Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Americans are paying tribute to the people who were killed and injured on the nation’s darkest day.
A special light tribute was displayed in Washington DC and will continue to shine above the Pentagon through early Sunday morning.
Several organizations and academic groups, including one at Pepperdine University, are placing displays of 2,977 flags – one for each person killed on Sept. 11, 2001.
Artists have created murals depicting the faces of the victims. A set of chalk drawings is on display at the crash site of Flight 93 – which was hijacked by terrorists who planned to attack the U.S. Capitol, but were ultimately stopped by the passengers and crew onboard – in Stoystown, Pennsylvania.
Acts of tribute and rememberance are expected to continue throughout the weekend.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum’s annual Tribute in Light featuring twin blue beams that shine into the night sky over lower Manhattan will be seen from dusk to dawn on Saturday.
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Americans are paying tribute to the people who were killed and injured on the nation’s darkest day (Pictured: Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners in a terrorist attack September 11, 2001 in New York City)
The One World Trade Center is reflected on a nearby building ahead of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in Manhattan on Sept. 10, 2021
Preparations are underway in New York City for the annual memorial ceremony at ground zero.
The ceremony, which will take place on Saturday, honors the 2,983 people killed in the attacks at the World Trade Center site, the Pentagon, aboard Flight 93, and those who died in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, according to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
The focus of this year’s commemoration will be the reading of the names of the deceased by family members.
The ceremony will also observe six moments of silence, acknowledging when each of the World Trade Center towers was struck and fell and the times corresponding to the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93.
The program is slated to begin at 8.30am Saturday, with the first moment of silence taking place at 8.46am.
The annual Tribute in Light will also shine into the sky over lower Manhattan from dusk to dawn on Saturday.
Members of the public pay their respects at the 9/11 Memorial in New York on Sept. 10, 2021
Members of the public pass flowers left at the 9/11 Memorial in New York on Sept. 10, 2021
Members of the UN Security Council gather at the World Trade Center on Sept. 9 to pay tribute to the victims of 9/11 and commemorate the 20th anniversary of the action the Council took, as a united front, in response to the attacks
The committee also placed a wreath at the memorial with a note reading: ‘never forget’
NY Gov. Kathy Hochul places flowers on the reflecting pool at the World Trade Center on Sept. 8
NY Gov. Kathy Hochul pays her respects to the victims of 9/11 with former Mayor and Chair of the Sept. 11 Memorial Mike Bloomberg on the morning of Sept. 8
Family members place memorabilia next to the names of their loved ones at the 9/11 memorial in New York City
Cleaning and repair continues on Empty Sky, the official New Jersey 9/11 memorial, honoring the state’s victims of the terror attacks.
The Empty Sky Memorial at Liberty State Park in Jersey City features two identical walls that bisect a hill directly across from Ground Zero.
The NJ 9/11 Memorial Foundation is hosting a 20th anniversary memorial ceremony at the site on Saturday.
The event will include a 5K Run/Walk.
leaning and repair continues on Empty Sky, the official New Jersey September 11 memorial to the state’s victims of the terror attacks, the day before the annual commemoration at Liberty State Park across the Hudson River from Manhattan
The Empty Sky Memorial at Liberty State Park in Jersey City features two identical walls that bisect a hill directly across from Ground Zero
The NJ 9/11 Memorial Foundation is hosting a 20th anniversary memorial ceremony at the site on Saturday
The memorial event will feature a 5K walk and run
The Empty Sky Memorial (pictured on Sept. 10, 2021) is dedicated to New Jersey residents who were killed during the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania
The Tower of Light display in Washington DC is already underway.
It honors those who died when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. All 64 people on the plane and 125 people in the building were killed.
The beam will also illuminate the Flight 93 memorial, honoring the 40 passengers and crew onboard the United Airlines flight that was targeting the U.S. Capitol building.
Due to their actions, the attack on the capitol was thwarted.
According to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, the Tower of Light displays should be visible from as far as 60 miles away.
The Tower of Light illuminates the sky over Arlington, Virginia on Sept. 9, 2021.
