The United States is marking the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with solemn services to commemorate the victims of the deadliest terror strikes on American soil.It was the first foreign attack on the US mainland in almost two centuries killing nearly 3,000 people
The names of the dead will be read out in a remembrance service at Ground Zero in New York on the site of the rebuilt World Trade Centre, and President Barack Obama will address a ceremony at the Pentagon.All houses of worship across New York City will toll their bells at 8:46 a.m. ET as institutions observe a moment’s silence to mark the instant when the first plane struck the World Trade Center’s north tower.
Then family members will begin the annual ceremonial reading of the 2,977 names of those who died in New York, Arlington, Va., and Pennsylvania, as well as the six people killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
“This weekend, we honour their memory once more. We stand with the survivors who still bear the scars of that day,” Mr Obama said on Saturday.
Both candidates are expected to attend the New York ceremony.
Held at the September 11 memorial, the service will pause six times — to mark the moments when each of the two planes hit, when each tower fell, as well as the attack on the Pentagon and Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania.
During the first moment of silence at 8:46 am, the time when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower, houses of worship in New York have been asked to toll their bells.
Mr Obama will observe a moment of silence at the White House before addressing a memorial ceremony at the Pentagon.
“In the face of terrorism, how we respond matters,” he said in his weekly address.”We cannot give in to those who would divide us. We cannot react in ways that erode the fabric of our society.”
George W Bush, who was president at the time of the attacks, is not expected to attend either ceremony in New York or Washington.Instead, his office said he will go to church in Dallas, Texas and then attend the Dallas Cowboys home opener against the New York Giants, where he will take part in the ceremonial coin toss with two New York police officers who were at Ground Zero on 9/11.
