9/11 Families - News Archives

News Archives

September 11: National Day of Remembrance and Service:
On April 21, 2009, President Barack Obama signed federal legislation that, 
for the first time, established the anniversary of the September 11 
terrorist attacks as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. More>

Crowd remembers victims of  9/11 attacks: 
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Duane Blank carries his son, Coen Blank, 4, on 
his shoulders while attending the Freedom Walk event Saturday at the 
USS Kidd Veterans Memorial. An estimated 300 people gathered Saturday 
morning at the USS Kidd Veterans Memorial on River Road to remember more 
than 2,900 who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. More>

Street Named for NYPD Sergeant Who Died of World Trade Center  
Site-related Cancer: A street in Hauppauge, Long Island has been 
renamed in honor of Michael Ryan, an NYPD sergeant who developed 
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after working the recovery operation after 
the World Trade Center attack. The renaming ceremony was held on 
September 1, 2009. More>

9/11 Firefighters Help Rebuild Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch: A 
devastating tornado destroyed a Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch and is being 
transformed into the foundation of a new chapel being, which will be built 
on sacred ground. The chapel is being built by people touched by another 
tragedy, that of September 11th. More>


Location Sought for Quilt Commemorating September 11th Victims:
Dennis McKeon, executive  director of Where to Turn, a Staten Island 
non-profit, is looking for a lower  Manhattan home for a 16,000-square-foot 
quilt created to honor the victims of the  terrorist attacks of 
September 11, 2001. More>

St. Helen’s September 11th Memorial Stolen: Thieves in St. Helen’s, 
Oregon  have stolen a bronze memorial tablet dedicated to the victims of 
the terrorist  attacks of September 11, 2001. More>

New September 11th Commemorative Rose, Patriot Dream, 
to Honour the Passengers and Crew of AA Flight 77:
Remember Me Rose recently presented its sixth Sept. 11th 
commemorative rose, Patriot Dream, named in honour of the 64 
passengers and crew aboard American Airlines Flight 77 on 
September 11, 2001.  More>

Adults Directly Exposed to the WTC Disaster Have Elevated Risk of PTSD 
& Asthma Diagnosis 5-6 Years Later: August 4, 2009 — People directly 
exposed to the 2001 WTC disaster were four times more likely than other 
people to report post-traumatic stress symptoms in 2006-2007, a new study 
shows. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 
also found elevated asthma ratesamong exposed people. More>

Suicide blasts at Jakarta Ritz, Marriott kill 8: 

JAKARTA, Indonesia - 
Suicide bombers posing as guests attacked American luxury hotels in 
Indonesia's capital and set off a pair of blasts Friday that killed eight 
people and wounded more than 50, authorities said. More>



Veterans’ Memorial Museum Opens September 11th Exhibit:
The Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis, Washington has a new 
September 11th exhibit, Remembering 9/11. Visitors to the museum will 
be able to see and touch pieces of the Pentagon and steel from the WTC. 
More>


NYPD Releases New Report about Building Safety: The New York City 
Police Department has released Engineering Security, a guide to protective 
design and risk tiering for the city’s high-risk buildings. More>

Man killed in D.C. Metro crash ordered jets above Capitol on 9/11
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former commanding general of the District of 
Columbia National Guard- who ordered jets over the Capitol amid the 
September 11, 2001, terror attacks - was among those killed in a transit 
train crash in Washington this week, authorities said Tuesday. More>

Local 9/11 memorial falls one vote short: PEABODY,  MA — The 
purchase of land for a park memorializing Peabody's two victims of the 
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks failed to win enough support from the City 
Council. More>

Firehouses Saved: NEW YORK (WABC) - Mayor Michael Bloomberg and 
the City Council have agreed on a new budget for the year 2010.  The $60 
billion budget includes a sales tax hike of .5 percent. It also means 
hundreds of city layoffs and job cuts through attrition.  More>

Details on a Monumental Scale at the 9/11 Memorial:
By David W. Dunlap, The New York Times


The development of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at 
the World Trade Center is far enough along that officials are now asking 
the victims’ next of kin to confirm the accuracy of the names that are to 
be inscribed around the memorial pools. More>