The single beam, as seen from the Washington Monument, is shown in the sky near where Flight 77, piloted by al Qaeda terrorists, slammed into the Pentagon building on Sept. 11, 2001
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation held its inaugural ‘Tower of Light’ tribute in 2020 and brought the event back again this year for the 20th anniversary of the attacks. This photo shows the beam as seen rom the US Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia on Sept. 9, 2021
The beam – shining throughout the Greater Washington DC area – is seen from the Washington Monument on the National Mall on Sept. 9, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the attacks
The Tower of Light honors the people who died when American Airlines Flight 77 was crashed into the Pentagon, killing all 64 people onboard and 125 people in the building
The beam, seen from the US Air Force Memorial on Sept. 9, is made up of 44 individual lights and can reach 18,000 feet into the air on a clear night
The Towers of Light at the Pentagon was illuminated on Sept. 9 (as pictured). The light will shine over the Flight 93 Memorial on Friday, Sept. 10
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation Towers of Light tribute will remain lit until the early hours of Sunday, Sept. 12
The Tunnels to Towers Foundation plans to bring the light back every year
For the 14th consecutive year, Pepperdine University commemorated the lives lost in the 9/11 with the Waves of Flags display at Alumni Park on the school’s Malibu campus.
Nearly 3,000 flags are flyig along Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon Road. A flag was placed for each innocent victim, including a national flag for each foreign country that lost a citizen in the attack.
The Waves of Flags tribute was started by Pepperdine students in 2008 and has become an annual tradition.
This year, ahead of the 20th anniversary, the university launched the Waves of Flags Endowment Fund to ensure permanent support for the tribute.
The flags will be on display for public viewing from until Sept. 25.
Additionally, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the attacks, Pepperdine will commemorate lives lost with the Honoring the Heroes of 9/11 event, which features a day of activities held on the Malibu campus where all community members can come together to connect and reflect on the tragedy
For the 14th consecutive year, Pepperdine University commemorated the lives lost in the 9/11 with the Waves of Flags display at Alumni Park on the school’s Malibu campus
Nearly 3,000 flags are flyig along Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon Road. A flag was placed for each innocent victim, including a national flag for each foreign country that lost a citizen in the attack. The flags will be on display for public viewing from until Sept. 25
The Waves of Flags tribute was started by Pepperdine students in 2008 and has become an annual tradition. This year, ahead of the 20th anniversary, the university launched the Waves of Flags Endowment Fund to ensure permanent support for the tribute
Additionally, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the attacks, Pepperdine will commemorate lives lost with the Honoring the Heroes of 9/11 event, which features a day of activities held on the Malibu campus where all community members can come together to connect and reflect on the tragedy
A group of 11 chalk artists from around the country came together to pay tribute to the crew members and passengers of Flight 93 at the National Memorial in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
They worked for two days on the portraits of the forty passengers and crew who perished in the crash of Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.
The portraits are on display along the flight path leading to the Flight 93 National Memorial.
The portraits are expected to remain on display throughout the weekend, however local radio station 90.5 WESA reports that the memorial is considering making the artworks part of its permanent collection.
Naomi Haverland, of Orlando, Fla., (pictured) is one of several chalk artists who came together to pay tribute to the crew members and passengers of Flight 93 at the National Memorial in Somerset County. Heverland is pictured working on a portrait of flight attendant Lorraine G. Bay from East Windsor, N.J.
Haverland (left) helps move a chalk portrait of Flight 93 Captain Jason M. Dahl, of Littleton, Colo., along the flight path taken by Flight 93 that leads to the national memorial
A group of 11 chalk artists from around the country worked for two days on the portraits of the forty passengers and crew who perished in the crash of Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. The portraits are on display along the flight path leading to the Flight 93 National Memorial
Chalk artist Erica LuBer (bottom center), from Allentown, Pa., works on a chalk portrait of Colleen Fraser, from Elizabeth, NJ., who was one of the 40 passengers and crew who perished on Flight 93
Chalk artist Naomi Haverland (left) pleaces the chalk portrait of Flight 93 Captain Jason M. Dahl, of Littleton, CO, along the flight path take by Flight 93
Chalk artist Erica LuBer (pictured), from Allentown, Pa., works on a chalk portrait of Colleen Fraser, from Elizabeth, NJ., who was among the passengers and crew on Flight 93
The portraits are expected to remain on display throughout the weekend, however local radio station 90.5 WESA reports that the memorial is considering making the artworks part of its permanent collection