US marks 24th anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks

NEW YORK AP Americans are marking years since the Sept attacks with solemn ceremonies volunteer work and other tributes honoring the casualties A large number of loved ones of the nearly people killed will join dignitaries and politicians at commemorations Thursday in New York at the Pentagon and in Shanksville Pennsylvania Others choose to mark the day at more intimate gatherings James Lynch who lost his father Robert Lynch during the World Exchange Center attack commented he and his family will attend a ceremony near their hometown in New Jersey before spending the day at the beach It s one of those things where any kind of grief I don t think it ever goes away Lynch declared as he his partner and his mother joined thousands of supporters preparing meals for the needy at a charity event in Manhattan the day before the anniversary Finding the delight in that grief I think has been a huge part of my upsurge with this he noted The remembrances are being held during a time of increased political tensions The anniversary often promoted as a day of national unity comes a day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at a college in Utah The reading of names and moments of silence Kirk s killing is expected to prompt additional prevention measures around the anniversary ceremony at the World Exchange Center site in New York leadership commented At ground zero in lower Manhattan the names of the attack casualties will be read aloud by family and loved ones in a ceremony attended by Vice President JD Vance and his wife second lady Usha Vance Moments of silence will mark the exact times when hijacked planes struck the World Contract Center s iconic twin towers as well as when the skyscrapers fell At the Pentagon in Virginia the arrangement members and civilians killed when hijackers steered a jetliner into the headquarters of the U S military will be honored President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will attend the operation before heading to the Bronx for a baseball meeting between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers Thursday evening And in a rural field near Shanksville Pennsylvania a similar ceremony marked by moments of silence the reading of names and the laying of wreaths will honor the casualties of Flight the hijacked plane that crashed after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit That facility will be attended by Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins Like Lynch people across the country are also marking the anniversary with utility projects and charity works as part of a national day of utility Participants will be taking part in food and clothing drives park and neighborhood cleanups blood banks and other region events Reverberations from attacks persist In all the attacks by al-Qaida militants killed people including numerous financial workers at the World Commerce Center and firefighters and police officers who had rushed to the burning buildings trying to save lives The attacks reverberated globally and altered the program of U S procedures both domestically and overseas It led to the Global War on Terrorism and the U S -led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and related conflicts that killed hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians While the hijackers died in the attacks the U S authorities has struggled to conclude its long-running legal occurrence against the man accused of masterminding the plot Khalid Sheikh Mohammed The former al-Qaida leader was arrested in Pakistan in and later taken to a U S military base at Guant namo Bay Cuba but has never received a trial The anniversary ceremony in New York was taking place at the National Sept memorial and Museum where two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets inscribed with the names of the dead mark the spots where the twin towers once stood The Trump administration has been contemplating techniques that the federal establishment might take control of the memorial plaza and its underground museum which are now run by a constituents charity at present chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg a frequent Trump critic Trump has spoken of possibly making the site a national monument In the years since the attacks the U S governing body has spent billions of dollars providing medical care and compensation to tens of thousands of people who were exposed to the toxic dust that billowed over parts of Manhattan when the twin towers collapsed More than people are still enrolled in monitoring programs intended to identify those with strength conditions that could potentially be linked to hazardous materials in the soot