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Grief and tears as family and close friends gathered at the World Trade Center in New York on Wednesday to honor those killed during the September 11 attacks 18 years ago.
“This is the first time I've been here because I live so far away that I haven't been able to get here,” said Connie Dray who lives in Denver.
Dray's cousin Mary Lou Hague was 26-years-old and working on the 89th floor of the South Tower when a hijacked plane struck the building.
“She had the whole world ahead of her. She was one of those people that was near perfect in every way and in everything she did,” said Dray. “I guess sometimes those are the people God takes.”
Emily Toro's son Issac Cortes was killed fighting in Iraq in 2007. Cortes had joined the military after 9/11.
Toro said she has a bond with the families who gather every year at the World Trade Center.
‘I understand them. They understand me and you can't forget. Never forget.”
Candace Carroll was in high school in 2001. Her uncle was killed on September 11.
‘Now it's been more than half my life which is crazy to think that way,” she said. “It became part of life. I guess it just makes me appreciate things a little bit more.”
Commemorations also took place in Washington and in Pennsylvania to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by al Qaeda, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed.
REUTERS