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Catalonia Day!

Happy Catalonia Day!

Feliç Dia Nacional de Catalunya!

25: Remembering

From the BBC:

“'Never, ever forget' - America marks 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks”

Twenty-five years after 9/11, US presidents past and present have commemorated the lives lost when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

President Donald Trump led a Pentagon ceremony, while US Vice-President JD Vance attended a memorial at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, along with all four living former US presidents and first ladies. Moments of silence were held to mark the timings of the attacks and the names of nearly 3,000 people who died were read out.

Commemorations were also held in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed after passengers fought back against the hijackers. George W Bush, who was president at the time of the attacks, was joined by former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton at Friday's ceremony.

At the Pentagon, President Trump attended a commemoration alongside cabinet secretaries and Condoleezza Rice, who was US secretary of state on 9/11. "Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago," Trump said. "We will never, ever forget. That's why we fight today." He sought to link the "war on terror" that followed 9/11, which sparked years of US involvement in Middle East wars, with his current conflict in Iran. Trump told the crowd that the Islamic Republic "will never, ever have a nuclear weapon".

Janice Brooks had only moved to New York a couple of weeks before 9/11 to begin what she calls "the biggest adventure", working for a company on the 84th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. She told the BBC she was in the office when the first plane hit the North Tower. While she was evacuating, the second plane hit with an "almighty thud". Brooks said she heard "one of those horror film screams" as a woman was hit by debris. She looked up and saw a "big gaping hole" where her office should have been. Every year on 11 September, bells ring to commemorate the exact time that each of the four planes crashed, and the exact time the Twin Towers fell.

Each of the six bells is followed by a moment of silence. This year, a seventh bell was rung to commemorate the thousands who died from diseases including cancer after the attacks. Illnesses related to dust and smoke from the towers' collapse have since claimed more than threefold the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the attacks, US health officials say.

As the names of the dead were read out for nearly four hours at the ceremony in Manhattan, a 9/11 widow criticised Saudi Arabia and what she characterised as failures by US officials to hold the kingdom accountable. "You are missed more with each year that passes," Terry Strada said of her husband Tom Strada in remarks broadcast live worldwide. "But how can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder?" The comments by Mrs Strada, national chairperson of 9/11 Families United, drew applause from the audience. The majority of those who carried out the 9/11 attacks were from Saudi Arabia and planning was led by al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin-Laden, scion of a prominent Saudi family. But Saudi officials have repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks, and in 2004 the 9/11 Commission Report cleared the country of any involvement.

Events were also held elsewhere to honour the victims. In London, there was a ceremonial event at Buckingham Palace attended by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and the US ambassador Warren Stephens. The Toronto Stock Exchange also held an event to remember colleagues who died in the attacks.

In Gander, Newfoundland, the US ambassador to Canada praised the small town that took in thousands of passengers from 38 diverted planes in the hours after the attack. "When people in America hear the word Gander, our hearts soften," Pete Hoekstra said. "As a representative of the United States government, thank you for your friendship... to the nation of Canada, thank you for being a partner and for the shared sacrifices that you made with us." His remarks come amid fraught relations between the US and Canada, with the two countries engaged in a trade war. Ahead of the 9/11 commemorations, some Gander residents had called for Hoekstra's invite to be rescinded. Still, Hoekstra's speech was met with applause. But in separate remarks afterwards, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said: "I have message for American friends... never mistake our generosity for weakness." He received a standing ovation.

In Milan, a group of Italian and US firefighters participated in a ceremonial stair climb to honour the emergency responders who died in the line of duty. Dressed in their uniforms and carrying equipment, they climbed 110 floors up and down the Galfa Tower, in remembrance of the number of storeys on each of the Twin Towers.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyjqvjzlwno

25: In Pictures

25^th Anniversary of the 9-11-01 Terrorist Attacks In Pictures:

At the World Trade Center Site in New York City:

 

At Shanksville, Pennsylvania:

 

At The Pentagon:

 

 

25: Then Vs Now

 

25: Animals

25 YEARS LATER, WE REMEMBER THE ANIMAL HEROES OF 9-11.

When the World Trade Center towers fell on September 11, 2001, hundreds of specially trained search-and-rescue dogs were deployed to Ground Zero, the Pentagon and other affected areas.

Working beside their Human Handlers, they climbed across unstable wreckage, squeezed into dangerous spaces and searched tirelessly for Survivors.

As hope of finding People alive began to fade, they continued the heartbreaking task of locating those who had been lost.

Other Dogs provided something equally important: comfort.

Therapy Dogs sat beside exhausted Emergency Workers, grieving Families and traumatised Survivors.

They offered warmth and companionship during moments when words simply weren’t enough.

The Animals could not understand the enormity of what had happened, but they understood their purpose.

They searched when asked, remained beside their Handlers and brought comfort simply by being there.

Some suffered cuts, dehydration and exhaustion, while Handlers carefully washed dust and debris from their eyes, paws and coats.

Today, none of the known 9-11 Search Dogs are still alive.

25: 9-11

 

25: Wheelchair

 

25 years ago today (on September 11, 2001) 22 year old John Cerqueira and his Boss, Michael Benfante, went from the 81st Floor down to the 68th Floor of the North Towers of the World Trade Center after the planes hit the Towers.

On the 68th Floor they came across a Woman they had never met, Tina Hansen, in a mechanized wheelchair who needed help evacuating since the elevators weren’t working.

The 2 Men transferred Tina from her mechanized wheelchair to a nearby evacuation wheelchair and started carrying her down from the 68th Floor.

It took an hour for the 2 Men to carry the wheelchair and Tina from the 68th Floor to the outside (through thick smoke, fires and lots of people.)

They had made it down 20 Floors when the South Towers Collapsed rocking the North Towers.

They quickened their pace and made it down to the outside where a News Reporter took their picture (right after they handled Tina Hansen to Paramedics and moments before the North Tower fell.)

A year later John Cerqueira was at Michael Benfante’s Wedding as was Tina Hansen, in her new wheelchair.

Picture: John Cerqueira on the left and Michael Benfante on the right shortly after leaving the World Trade Center carrying Tina Hansen in a wheelchair from the 68th Floor and handing her over to the Paramedics. Moments later the Towers fell.)

Old Friend

 

25: Jumper

25 years ago today (September 11, 2001) an estimated 200 People jumped to their deaths from the burning Towers of the World Trade Center before they collapsed.

They have since been called “Jumpers."

The vast majority were at or above the points of impact from the planes and had to choose either to burn or choke to death or jump.

In early video coverage (when the Towers were burning, but hadn't collapsed yet) you can hear the "thumps" as their bodies hit the ground.

This is a picture (called “The Falling Man”) of an unidentified Man who jumped out of the burning Towers to the street below. It was only published once in the United States (on September 12, 2001) and then never again because many people thought it was too horrific to see.

It IS horrific and that is why EVERYONE (especially those too young on 9/11 or not yet born then) needs to see it and others like it. It captures exactly what happened on 9/11. Thousands of innocent Men, Women and Children started their day like any other and then were wounded or killed because of the actions of the Terrorists.

The NY Medical Examiner’s Office doesn’t classify the People who jumped from the Towers as “Suicides” because they did not go to their work that day intending to die.

They were faced with no other options since no Rescue Workers could get to them and the smoke and fire were about to consume them.

In the Documentaries and other Video Footage of the Attacks you can clearly hear the “thumps” and “crashes” of those who jumped as they hit other buildings, cars, people or the streets below.

The exact number of “Jumpers” will never be known since both Towers fell on top of them afterwards.

Rosh Hashanah