Terror Will Never Win: 1000s Gather at Ground Zero for 9/11 Memorial

Born from the often unspeakable horrors that shocked the world on a bright, warm Tuesday morning 24 years ago, the solemn reading of the names of the victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center terror attack was more than an occasion for sorrow on the similarly pleasant morning of Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.

The annual ceremony, held at the World Trade Center memorial site, is the scene also of great resolve and even quiet joy, as the persons left behind—some now aged, others who were but children or not yet born—honor the inspiration they take from the lives of those who perished.

Admission to the free event is restricted to family members of 9/11 victims—including those who died from 9/11-related illness—first responders, myriad dignitaries, and the press. Security for the event was robust though not oppressive, with scores of 9/11 Memorial & Museum workers present to guide people coming to the site from Church Street, which was also lined with many police.

This reporter got in at Liberty Street, an opportune location to see the dozens of American flags and other displays of pageantry outside the station house of FDNY Engine 10, Ladder 10, aka Ten House, on the southwest corner of Liberty and Greenwich streets. Ten House lost six men on 9/11 and is home of the FDNY Memorial Wall. Unveiled in June 2006, the 56-foot-long bronze bas-relief bronze sculpture includes the names of all 343 FDNY members who died on 9/11 and the inscription “Dedicated to those who fell and those who carry on.”

A Big Tent With Big Names

Entering the memorial grounds proper after a thorough bag check at around 8:20am, one immediately saw the diverse ways in which those present were indeed carrying on.

Around the South Tower memorial pool, there were already flowers, cards, and other tributes in place, put there by mourners, many in groups—some wearing matching T-shirts honoring a specific 9/11 victim—others by themselves, including a somber Hindu man who removed his shoes for the occasion.

Such scenes would be repeated countless times around the North Tower pool, where there was a large ribbon-festooned display erected by the Allied Pilots Association. Between the two planes that struck the World Trade Center, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, there were four pilots, 19 flight attendants, and one customer service representative on board.

Elsewhere on the grounds, people—workers and attendees—were engaged in their myriad roles of the day, with the bulk of the crowd gathered around a stage erected between the two memorial pools where the reading of the names would occur. Facing the stage were rows of plastic chairs and behind them, the press stand, including the camera crews who would broadcast the event live. At stage right was the VIP tent.

With everyone having already passed through security and literally hundreds of cops around, from heavy-weapons-toting Port Authority Police officers to suit-wearing, plainclothes security details around, the VIP area wasn’t isolated from the crowd. While secure, it was easy to walk through and also catch glimpses of Mayor Eric Adams; and former Mayors Mike Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani, the latter wearing a plastic upper-torso body cast over his suit, following a recent car crash, and what appeared to be a Yankees World Series ring.

Also seen were Governor Kathy Hochul and former Governor Andrew Cuomo; FBI Director Kash Patel; NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch; Senator Charles Schumer; Borough President Mark Levine; Council Member Christopher Marte; Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; and current mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani.

According to the Daily News, Mamdani—a Democratic Socialist whose past call to “globalize the intifadah” remains a very sore point for some—wasn’t being snubbed but rather accorded a place respectful of his current position as a State Assembly member.

Names and Tributes

At 8:40am, the procession ceremony began, including the NYPD Emerald Society pipers, the carrying of the American flag, and the singing of the National Anthem, which was timed to end before the first of six moments of silence, 8:46am, when the South Tower was hit.

The reading of the names followed in strict alphabetical order, starting with Gordon M. Aamoth Jr., 32, of Manhattan, who worked for investment firm Sandler O’Neill & Partners, on the South Tower’s 104th floor, to Igor Zukelman, 29, of Queens, who worked for the Fiduciary Trust Company on the North Tower’s 97th floor.

With two podiums set up on stage, the names were read alternatingly by teams of two, most readers wearing small blue ribbons, while a single police officer or firefighter in dress blues stood behind them. Each team read about 50 names, including those of the relative they represented, over a gentle bed of light classical cello, lute or flute music, and after the names, each reader offered brief personal tribute to the fallen.

Among the paired readers were the young niece of Alejandro Cordero, 23, who worked at accounting firm Marsh & McLennan in the South Tower, and part of a large, loving Dominican family in Washington Heights; and Aaron Sand, son of Eric M. Sand, 36, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower.

“Twenty-four years ago today I lost my dad,” said Aaron. “I was only 1-1/2 years old. Not a day goes by that I am not missing you, and not thinking of you. Every day, something happens that I wish I could share with you. . . . And God bless all of our first responders who put their lives on the line every day to save everyone who’s effected by tragedy and god bless America. The terrorists who committed the atrocities on 9/11 will never, ever win.”

With the reading of the names so egalitarian, it might seem invidious to highlight only a few people for more attention. This reflects only the limits of the space. May others add to a list that includes:

Dennis P. McHugh, 34, firefighter of Engine 22, Ladder 13, Battalion 10 at 159 East 85th Street between Third and Lexington avenues, one of the “Yorkville 9“ who died on 9/11. McHugh left behind a wife and three children, ran the New York Marathon, and enjoyed playing Gaelic football.

Alejandro Cordero, 24, mentioned above, but noted twice because this reporter not only heard his young female cousin speak on stage but spoke himself to his two brothers, Moises Vladimir and Wellington, unmissably carrying a green-and-white street sign for Alejandro Cordero Way, the official co-naming of West 164th Street at Fort Washington Avenue in Washington Heights.

Keith Broomfield, 49, a mechanic for Advent Industrial, a company that builds broadcast transmitters, including those atop the North Tower, 1 World Trade Center. A Jamaican-born Brooklynite, he was memorialized by the matching baby blue T-shirts worn by his large family. On the shirts, Broomfield wears angel wings above the inscription, “Gone but never forgotten.”

FDNY Fire Marshal Ronald Paul Buca, 49, an Army special forces veteran in Vietnam and later a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst and firefighter who survived a five-story tenement fall, earning him the affectionate nickname “The Flying Fireman.” There were many special forces soldiers around this morning, and this reporter was soon introduced to US Army Green Beret Ron Buca Jr., who was seated on a bench with his beautiful infant child and wife.

NYPD Detective Jewel Todman-Phillip, died of 9/11-related illness, aged 67, in Peekskill, NY. Represented by various family members in matching orange T-shirts that read “Heroes Live Forever” above a smiling photo of the 20-year veteran cop and a radiant Black woman. “Never Forgotten . . . Shield 1249. EOW (End of Watch): 6/23/2020.”

That evening, the twin blue beams of the annual “Tribute in Light” installation soared from Ground Zero to the heavens above.