Verdict ruled in Omagh Bombing of the Real IRA in Northern Ireland: 
Monday June 8, 2009, a judge found that the real IRA leader Michael 
McKevitt was responsible for the 1998 Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland.  
Mr. Justice Morgan made the ruling after a landmark civil case brought by 
some of the families of the victims of the atrocity. More>

Church Organ Plays for First Time Since 9/11: An antique organ at 
St. Paul's Chapel in Lower Manhattan will be played publicly today for the 
first time since being badly damaged on September 11, 2001. More>

Fallen 9/11 widow remembered as selfless, tireless: Though Beverly 
Eckert was best known for her tireless advocacy on behalf of families who 
lost loved ones in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that was just 
one part of a life spent helping others, her friends recalled. More>

Documentary -  The Toxic Clouds of 9/11: "This compelling film will help 
people understand the very serious health impacts caused by exposure to 
the  
multiple chemicals contained in the 9/11 pollution and the devastating 
effects that these illnesses have had on people's lives." Suzanne Mattei, 
Sierra Club NYC Executive. More>

National Institute of Standards and Technology Releases its Final 
Report on the Collapse of WTC 7: 
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released 
the final report on the collapse of WTC Building 7. More>


Funding Set for Fiterman Hall Deconstruction: Plans, approvals, and 
the physical abatement of Fiterman Hall are all veritably complete, and now 
the final funding is in place to demolish the structure.  Mayor Michael 
Bloomberg announced today that the city will commit $139 million to the 
deconstruction of Fiterman Hall. With a total cost of $325 million, the 
difference will come from the state, federal government, and insurance 
claims. More>

Bradford Street 4: The New York City Fire Department has a long proud 
history of helping the  citizens of New York. The members of Engine 332/
Ladder 175  (Bradford Street) are no exception. Four of our own, who have 
served this department proudly and responded to and assisted in the rescue 
and recovery operation at the World Trade Center, find themselves in a time 
of great need.  More>

Friday night lights honor vets, families on  9/11:
BLAINE, Minn. — Those famed Friday night lights will be shining for more 
than just high school football players this week. For the first time, the 
anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks falls on a Friday — 
a night owned by prep football around the country. Some schools are   
going all out to remember those who died in the attacks and served in the 
two  wars that have followed.  More>

Congressional  Hearing for The 9/11 Health and Compensation 
Act of 2009:

On Wednesday, April 22, 2009, at 10:00am, in Room 2322 Rayburn House 
Office  Building, there will be a hearing for legislation to provide health 
services for September 11th workers, including emergency responders, 
recovery personnel and workers who handled the  clean-up of the World   
Trade Center.

Sponsored by U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler and Peter King, 
The 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2009, (HR 847, The James 
Zadroga bill) would provide medical  monitoring, evaluation and treatment 
for the workers.

The public testimony will include the sponsors of the bill, sick workers and:

Dr. Jacqueline Moline Vice Chair, Community and Preventive Medicine,        
Director WTC Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, Clinical Center                
at Mount Sinai, and  Director of the New York/New Jersey Education and                
Research Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine;

Dr. Jim Melius, Administrator, New York State Laborers’ Tri-Funds;

Dr. Joan Reibman, Associate Professor of Medicine and Environmental 
Medicine, Director NYU/Bellevue Asthma Center, Director of Health and 
Hospitals Corporation World Trade Center Environmental Health Center, 
Bellevue Hospital, NYU School of Medicine; and,

Caswell Holloway, Chief of Staff to New York City Deputy Mayor for 
Operations Edward Skyler, and special advisor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2322 
Southwest of the Capitol on the site bounded by Independence Avenue, 
South Capitol Street, First Street, and C Street, S.W.

For a map, click here: www.aoc.gov/cc/cc_map.cfm.

To read the bill, click here.

NIST to Release Report and Recommendations from their 
Investigation of World Trade Center Building 7:

The US Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST) held a media briefing and live public webcast on 
August 21, 2008, in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on the findings and 
recommendations from its building and fire safety investigation of the 
collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 (WTC 7). WTC 7 was a 47-story 
building that fell nearly seven hours after the World Trade Center (WTC) 
towers collapsed following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.The 
NIST WTC 7 report presented the probable collapse sequence for the 
building and will provide recommendations for improving building and 
fire safety in other buildings similar to WTC 7.  The draft WTC 7 
investigation report released at the briefing will be open for public 
comment through to noon Eastern Daylight Time on Sept. 15, 2008.

