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Two
Years After the Attacks |
Posted:
09.10.03
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Thursday marks the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks on the United States. Ceremonies around the
country will be less elaborate than those held the first year
following the attacks, but government officials will visit the
sites in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
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At New York City's ground zero, the former site of the World
Trade Center, children of the victims will read aloud the names
of the 2,792 people who were killed at the site. The public may
attend as space permits, but preference will be given to the victims'
families. Due to security concerns at the trade center memorial,
Vice President Dick Cheney will attend a service honoring fallen
Port Authority officers and employees later in the day.
Several ceremonies will take place in and around Washington,
D.C., the site of the attack on the Pentagon, the  headquarters
of the United States' Department of Defense. At the Pentagon itself,
officials will dedicate a stained glass window in the chapel to
honor the 184 killed there. Nearby, at Arlington National Cemetery
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will lay a wreath. President
Bush will attend a prayer service at St. John's Church, participate
in a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House and
visit wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
According to the White House, President Bush will designate this
year's memorial a "National Day of Remembrance" and
"Patriot Day."
In Shanksville, Pa., Interior Secretary Gale Norton will visit
the field where one of the hijacked planes crashed, killing 40
people.
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September
11, 2001, and its aftermath |
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The ceremonies planned will commemorate the harrowing events
of Sept. 11, 2001. On that day, terrorists linked to the Muslim
extremist group al-Qaida hijacked four commercial jetliner flights.
Two crashed into the World Trade Center buildings, another hit
the Pentagon, and one plane, which some officials speculate was
intended to fly into a Washington, D.C., target, crashed in a
field in southwestern Pennsylvania.
 The
terrorist attacks sparked what has come to be known as the war
on terrorism: the United States' ongoing effort to combat terrorists
and the individuals and organizations that support them. This
war has come to involve military operations in Afghanistan and
increased domestic security, including tightening immigration
and border controls and adopting the Patriot Act. President Bush
has said the new frontline of this war is the ongoing mission
in Iraq.
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Memorials |
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Permanent memorials are being planned for all three sites.
In New York City, architect Daniel Libeskind won the World Trade
Center competition to create the redevelopment plan for the ground
zero site.  The
highlight of his design is a needle-like "Freedom Tower"
that rises 1,776 feet into the air, echoing the year that the
United States became an independent nation. In addition to the
redevelopment of the site, a memorial to those killed at the site
in 2001 and 1993, the year of the first bombing of the World Trade
Center, is being planned. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
is administering a contest to choose who will design the memorial.
The finalist will be announced in fall 2003.
New York architects Julie Beckman and Keith Kaseman won the competition
to design the memorial at the Pentagon. Their design features
184 benches, one for each victim, arranged in parallel rows that
mimic the path that flight 77 made into the building. Benches
honoring those who were in the plane face one direction; those
that honor individuals in the building face the other.
In Pennsylvania, the memorial is still in the planning stages
though it will include the creation of a national park.
--
Annie Schleicher, Online NewsHour
(World Trade Center memorial artist's rendering
courtesy of archimation)
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It's important to understand both sides in an election, and I think it will be interesting to hear the Republican opinion on big issues. As a writer, it will be my job to take that perspective and share it with the youth of the country, a crowd that mainly supports Obama.
