The Nation Pauses to Remember 9/11

As they have since the first commemorations more than a decade ago, families of 9/11 victims and first responders are honoring the 14th anniversary of the terror attacks at the World Trade Center by reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 who perished and holding moments of silence during milestone moments.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stepped out of the White House at 8:46 a.m.—coinciding with the time the first plane struck the North Tower—to observe a moment of silence.

Small flags and flowers dot the perimeters of the hallowed site’s reflecting pools, tenderly affixed near the names of the victims. Families of the victims in the 1993 World Trade Center attack also read names.

Nereida Valle carried a photo of her daughter, Nereida DeJesus, who was 31 and working for Aon when she died on the 98th floor of the South Tower.

“I feel her every day,” Valle told The AP.

United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston was headed to Los Angeles when it was hijacked by terrorists and crashed into the South Tower, killing all 65 people aboard.

Additional moments of silence are held at 9:37 a.m., when Flight 77 hit the Pentagon; 9:59 a.m., when the South Tower collapsed; 10:03 a.m., when Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pa.; and 10:28 a.m., when the North Tower fell.

Other remembrances will take place across the city on Friday, including a ceremony Mayor de Blasio will attend at the Staten Island 9/11 Postcards Memorial at the 4 North Shore Esplanade and a candlelight vigil in Juniper park in Queens, where the community will honor the victims with music, poems and reflections.

Vice President Biden will deliver remarks at the 9/11 Memorial Motorcycle Ride Kickoff event at 1 p.m. at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Gov. Andrew Cuomo also will attend.

The New York City Fire Museum at 278 Spring St. will hold a memorial service at 1 p.m. to mark the sacrifices by members of the NYFD. Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro and Department Chief James Leonard will be in attendance.