The live webcast is accesible from NIST's WTC website at 
http://wtc.nist.gov.

Public Release of PSA's WMD Terrorism Report Card:

On Wednesday, September 10, 2008, the Partnership for a Secure America 
along with Former 9/11 Commission Vice Chair Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN) 
and Former 9/11 Commissioner Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA), introduced a new 
bipartisan Report Card, assessing the U.S. government's current policies 
to prevent nuclear, chemical, and biological terrorism.

Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) will also release supporting papers 
by independent experts Margaret Kosal, Brian Finlay, and Barry Kellman, who 
will also be on hand to answer questions.
             
More information on PSA, along with bios of its bipartisan Advisory Board, 
can be found atwww.psaonline.org.

Partnership for a Secure America 
1111 19th St., 12th Floor
Washington, DC 20036

On April 20, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI visited the World Trade Center site and
descended the ramp to the sacred ground. There he said a silent prayer 
followedby a spoken prayer, blessing of the site and greeted family members
and survivors.


O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain. 
We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died herethe
heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11, 2001. 
We ask you, in your compassion
to bring healing to those
who, because of their presence here that day,
suffer from injuries and illness.
Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope. 
We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering. 
God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred. 
God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.

Download Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer at the World Trade Center Site

7/7 bombings film to debut in July:
Staff and agencies
Wednesday April 9, 2008
guardian.co.uk

A £4m production which looks set to be the first film to tell the story of 
the 7/7 London suicide bombings will hit UK cinemas in July.

Shoot on Sight features Brian Cox, Greta Scacchi, Sadie Frost and the 
Indian actor Om Puri, who starred as the tyrannical patriarch of an 
Anglo-Pakistani family in East in East. It has been directed by the 
Indian-American film-maker Jagmohan Mundhra.

The title refers to the order given to the Metropolitan police when faced 
with suspected terrorists in the wake of the suicide bombings. The film will 
also focus on the ongoing threat from British terrorists linked to 
fundamentalist Islam. 

Mundhra, who was living in London at the time of the attacks, said he 
wanted to show the affect on Londoners' perspectives towards people 
of Asian appearance following the attacks. 

"Having lived and worked in London for many years, I became very aware 
of and affected by how peoples' attitudes were changing towards me," he 
told the Hollywood Reporter. "Taxi drivers could not stop for me in the 
days following 7/7, and I could completely understand why. 
                              
"The fact that I had always found London to be an extremely culturally 
tolerant city made this change in atmosphere all the more shocking."        
                        
A number of films have dealt with the September 11 attacks in the US,
including Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, which used a traditional
dramatic approach and attracted criticism from some quarters for 
employing bombast, and Paul Greengrass' cinema verité-style United 93.

ABATEMENT TO BEGIN AGAIN AT DEUTSCHE BANK:
(130 Liberty Street)
February 8, 2008

The LMDC has received approval from federal, state and city regulators 
for the amended plan governing the abatement of 130 Liberty Street.  

As a result of this approval, LVI Services, Inc, the subcontractor, will be 
permitted to proceed with the abatement of the building.  The approved 
plan decouples the abatement and deconstruction phases of the project 
and contains safety enhancements, including the installation of fire 
suppression systems in certain areas of the decontamination units and the 
fire hardening of all decontamination chambers. 

Click here for the approved abatement plans: 
www.renewnyc.com/plan_des_dev/130liberty/deconstruction_plan.asp.

For information about LVI Services, click here:www.lviservices.com.

For more general information about rebuilding on the World Trade Center site, 
please visit www.renewnyc.com.

