Bells ring, moment of silence held in New York 22 years after 9/11 attacks

Bells rang and a moment of silence was held Monday at ground zero in New York to mark the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 

Ceremonies are taking place Monday across the nation at memorials, firehouses, city halls, campuses and other locations to pay tribute to the lives lost in the deadliest attack on U.S. soil. 

The attacks killed 2,977 people when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Virginia and a field in Pennsylvania where a third plane went down after passengers fought the hijackers. 

Americans, first responders, military members and political leaders gathered at the site of all three attacks Monday morning. 

In New York, a commemoration service is being held at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which is at the site that once held the World Trade Center, where the victims’ relatives read the names of the dead at the podium. Vice President Harris is expected to attend the ground zero ceremony. 

In Arlington, Va., Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon Memorial, where first lady Jill Biden was expected to lay a wreath in honor of those killed in the attacks. 

In Pennsylvania, the bells tolled as the name of each victim of the Flight 93 attack was read out at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Stoystown, operated by the National Park Service. Harris’s husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, is expected to attend. 

President Biden will commemorate 9/11 at a ceremony in Anchorage, Alaska, where he will meet members of the military and their families. The rural county will hold two anniversary commemorations — a morning service for first responders and an evening ceremony honoring all of the victims, according to The Associated Press. 

Other communities paid tribute with ceremonies including tolling bells, moments of silence, candlelight vigils and more. In Columbus, Ind., a 911 dispatch tribute recognized the lives lost in a message to fire and EMS radios in the city, which also held a public memorial ceremony. 

New Jersey’s Monmouth County, which was home to some 9/11 victims, made Sept. 11 a holiday this year for county employees to attend services. 

“Last year, we called on the federal government and state government to declare 9/11 as a holiday, but unfortunately that did not happen. So, Monmouth County is declaring September 11th, 2023 as a County holiday,” Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone said in a statement.

Ceremonies related to the 9/11 attack were held in some places last week, including at the New York City Fire Department’s World Trade Center Memorial Wall, where 43 names of firefighters who died from 9/11-related illnesses were added to the wall.