September 11 Memorial Up-Close

Families who lost loved ones on September 11 are attending a special ceremony on Sunday to dedicate the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.

The memorial will be open to the public on September 12.

Families are seeing their loved ones' names inscribed on the memorial for the first time at the ceremony.

The site contains original items such as stairs, support beams and the only tree to survive the attack.

SLIDESHOW OF SITE:

Comments

[AGP]

10:34 AM on 09/12/2011

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 ANOTHER DAY WHICH SHALL LIVE IN INFAMY


Yesterday we memorialized our fellow beloved Americans who gave their last full measure to defend freedom’s cause. Our leaders were present. Loved ones who lost the love of their hearts, and children of the innocents murdered on that day were all present. Gone for the moment was the political rancor of past debates. America came together yesterday to honor its fallen heroes. It was a sad yet special day for our great country and our heroes.


Although our great President Franklin Roosevelt has long since been summoned home, his great words of observation still echo through the annals of time. The Japanese took the lives of innocent Americans on December 7, 1941. They are analogous to our loved ones taken on September 11, 2001. Roosevelt chose his words with much refection that December, A DAY WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY – DISGRACE. Yesterday’s memorial adds to that horrible disgrace a day of everlasting gratitude and reverence from all of us. This is truly freedom’s gift


Dr. Alan G Phillips

Bloomington,IL

[Jimmy Goodman]

08:20 AM on 09/12/2011

It's a good memorial, but a better one would be to make sure it never happens again: "9/11: Have We Overlooked the Most Effective Way to Prevent Terrorism and War? " http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­jeanne-bal­l/post_238­4_b_956963­.html

[Don Stalvino]

04:14 AM on 09/12/2011

$500 million for draining pools, no thanks.

[laurasweet]

04:12 PM on 09/11/2011

In honor of today's 10th anniversary of this tragic event, I have compiled a post that features a good look at the 9/11 Memorial, Monuments and Museums at the site of Ground Zero. I thought your readers might appreciate it.

http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com/2011/09/images-and-information-about-911.html

[Joylynn Graham]

05:21 PM on 09/11/2011

I think it's beautiful. Thank you for the clarity...it is much easier to gain perspective through your presentation.

[krashkey]

03:44 PM on 09/11/2011

Can you please take the advertisements off the slide show?

[Joylynn Graham]

02:00 PM on 09/11/2011

I think the reflecting pools are beautiful and very symbolic. It is difficult for me to gain good perspective on the rest of the site from these photos so I won't even attempt to judge them. What I do believe however is that a lot of conflicting emotions had to be accommodated and respected and whenever that is the case it is impossible to get a straight flow on something. It is obviously not finished yet and will be a work in progress for a long time to come. That is good; it is life's dynamic response to death...

[Jeff Agin]

01:38 PM on 09/11/2011

After 10 years this what they came up with,disappointing.What did they do with the money?
This place will have many visitors,they could have made it much more special for the families and
all in the world that care.I don't see caring and love in this project,sorry to say.

[Eddy LaBarr]

01:32 PM on 09/11/2011

...Think of the volume of work and the intellectual levels of the designers, engineers, planners, financiers and workers who created those magnificent towers; Then think of the level of skill and intelligence of those who built the airliners from the days of the Kitty Hawk; Then think of the mentality of those who slit throats, hijacked and flew the planes into the WTC towers, blocking out the reality that the lids of their coffins would close on them with the deaths of 3000 souls to their credit. Mostly burned to death, crushed under tons of concrete & steel and baked @ 1800 degrees for six weeks. This describes the level at which they passed into eternal life. We honored them here by burying their ashes, along with the other rubble at the dump with a bulldozer, A Historic Site; The Landfill Of The Unknown Terrorist. Some of the steel from those structures has been reforged into the USS New York, a peacekeeper’s platform designated to keep our world free for time to come. The U.S. needs to stay vigilant. The Good have become better and the Bad have become worse. Nothing could ever fill those 2 building sites at Ground Zero, the waterfalls are a good idea, a place for peace and reflection on life, but like any old psychological baggage, There is a need to detach.

[Emily Haraldson]

01:06 PM on 09/11/2011

I think this is fitting. I don't believe that buildings should have gone up where the World Trade Center towers once stood. I think that would have been disrespectful to the dead and those who mourn them. We haven't stopped building, it's all around where the towers once stood, but the site itself remains sacred ground and that's how it's been preserved.

[Jolene Hendrickson]

01:02 PM on 09/11/2011

I personally feel that this was put together sloppy and the pieces from the Towers were just thrown in at the last minute, I'm sorry it's just not what I would expect for a Memorial to such a tragic, horrendous act!!! I'm not a family member so but if this satisfies them then I'm glad for them so we can as America Move On!!!

[satanmademedoit]

12:50 PM on 09/11/2011

i think we couldve done better too, although i hope this memorial brings a little closure every year that goes by for those who lost someone...i guess that's the real point anyway...

[Greg Gorelick]

12:35 PM on 09/11/2011

Wow. 10 years later and we've still got a hole in the ground. And a few trees.

[horhay]

03:30 AM on 09/12/2011

Yes, more trees please.

[madame fate]

11:49 AM on 09/11/2011

I think it's a very good thing that they have a memorial to this travesty but that 'reflecting pool' looks like a big old drain with the water running away down the hole in the center. I don't know. Maybe it's more impressive close up but I just don't think there was much thought put into that idea.

sorry, don't mean to offend anyone...

[Brody Levesque]

12:09 PM on 09/11/2011

September 11th, 2011

It's unfortunate that you cannot appreciate the symbolism of the twin waterfalls & reflecting pools relative to the events of that sunny morning now ten years ago.

Consider that the twin towers collapsed nearly straight down on themselves and then please consider that these waterfalls, as displayed, are symbols of life itself and its continuity.

Brody Levesque
Washington D.C.

[madame fate]

12:36 PM on 09/11/2011

Yeah, I guess it is "unfortunate that I cannot appreciate the symbolism, etc., etc." Thanks for pointing out my inability to 'get it'. You will notice that I have not pointed out your flaw, right?

Two sink holes draining away water doesn't inspire me. Good for you that it does.

Have a nice day.

[Greg Gorelick]

12:36 PM on 09/11/2011

No, I agree. The ultimate response would have been to quickly rebuild, or erect a new building. 10 years and they've planted a few trees? Even with all symbolism aside, it's aesthetically just not that nice.

[madame fate]

12:42 PM on 09/11/2011

I feel like so many memorials in the past few decades are just all edges and angles and there's no beauty or grace to them. People like to say they are very "Zen-like" but I don't think they get the true concept of Zen. They focus on bare minimalism and call it Zen.
Perhaps it's just the times. We have become distanced from each other so impersonal structures might be more appealing at this time. All I know is, to my eye, I find that sort of structure unattractive and depressing. Maybe that's the point.

[Lance Mouacdie]

12:48 PM on 09/11/2011

At the cost of realestate in NY Its one costly Memorial. Especially in cost of Lives...