World Trade Center Site to Become Cultural Center:
The four cultural centers that are to occupy the World Trade Center site 
have been announced-- the Freedom Center, The Drawing Center,the 
Signature Theatre Company Signature Center and the Joyce Theater 
Foundation,Inc. International Dance Center. The four were chosen by the 
LDMC from a list of 113 cultural institutions which vied for inclusion in the 
World Trade Center site. These chosen few are intended to reshape the 
cultural life of Lower Manhattan, offering a mélange of art, history, dance, 
and theater. The Freedom Center will host exhibitions “centered on 
humankind’s enduring quest for freedom.” The center is designed to evoke 
institutions such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 
showcasing history to provoke contemporary consciousness. The center 
also hopes to attract world leaders and thinkers to conduct lectures and 
symposiums. The Drawing Center will feature exhibits of historical and 
contemporary drawings within an expansive gallery space. Plans also 
include an art education program, a bookstore, and a library, all to 
broaden pubic exposure to drawing as an art form. The Signature Theater 
Company’s center will produce season-long explorations of the works of 
a particular playwright -- past seasons have featured such luminaries as 
Sam Shepard and Arthur Miller. The center is planned to feature three  
theaters, a café and a bookstore. The theaters will also hold music 
performances, film presentations, and community events. The Joyce 
Theater International Dance Center will present diverse dance performers, 
from Savion Glover to the Joffrey Ballet.

Memorial Foundation Launches Story Builder:
The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation formally launched Story Builder- 
a collection of online stories contributed by individuals from all over the world 
that will become part of the permanent digital archive at the Memorial 
Museum- in January 2006. They have posted scores of stories and the 
archive is still growing.

If you have a September 11, 2001 story to share, please sign up and 
submit your own reflections. You can also include a photograph. The 
Memorial Foundation will review your submission and notify you when 
it has been published on the Web.

To add your story or for more information, visit www.buildthememorial.org.

Former Windows on the World Employees Open Restaurant:

Surviving workers from Windows on the World,the famed restaurant atop the 
World Trade Center, opened a new restaurant this month, Colors, on 
417 Lafayette Street in Lower Manhattan.

Colors’ menu will feature dishes cooked from the staff’s family recipes, including 
dishes from Thailand, Colombia, Morocco, Bangladesh, China, the U.S., Italy and 
Haiti. The menu, called “new American food” by Colors, will change with the 
seasons.

Windows on the World lost 73 employees on September 11, 2001. In addition 
to remembering their fallen co-workers, the members of Colors hope to help 
all restaurant workers by changing the restaurant industry.

NYC's Unspent September 11th Aid Money in Danger:

New York state received approximately $125 million from the federal 
government that was intended for workers who became ill or were injured in 
the September 11, 2001 attacks and aftermath. Now Washington wants 
that money back. New York opposes the government's plan to take back 
the money. "New York should retain this critical funding," was the word 
from Gov.George Pataki's spokesman Todd Alhart.

Reclaiming the money has been proposed by the President’s fiscal year 
2006 budget. A House committee meeting will be held the week of 
June 7, 2005 to consider taking the funding back.

New York AFL-CIO president Denis Hughes said the government's plan 
forgets that people may be in need of compensation for Sept.11-related 
injuries in years to come. "They offered New York $20 billion, and now 
these guys are fighting over $120 million? It's sad," he said. "They have 
forgotten the magnitude of this tragedy."

The Government Accountability Office’s Director of Health Care –  
Public Health Issues, Dr. Janet Heinrich, stated in 2004, “There is something 
ethically wrong when you screen for a disease, find it, and then don’t 
treat it, and that is what we are finding in this case [response to 
September 11].”

The federal government promised to give more than $20 billion to help New 
York after September 11, 2001. According to Congress’s Government 
Accountability Office (GAO), New York has used only $49 million through 2004.

"Right now we are able to provide treatment with philanthropic funding, 
but are troubled that there's no other resource," said Dr. Robin Herbert, 
who has examined more than 9,000 patients through Mt. Sinai’s World
Trade Center Medical MonitoringProgram.

Senator Clinton Visits the September 11th Families Association:
                     
The September 11th Families' Association was honored to host Senator Hillary 
Rodham Clinton at our office in March. She was presented with the initial concept of 
the Tribute Visitors’ Center by the Association staff and BKSK Architects. By the 
end of the meeting, the Senator was eager to lend her services in any way to help 
with the Tribute Visitors’ Center.
                     
“The Senator has always supported the September 11th community, and her 
enthusiasm for the Tribute Center is indicative of how much she cares about this city 
and the victims of that tragic day." said Marian Fontana, the Association’s President.
                     
The Association is excited to have the Senator's support behind Tribute. We look 
forward to building a partnership together. For more information on the Tribute 
Visitors’ Center, please click here.

