25 Years Later, A New 9/11 Tribute Will Remember Those Lost To Illness

NEW YORK CITY — A new moment of silence will honor the people who later died from illnesses or injuries linked to the attacks at the 25th anniversary ceremony in Lower Manhattan.

The new moment will recognize people who became ill after responding to the attacks, working at Ground Zero or living and working near the site.

Family members of the people killed in the 2001 attacks and the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing will read the names during the ceremony.

The list includes 2,977 people killed in the 2001 attacks and six people killed in the 1993 bombing.

For Paula Grant Berry, the annual reading of the names remains a powerful ritual.

Grant Berry lost her husband, David, in the 9/11 attacks, and 25 years later, returning to the Memorial and hearing his name read aloud still offers a measure of catharsis, she said.

Now, as more people who survived the attacks and their aftermath have died from related illnesses, Grant Berry said the act of remembering has taken on new weight.

"Soon, those who witnessed 9/11 will be outnumbered by generations who know that day only through the names we read aloud, the names etched in bronze on the Memorial, and the stories preserved in the Museum," Grant Berry, a founding trustee of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, said.

"That is how we ensure that those we lost remain more than history."

More than 100 million Americans were born after September 11, 2001, or were too young to remember the attacks, according to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

The museum plans to mark the anniversary with educational programs aimed at students and teachers around the world.

Its annual digital learning program will feature a 30-minute film with first-person accounts of the attacks and their aftermath, followed by a live online discussion with museum staff.

The museum will open a new exhibition on Sept. 12 examining how the attacks inspired acts of service.

“In Their Honor: 25 Years of 9/11-Inspired Service” will use personal accounts, artifacts and multimedia exhibits to examine how people responded to the attacks and how those experiences shaped their lives.

The museum also will ask people nationwide to participate in “Remember the Sky” on Sept. 11 by sharing photographs of the sky alongside personal messages of remembrance.

The project draws inspiration from artist Spencer Finch's Museum installation, “Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning.”

Hundreds of thousands of people responded to the attacks and the cleanup efforts in New York, Arlington, Virginia, and Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

At Ground Zero, workers searched for victims and removed nearly 2 million tons of debris while fires burned for more than 100 days.

Exposure to dust, smoke and other hazardous materials later became associated with numerous illnesses among responders, survivors and people who lived or worked near the World Trade Center site.

The ceremony will also include musical performances by Jennifer Nettles, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Musica Reginae and the Harlem Chamber Players will provide additional musical accompaniment.

The two beams of light will rise over Lower Manhattan at dusk on Sept. 11 and remain visible through the night before fading at dawn Sept. 12.

People who cannot attend the ceremony in Lower Manhattan can watch a livestream of the event through the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

The museum also will bring its annual Tribute in Light display to television audiences nationwide for the first time.