Wednesday, September 11, 2013

9/11 Anniversary to Be Marked with Somber Tributes

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: NEW YORK (AP) — Sept. 11 victims' loved ones were gathering at ground zero early Wednesday to commemorate the attacks' 12th anniversary with the reading of names, moments of silence and serene music that have become tradition.

At a morning ceremony on the 2-year-old memorial plaza, relatives will recite the names of the nearly 3,000 people who died when hijacked jets crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pa., as well as the 1993 trade center bombing victims' names. Beforehand, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, musician Billy Joel, firefighters and others are expected to join in a tribute motorcycle ride from a Manhattan firehouse to ground zero.

"No matter how many years pass, this time comes around each year — and it's always the same," said Karen Hinson of Seaford, N.Y., who lost her 34-year-old brother, Michael Wittenstein, a Cantor Fitzgerald employee.

"My brother was never found, so this is where he is for us," she said as she arrived for the ceremony with her family early Wednesday. » | Jennifer Peltz, Associated press | Wednesday, September 11, 2013