Reclaiming Photographs Lost in New York on September 11th:

If you haven’t already received it, families of those killed on September 11th in New 
York should soon receive letters giving the access code and instructions for the Port 
Authority’s new website. The website contains more than 8,000 photographs that 
were retrieved from the WTC site and carefully restored by volunteers from the 
Eastman Kodak Company. The access code will ensure that these private 
mementoes remain private.

Every photo is assigned a number that you can use to claim the ones you own. 
The restored originals will be returned to you. Originals are currently in the care of the 
NYPD.

“This is an opportunity that could help the families who lost loved ones and survivors to 
deal with their grief,” said Kenneth Ringler, Executive Director of the Port Authority.


September 11th  Will Be Remembered at Fourth of July Celebration:
July 4, 2009
Alliance, Ohio

Two fire trucks used on September 11th at the World Trade Center  
will be on display in Silver Park this July 4.

93 Cents for Flight 93, a fundraising campaign for the Flight 93 Memorial, 
will have an exhibit with videos and information at the Park as well. Further  
information on the 93 Cents for Flight 93 program and on the 
progress of the  memorial itself may be found at www.honorflight93.org.

Of  course, fireworks, music, good food and many activities for children 
and adults  will also be available. The Fifth Virginia Regiment will 
demonstrate Revolutionary War weapons. The US Army will display a 
Humvee, a climbing wall  and a video. At 8:00pm, the US Air Force’s 
elite Scarlet Berets, the Fifth  Virginia Regiment, the Brass Band of 
the Western Reserve and the Alliance American Legion Post 166 Color 
Guard will conduct a flag  presentation.

All of the day’s food and activities can be found  in the upper portion 
of Silver Park. Please call Silver Park  at (330) 821-2260 for directions.

Friends  of the Park will providing a jump house for children at a cost of  
$1.00 as a fundraiser for the Park. Concerts, fireworks and other activities 
are free to the public. The day is funded by  donations from area 
businesses and service organizations and is organized by the Alliance 
Independence Day Fireworks Council.

Silver Park 
2930 S. Union Avenue (approximately one-half mile south of the 
intersection of State Street and Union Avenue)

Alliance, OH   44601 
(330) 823-6159
www.cityofalliance.com/parks





The 14th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing:

April  19, 2009 marks the 14th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of 
Oklahoma City’s Alfred P. Murrah  Building in which 168 people were 
murdered and many injured.

The  September 11 community mourns with the people touched by this  
atrocity and thanks the family members and survivors of that day for all 
their  loving support to us over the years. The Oklahoma City community 
have used their grief for good in so  many ways and have inspired so 
many with their courage, generosity and hope.

Please  observe a moment of silence at 9:02am on this day, to honour 
the moment in which so many lives were changed forever.

For  biographies of the 168 people who lost their lives on April 19, 1995, visit 
www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/secondary.php?section=1&catid=24.



September 11, 2001: Connecticut Responds and 
Reflects Travelling Exhibit:


September 11, 2001: Connecticut Responds and Reflects is a travelling 
exhibit developed by the Connecticut Historical Society. The exhibit has 
travelled since 2006 and will continue to do so until 2010.

Admission is free.

For questions regarding the exhibit, please call Anne Guernsey, 
Exhibit Developer, the Connecticut Historical Society, (860) 236-5621, ext. 256.

For more information, please call (860) 614-8520 or visit www.chs.org/911htm.

International Day of Peace:

Sunday, September 21, 2008

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United 
Nations as an annual observance of global non-violence and ceasefire. 
Every year, people in all parts of the world honour peace in various ways 
on 21 September.

The International Day of Peace urges “all nations and people” to 
commemorate the Day as an opportunity to promote peaceful resolutions 
of conflicts and to honour a cessation of hostilities during the day.

This year, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will ring the Peace Bell at 
United Nations Headquarters in New York in the company of the 
UN Messengers of Peace. He has called for a 24-hour cessation of 
hostilities on 21 September, and for a minute of silence to be observed 
around the world at noon local time.

September 21, 2008, the International Day of Peace, is an occasion to 
take stock of our efforts to promote peace and well-being for all people 
verywhere. 
                                           
www.internationaldayofpeace.org

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

911 Families © 2009