Giant quilt exhibit commemorates victims of 9/11

By Antonine Anyango - Mon Sep 12, 9:42 am

U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA LEADS MOURNERS DURING A CEREMONY IN NEW YORK TO MARK THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS ON THE UNITED STATES. SEPTEMBER 11, 2011 MARKS THE 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE EVENTS THAT KILLED NEARLY 3,000 PEOPLE — EVENTS THAT MOTIVATED THE UNITED STATES TO ENTER TWO MAJOR WARS, AND CHANGED SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS IN AIRPORTS, SHIPPING PORTS AND ALTERED THE COURSE OF HISTORY.

Hundreds of people gathered in New York City to remember the attacks that took place in the United States on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Families and friends of those who died in the hijacked plane attacks on the World Trade Center gathered at the site to pay tribute as authorities worked to ensure the emotional 10th anniversary was peaceful.

Among them was Gus Moutos, a retired U.S. Army Colonel. He said he’s often been in combat situations.

“I’ve seen it many times. But to attack a building full of innocent civilians defies anything anything I’ve ever seen,” said Moutos.

Law enforcement authorities in New York and Washington were on high alert against what was described as a “credible but unconfirmed” threat of an al Qaeda plot to attack the United States again a decade after the toppling of the World Trade Center’s twin towers by hijacked airliners.

Security in lower Manhattan included police barricades on every block near the World Trade Center site with police asking people for identification. People gathered near the site, some clutching American flags, to watch a large screen set up to show a remembrance ceremony here. Family members arrived wearing T-shirts with the faces of the dead, carrying photos, flowers, American flags and other mementos in an outpouring of emotion.

Sunday’s ceremony was the first 9/11 anniversary event in New York which included an American president.

Both President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush attended the ceremony and made opening remarks.

The ceremony also includes moments of silence marking when the planes hit the twin towers as well as when they collapsed. Other moments of silence mark when a plane hit the Pentagon and another crashed in Shanksville after passengers fought back against the hijackers.

To mark the 10th anniversary, Obama was set to visit all three attack sites.

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