Obama is here to "recognize the terrible loss that New York suffered on 9/11, and to acknowledge the burden that families of the victims and the loved ones of the victims have been carrying with them since 9/11," he said.

So rather than speak, Obama will solemnly lay a wreath in memory of the thousands who died in the Sept. 11 attacks - with most TV networks carrying the ceremony live.

Obama will then meet privately with still-grieving mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and spouses gathered in the crucible of America's pain.

"This visit is about thanking and I just want to thank him," Charles Wolf, whose wife Katherine was killed in the terror attack, and who will be meeting Obama for the first time, told MSNBC.

"This was a really gutsy decision that he did. I think it was the turning point of his presidency."

Obama has carved out three hours at Ground Zero. He will be joined there by New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo.

He has also invited Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki, who were the mayor and governor during those dark days, sources said

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/05/05/2011-05-05_president_obama_heads_to_ground_zero_to_mark_death_of_osama_bin_laden.html#ixzz1LUpJjSjC

Central Florida Ballet "9/11: An American Moment."

Central Florida Ballet commemorates the 10^th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States with a performance of its ballet, "9/11: An American Moment." Created in 2006, the performance pays tribute to the heroes and survivors of the attacks. In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives recognized the production, which celebrates American courage, resolve and pride.

MORE INFO: centralfloridaballet.com

Westport (MA) Fire Department to retrieve steel beam from 9/11

WESTPORT — A steel beam salvaged from the World Trade Center will become part of the new fire station as a permanent memorial to those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.

Fire Chief Brian Legendre said he received official notification Wednesday that the department's request for the steel was approved and is ready for pickup.

"We knew when we went to (New York City) following the attacks that we were watching history unfold before us," Legendre said in a statement. "Now we are bringing a part of that history back to Westport as a reminder for everyone to see and touch."

Plans call for members of the Fire Department to make a pilgrimage March 10 to New York City to retrieve the 435-pound steel I-beam and escort it back to Westport.

Eighteen months ago, Westport submitted a formal request to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey for one of the beams. Distribution of artifacts from the trade center building began recently, according to Nancy Johnson, manager of the WTC Artifacts Program. Johnson said the goal is to distribute 1,000 pieces of steel before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks later this year.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110218/NEWS/102180315/-1/NEWS06

Cleveland Orchestra plans 9/11 tribute concert for the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 11,

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Orchestra is planning a free, outdoor concert this year to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks and honor those who were killed.

The tribute concert is planned for the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 11, at downtown Cleveland's Public Square. It will be directed by Loras John Schissel and will be titled "Hope. Remembrance. Dedication."

The event will take the place of the orchestra's annual "Star-Spangled Spectacular" on the square.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohio-news/cleveland-orchestra-plans-9-11-tribute-concert-1086531.html

NYPD K-9 dog who scoured WTC after 9/11, is mourned

A beloved 9/11 hero has gone to Rainbow Bridge.

Charlie, a former member of the NYPD K-9 Unit who scoured the rubble at Ground Zero after the World Trade Center attacks, died last week of natural causes. He was just months shy of his 13th birthday.

"We cherished him," said Police Officer Suzanne McCrosson, Charlie's owner and handler, who spent six years patrolling the streets of New York with her loyal companion.

"What I remember most vividly of the day I first got him was his sweet eyes and all that hair!" she recalled. "Little did I know at the time what a rare and special gift I was given."'

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/pets/2011/01/22/2011-01-22_a_tribute_to_charlie_k9_who_scoured_wtc_after_911_is_mourned.html