NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — It was 19 years ago when the unthinkable happened — hijacked planes piloted by terrorists crashed into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing thousands of people.
Commemorations are held every year at all three locations, where hundreds of victims’ relatives, survivors, first responders and dignitaries gather to remember the nearly 3,000 souls lost on Sept. 11, 2001.
In Lower Manhattan, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum will observe the anniversary as it always has — with a commemoration ceremony at the former site of the Twin Towers, but the reading of the victims' names and tributes by family members will be pre-recorded, not live as in previous years.
Family members stood at their loved one’s name on the memorial as the recording of the reading of the names played over loudspeakers.
There were six moments of silence, acknowledging when each plane hit the towers, when each tower fell, when the Pentagon was attacked and when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
"He's in my heart; he's in my memories," Cartier said. "We were coming here regardless — coronavirus — and even if they told us no. We were coming here."
Nineteen years later, the terror attack continues to take a toll on him.
"I spent eight months here on the pile looking for my brother and now I'm in kidney renal failure, because of it. So end-stage renal failure, which many, many guys who worked here are going through that," Cartier said.
His brother, he says, was a good guy — courteous, respectful, devoted to family. From the 105th floor of the South Tower, he made one last phone call to his sister."His last words to my sister was, 'Tell mommy and daddy I love them. Tell everybody I love them,'" Cartier said.
Edwin Morales, a retired Army Reservists, wore his fatigues and a camouflage face mask to pay respects to his cousin, Ruben Correa, a firefighter with Engine 74.
"It still breaks my heart every year on 9/11, it doesn't get easier," Morales said. "I think it gets harder every year because as time goes on it seems like, 'Wow, he's been gone so long. 'But the laughter and the memories is what keeps us going."
After learning that the memorial's traditional reading ceremony would not happen this year, the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation opted to hold an alternative memorial service just blocks away at Church Street and Liberty Street near Zuccotti Park.
Victims' relatives recited the names of loved ones live and in-person during the ceremony, which began at 8:30 a.m.
“The horrific loss of life, from the largest attack on US soil, a terrorist attack, requires that we read these names out loud, in person, on this day, every year. We can never minimize that fateful day,“ said Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of Tunnel to Towers, who lost his brother, FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller, in the attack.
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who attended the Tunnel to Towers remembrance service, said it's "disgraceful'' that the official 9/11 commemoration event featured only prerecorded name readings.
"And no matter what anyone says about grief and about time healing all wounds, the truth is there are certain sorrows that never fade away until the heart stops beating and the last breath is taken away," she said.
Terri Strada recited her husband's name.
"It just brings me closer to him today," Strada said.
Kathy Cunningham, who was one of the readers, wore a button with the smiling face of brother. Donald Robertson, Jr.
Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence attended both remembrance ceremonies, while Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sen. Chuck Schumer, paid their respects at the observance on the memorial plaza.
Before the start of the ceremony at the 9/11 memorial plaza, Pence and Biden crossed paths, greeting each other with an elbow bump as both men wore face coverings.
In the afternoon, Biden will pay his respects at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, where President Donald Trump spoke at a morning ceremony saying that the victims will forever be a reminder that "no matter the threat, no matter the odds, America will always rise up, stand tall and fight back.''
Coronavirus kept some away from the remembrance services this year.
Retired New York City firefighter Lee Ielpi always attends the 9/11 Memorial ceremony in memory of his son, firefighter Jonathan Ielpi, but not this year.
The Tunnel to Towers foundation stepped in saying it would organize the display in memory of the victims.
Following swift criticism, the museum reversed course and announced it would hold the tribute after Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state would provide health personnel and supervision to safely display the lights.
“We were focused so much on caring about the safety and the health, the well-being of the workers and not put anyone at risk in this moment of a very alert illness environment,” Alice Greenwald, the head of the 9/11 Museum & Memorial, told WCBS 880 at the time. “Sometimes, you make a decision in deference to the right reasons, but the decision ends up being the wrong decision."
The foundation did hold light displays on Wednesday at the Pentagon and Thursday in Shanksville.
The pandemic also prompted the FDNY to send a memo to its members to forego gatherings marking the 19th anniversary of 9/11 because of the ongoing threat of the coronavirus.
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