Wednesday will be the 12th anniversary of that ominous day in U.S. history when a megalomaniac, banished from his native Saudi Arabia for his history of terrorism, managed to kill nearly 3,000 people in the space of 75 minutes on American soil.
A little more than two years ago, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was finally executed by an elite Navy SEALs team in Pakistan for his crimes against humanity. But the impact his evil engendered in America on Sept. 11, 2001, will never die.
Observances will take place Wednesday at the three sites of the attacks he engineered via hijacked planes that crashed into buildings in New York City and Arlington, Va., and a field in rural Pennsylvania.
Fountains spilling toward the center of the earth, seemingly into infinity, are now at ground zero where the World Trade Center’s monumental Twin Towers once stood before they were struck at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, then collapsed at 9:59 a.m. and 10:29 a.m.
Loved ones of the 2,749 victims including firefighters, police officers and other emergency personnel who died that day will be assembled there.
A wreath will be placed at the Pentagon in northern Virginia, in memory of the 184 who perished in that terroristic plane crash.
The crash site of United Flight 93 that is now a movingly simple memorial in beautiful Somerset County, Pa., is also bound to draw loved ones of the 40 passengers and crew members who died trying to reclaim the plane from terrorists believed to be bound for the U.S. Capitol.
Their families have made it clear that while they don’t want the world to ever forget what happened on that horrible morning 12 years ago, they have a need to heal as much as can be expected, away from the graphic recounting of the attacks and even from the well intentioned memorial events.
Here in Delaware County, pastors at many churches will likely make note of the sad anniversary with prayers.
Several Delaware County fire companies have pieces of fallen beams from the World Trade Center that they have designated as memorials to their comrades who sacrificed their lives trying to save victims frantically attempting to flee the collapsing Twin Towers.
Indeed, the best way to comfort people who have endured such unthinkable losses as the survivors of those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks is not to smother them in ceremony but to let them know that 12 years later, they still are not alone.
