A look back to the 9/11 terrorist attacks

NEW YORK, NY. (NEWS1130) – Victims of the September 11th terror attacks are being remembered at ceremonies across the U.S. today.  It’s been nine years since planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, as well as into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.  A fourth plane also went down in a field in Pennsylvania.  Many still remember where they were or what they were doing on that Tuesday morning.

U.S. President Barack Obama held a ceremony at the Pentagon, while first lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush spoke in Shanksville, Pennsylvania – the site of hijacked plane Flight 93.

The names of the over 3,000 victims were read aloud at Ground Zero this morning during a three-hour ceremony.

Marking the day, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the threat of terrorism  is still “very much a reality.”

Earlier today, UBC grad Mike Warner spoke live on News1130.  He was just three days on the job at Merrill Lynch at the World Financial Center, next door to the twin towers, when the planes struck.

He explains things didn’t really sink in for some time because no one knew what happened.  “I was walking to my apartment and it was still kind of an interesting morning, but no panic quite yet.  I remember on the way, some crazy man kind of jetted out and said, ‘They hit the Pentagon, they hit the Pentagon.’  I just thought he was a crazy guy.  The subways were shut down, because we knew something happened but no one really knew the impact of what was going to happen, which was the towers were going to fall.”

He says for the first time the city of New York was quiet, as people wandered around realizing the tragedy many of them had just witnessed.

Warner adds Ground Zero remains hallowed ground to this day.  However, he points out many are supportive of the controversial mosque project.  “It takes a real person to understand that you can’t blame an entire community for what happened.  The only way to get peace really is to accept others.”