25 years after 9/11, Massachusetts to mark attacks with statewide moment of silence and “Tribute in Light”

Massachusetts is marking 25 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks with a statewide moment of silence on Friday and special tributes that include illuminating Boston buildings in remembrance of the tragedy. Gov. Maura Healey said she is directing flags in the state to be lowered to half-staff. She’s also “calling on residents, schools, businesses and organizations to observe a statewide moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. on Friday, September 11, marking the time the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.” Reading of the names After the moment of silence, there will be a reading of the names on the State House front steps of the 206 people from Massachusetts who were killed in the attacks.  You can watch it live on CBS News Boston.      

The two planes that terrorists hijacked and flew into the World Trade Center, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, both took off from Logan Airport in Boston. Madeline Amy Sweeney Award Every year on 9/11, the Madeline “Amy” Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery is awarded inside the State House to a local resident. Last year’s recipients were Jesse Winocour and Jason Papa, two Everett Department of Public Works employees who rushed into a burning home to save 14 people from a fire. Sweeney was a flight attendant from Acton working on Flight 11. She contacted the airline’s ground crew with information about the hijackers just minutes before the plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Tribute in Light The State House will be lit up with red, white and blue colors on the evening of 9/11. 

Several other Boston landmarks will be lit up in “Memorial Blue” as part of a worldwide “Tribute in Light” that represents the clear blue sky over New York City on the morning of 9/11. Participating buildings include the JFK Presidential Library, the Prudential Tower, Fenway Park, South Station Tower, The Hub on Causeway, the Hynes Convention Center, State Street – One Congress and the old Hancock Building. A 9/11 tribute featuring twin light beams on the summit of Mount Washington may also be visible in parts of Massachusetts, organizers say.  Boston 9/11 events At 11 a.m., there will be a rededication of the 9/11 memorial at Boston’s Logan Airport.

A wreath-laying for families who lost loved ones in the attacks will be held at Boston Public Garden at 1 p.m. in the 9/11 Garden of Remembrance.  The American Red Cross is hosting its annual Day of Remembrance blood drive all day at Fenway Park.  At 3:30 p.m. in Ashburton Park at the State House, the annual Massachusetts Fallen Firefighters Memorial ceremony will honor the first responders who gave their lives trying to help others in the attacks. 

Source: 25 years after 9/11, Massachusetts to mark attacks with statewide moment of silence and “Tribute in Light” – CBS Boston

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
1 Peter 3:9

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How teachers are keeping the lessons of 9/11 alive for a new generation of students

Empty elementary classroom with colorful learning displays and arranged desks

In West Des Moines, Iowa, roughly 1,100 miles from Ground Zero, history teacher Ann Krois is tackling one of the most defining moments of the past half-century. “Teaching students about 9/11 is critical,” Krois told CBS News. “I want them to understand what their previous generation experienced, that trauma, and how an event like that brought millions of people, not even just in the United States, but globally, together.”

Krois was in the third grade and had never even seen a skyscraper when terrorists turned four airplanes into weapons, killing almost 3,000 innocent people — a catastrophe that’s now history class for eleventh graders like Fitz Carpenter. “I actually learned some new stuff. I didn’t know how many people were evacuated on the boats,” Carpenter said. To develop her lesson plan, Krois joined a group of teachers from all over the country this summer at New York City’s 9/11 Memorial and Museum. It’s part of a program designed to teach teachers what happened at Ground Zero from those who were there.

That includes people like retired firefighter Bill Spade, the sole survivor of Staten Island’s elite Rescue 5. He was one of the last men to evacuate the north tower before it collapsed. “I can see the smoke coming from that first tower, that North Tower,” Spade said at one of the sessions for educators. “I hear the chief say, ‘We need four more rescues here and we have jumpers.'” In Alabama, Chris Theilacker carries a different perspective. Just age 25 on Sept. 11, 2001, the young Army officer deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan following the attacks. Today, he’s a high school teacher, passing along lessons of the global war on terror and of the resilience that followed. “It’s one of those watershed moments in U.S. history,” Theilacker said.

“It must be taught, the patriotic side of it, the messy side of it. It’s a great rallying moment for what we can achieve when we decide to work together.” Krois believes that every teacher in the U.S. should be required to talk about 9/11. “I know it’s hard to try to teach on September 11th to students, because, you know, some of them, it’s just their second week of school. But at some point, it definitely needs to be every state’s standard,” Krois said.

Source: How teachers are keeping the lessons of 9/11 alive for a new generation of students – CBS News

Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Matthew 24:44

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