A service to remember those who died will be held at the site where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre once stood.
Some 2,993 people died when a group of 19 al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial planes, flying two of them into the buildings in 2001.
Both buildings collapsed within two hours.
A third plane was flown into the Pentagon just outside Washington and the fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
President Barack Obama will visit the Pentagon memorial to those who died and meet relatives of the dead.
He will also lay a wreath.
Aides say he will stress community service as a way for Americans to show their unity and patriotism.
An attack which shocked the world
He has already issued a proclamation honouring those who died and urging Americans to mark the anniversary with community works.
Vice President Joseph Biden will attend the commemorative events in New York.
Other services will also be held around the world, including in the UK.
For many Americans, the anniversary is a time to remember US troops serving abroad, including those sent to Iraq and Afghanistan after the "war on terror" declaration.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has acknowledged that Mr Obama is consciously trying to avoid using the "war on terror" phrase.
However, he stressed that the president will remember those serving abroad on Friday, as he does on a daily basis.
"That takes up part of his day and is something that... he's thankful for and I think all of us are thankful for each and every day," he said.
Thousands of people are gathering to mark the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in remembrance ceremonies planned across the United States and internationally.
On Sept. 11, 2001, two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, one at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and a fourth in a field in Shanksville, Pa. Almost 3,000 people died in the attacks, including 24 Canadians.
Four moments of silence, at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:59 a.m. and 10:29 a.m. ET, will be held, marking the times when the first and second hijacked planes hit the WTC buildings and when the south and north towers fell.
The memorial ceremony in New York will be held at a park southeast of Ground Zero because construction on the footprint site of the World Trade Center is underway for a new tower, an underground museum and a memorial park.
The names of the victims will be read at the ceremony, which will be attended by U.S. vice-president Joe Biden.
Name added
This year, one new name will be read — a victim added to New York's death toll in January. The medical examiner's office ruled that Leon Heyward, who died last year of lymphoma and lung disease, was a homicide victim because he was caught in the toxic dust cloud just after the towers collapsed.
It's the second time the city has added to the victims' list someone who died long after Sept. 11, ruling that exposure to toxic dust caused lung disease.
Many emergency workers died as they tried to rescue victims from the twin towers, while thousands more say they are still suffering from persistent respiratory problems.
A wreath will also be laid at the Pentagon, where 184 people died. In Pennsylvania, the names of victims on United Flight 93 will be read at 10:03 a.m., the time the plane crashed.
A name-reading ceremony is also scheduled in Boston, where two of the planes departed.
9.11-kilometre run
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, about 1,000 American troops were participating in a memorial run that spanned 9.11 kilometres at Bagram Air Field.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Defence Secretary Robert Gates are scheduled to meet with victims' family members on Friday.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment