<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nThe first of several moments of silence at New York’s annual September 11 ceremony was rife with emotion Monday – as Americans mark 22 years since the attacks took thousands of lives<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nOfficials were seen unfurling a US flag on the west side of the Pentagon early Monday morning – a hint of some of the ceremonies set to take place observing the 22nd anniversary of the September 11 attacks<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Also spotted in the crowd was New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who joined Harris in the crowd for the traditional name reading and the tolling of the bells.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In total, six moments of silence will be observed – commemorating when each of the towers was struck and collapsed, as well as the times corresponding to the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of United Flight 93.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first was held after the tolling of the bells at 8:46am, which marks the beginning of the attacks – when hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into floors 93 through 99 of the North Tower. The impact killed all 92 on board.<\/p>\n
At 9:03am, a second moment of silence was held – marking when hijackers deliberately crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into floors 77 through 85 of the South Tower – leaving no doubt in any New Yorkers’ mind at the time that the attacks were planned and malicious in nature.<\/p>\n
The next was at 9:37am, when another group of terrorists deliberately crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, just outside the nation’s capital.<\/p>\n
A fourth was then held at 9:59am to mark the moment the South Tower, the second structure to be hit, collapsed, with another slated for four minutes later – to mark the moment passengers on United 93 heroically stormed the cockpit in a bid to retake the plane from their attackers.<\/p>\n
In response, the hijackers crashed the plane into an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania – likely saving many lives, as many theorized the plane’s target was either the White House or the Capitol.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The final moment of silent mourning, meanwhile, is slated for 10:28 am – the time that The North Tower collapsed, leaving the 16-acre World Trade Center site in ruins and the collective US consciousness in tatters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, across the country, the rescue effort commenced immediately – a taste of the resilience present in the heart of countless Americans in the centuries before, and after, the senseless tragedy.<\/p>\n
The president’s visit, en route to Washington, D.C., from a politically driven trip to India and Vietnam, is a reminder that the impact of 9\/11 was felt in every corner of the nation, however remote it may be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nKamala Harris and Eric Adams were among those at the ceremony at Ground Zero, one of several set to commence across in honor of the lives lost<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nFlordia Gov Ron DeSantis\u00a0and his wife Casey DeSantis also attended the ceremony, the 21st held in the wake of the senseless attacks that forever changed the country<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nAlso present for the procession was former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who joined Harris in the crowd for the traditional reading of the names and the tolling of the bells<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nAlso present was Bloomberg’s predecessor – and mayor at the time of the tragedy – Rudy Giuliani. Despite recent legal woes involving ex client Donald Trump, he made time to attend<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nAlso spotted was New York Gov. Kathy Hochul,\u00a0who joined Harris in the crowd for the traditional name reading and the tolling of the bells<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nHarris, Bloomberg, and Hochul all looked somber at the remembrance ceremony, the most attended in the country<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nPAST AND PRESENT: The ceremony serves as an opportunity to look simultaneously toward both the past and future, learning from the tragedy while honoring lives lost<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nFlying from Florida to attend the annual event, DeSantis was joined by his wife Casey<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nLaw enforcement officers rang a bell as names were read during the remembrance ceremony – which will have have six tollings in total timed to coincide with the events of that day<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nSara Nelson, a United Flight Attendant based in Boston who lost 9 friends on flight 175, is seen mourning at the memorial at Ground Zero Monday morning. The first moment of silence was held at 8:46am<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/noscript> <\/div>\nOther commemorations set to take place Monday morning include ones at the other attack sites, in New York (seen here) and Pennsylvania. Others will be held as far as Alaska, where president Biden is slated to attend a ceremony in Anchorage<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
On that day, ‘we were one country, one nation, one people, just like it should be. That was the feeling – that everyone came together and did what we could, where we were at, to try to help,’ said Eddie Ferguson, the fire-rescue chief in Virginia’s Goochland County.<\/p>\n
More than 100 miles from the Pentagon and more than three times as far from New York, the site – like dozens of others across the US – share a sense of connection is enshrined in a local memorial incorporating steel from the World Trade Center\u00b4s destroyed twin towers.<\/p>\n
The predominantly rural county of 25,000 people holds not just one but two anniversary commemorations: a morning service focused on first responders and an evening ceremony honoring all the victims.<\/p>\n
Other communities across the country pay tribute with moments of silence, tolling bells, candlelight vigils and other activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Shanksville, volunteers at the Flight 93 National Memorial were seen placing a wreath at the entrance of the memorial plaza early Monday, to honor the passengers who heroically stormed the cockpit forcing hijackers to crash in a field only a few miles from Washington, DC.<\/p>\n
In Arlington, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin participated in a wreath laying ceremony to honor the 184 people killed at the Pentagon – the last of the tree crash sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Columbus, Indiana, 911 dispatchers broadcast a remembrance message to police, fire and EMS radios throughout the 50,000-person city, which also holds a public memorial ceremony.<\/p>\n