Sixteen years ago, one of the most profound and grim terrorist attacks took place across the East Coast of the United States. To remember the event that changed our country forever, several different companies and organizations coordinated memorial services to immortalize the event, and remember the awful everts that occurred on September 11th, 2001.
Commemorations in New York City began at 8:46am with a citywide moment of silence to mark the moment the first plane struck the World Trade Centers’ North Tower. USA Today hosted a 4 hour live-streaming event that began with a salutatory moment of silence at ground zero, enacted by President Trump, marking his first 9/11 anniversary. Several public speakers spoke to those who were killed, and payed respect to the families that lost their loved ones in these inconceivable attacks. Thousands of victims’ relatives, survivors, and rescuers gathered to remember the deadliest attack that has taken place on American soil.
White House Staff members participated in events as well, such as Vice President Pence traveling to the third attack site in Pennsylvania, where a memorial ceremony was held at the grounds of the attack. General Joseph Dunford and Defense Secretary James Mathis spoke at the Pentagon and draped a flag over the wall that was hit by another of the hijacked planes.
Newsday.com announced a candle light vigil at 7:00pm at Tobay Beach in Log Island. In addition to the candle light vigil, there was vocal performances and a bag-pipe performance along with religious readings to further immortalize the cultural losses that this attack left on our country.
As reported by the Washington Examiner, there was a “sound breaking” at the Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania for the memorials last 
element, the Tower of Voices. After completion, the 93 foot tall tower will hold 40 different chimes to symbolize the “eternal voices” of the passengers and crew members of flight 93.
Tribute in Light is a commemorative public art installation that was first presented six months after the first attacks. Every year since then, from dusk until dawn on September 11th, the ginormous light pillars beam up into the sky “echoing the shape an orientation of the twin towers” – memorializing the cultural shift that took place after the attacks.
