US marks 21st anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks

Americans are remembering 911 with moments of silence readings of victims names volunteer work and other tributes 21 years after the deadliest terror attack on US soilVictims relatives and dignitaries will convene Sunday at the places where hijacked jets crashed on Sept 11 2001 the World Trade Centre in New York the Pentagon and a field in PennsylvaniaOther communities around the country are marking the day with candlelight vigils interfaith services and other commemorations Some Americans are joining in volunteer projects on a day that is federally recognised as both Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and RemembranceThe observances follow a fraught milestone anniversary last year It came weeks after the chaotic and humbling end of the Afghanistan war that the US launched in response to the attacksBut if this Sept 11 may be less of an inflection point it remains a point for reflection on the attack that killed nearly 3000 people spurred a US iquestwar on terroriquest worldwide and reconfigured national security policyIt also stirred for a time a sense of national pride and unity for many while subjecting Muslim Americans to years of suspicion and bigotry and engendering debate over the balance between safety and civil liberties In ways both subtle and plain the aftermath of 911 ripples through American politics and public life to this dayAnd the attacks have cast a long shadow into the personal lives of thousands of people who survived responded or lost loved ones friends and colleaguesAlso Read Joe Biden appoints two IndianAmericans to his National Infrastructure Advisory CouncilMore than 70 of Sekou Sibys coworkers perished at Windows on the World the restaurant atop the trade centres north tower Siby had been scheduled to work that morning until another cook asked him to switch shiftsSiby never took a restaurant job again it would have brought back too many memories The Ivorian immigrant wrestled with how to comprehend such horror in a country where hed come looking for a better lifeHe found it difficult to form the type of close familylike friendships he and his Windows on the World coworkers had shared It was too painful he had learned to become attached to people when you have no control over whats going to happen to them nextEvery 911 is a reminder of what I lost that I can never recover says Siby who is now president and CEO of ROC United The restaurant workers advocacy group evolved from a relief centre for Windows on the World workers who lost their jobs when the twin towers fellOn Sunday President Joe Biden plans to speak and lay a wreath at the Pentagon while first lady Jill Biden is scheduled to speak in Shanksville Pennsylvania where one of the hijacked planes went down after passengers and crew members tried to storm the cockpit as the hijackers headed for Washington AlQaida conspirators had seized control of the jets to use them as passengerfilled missilesVice President Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff are due at the National Sept 11 Memorial in New York but by tradition no political figures speak at the ground zero ceremony It centres instead on victims relatives reading aloud the names of the deadReaders often add personal remarks that form an alloy of American sentiments about Sept 11 grief anger toughness appreciation for first responders and the military appeals to patriotism hopes for peace occasional political barbs and a poignant accounting of the graduations weddings births and daily lives that victims have missedSome relatives also lament that a nation which came together to some extent after the attacks has since splintered apart So much so that federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies which were reshaped to focus on international terrorism after 911 now see the threat of domestic violent extremism as equally urgentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever