The dedication for the 9/11 Memorial will be held today on the site of the World Trade Center complex, near where the Twin Towers once stood.
Although the majority of those in the Mid-Ohio Valley will not be in New York City for the dedication, they say their thoughts are with those attending the dedication and the family members of those who perished on Sept. 11, 2001.
Julie Wilson, 48, of Lowell has been to Ground Zero three times. Her most recent trip was this spring, when she took a bus tour of lower Manhattan.
Wilson and other riders were taken to a viewing center high above Ground Zero, where the group could see the ongoing construction for the 9/11 Memorial through a large glass window.
"(Everyone) was very somber and quiet," said Wilson. "I was saying a prayer for them and reflecting on the idea that that many could be killed in that short of time."
From their vantage point, Wilson and fellow bus tour members could see the waterfalls running down into the two reflecting pools at the site's Memorial park.
According to Wilson, the tour guide pointed out the 9/11 museum located just to the side of the pools.
"It's a very, very odd-shaped building," said Wilson. "It's not tall, and it looked like a long hallway from the distance."
Brenda Evans, 60, of Fleming, was teaching a morning reading class to her first-grade students at Barlow-Vincent Elementary School that unforgettable day.
"I remember a teacher came down the hall and said an airplane had struck one of the Twin Towers," said Evans.
Very shortly after, Evans heard the same teacher announce the crash of the second airplane.
"I knew something terrible had gone wrong," Evans noted. "I had to kept teaching as if nothing happened."
After that day and until she retired in 2009, Evans taught her students the names of all the U.S. presidents and had them sing "God Bless America" and recite the "Pledge of Alliance" every school day.
"I became more patriotic in my classroom," she said.
Evans visited New York several years after 9/11, when construction on the memorial was just beginning.
"I visited the church next to (the Twin Towers) where the firemen slept," said Evans. "Children had paintings there, and I could relate to what the children drew."
Marc Coppernoll, 44, of Marietta got his first glimpse of Ground Zero in 2002. At the time, it was still a big pit, many buildings hadn't been demolished and nearby buildings had debris and dust.
"It was overwhelming," Coppernoll remembered. "It kind of took your breath, the amount of people who got killed there."
A firefighter with Marietta Fire Department, Coppernoll said he was especially moved by what he saw.
"I was trying to imagine what the firefighters went through," said Coppernoll.
Although commercial buildings are going up near the memorial, Heather Stalter, 25, of Marietta said she has no problem with the mix of commerce and precious memories.
"Life still needs to continue, and life goes on," noted Stalter.
Phyllis Reiner, 74, of Marietta agreed with Stalter about the area's new commercial ventures.
"As long as (the buildings are) in good taste, and if they're respectful to that area," Reiner said.
According to Evans, the 9/11 Memorial is an appropriate tribute to Sept. 11, 2001.
"I think it's a good idea because that's where it happened," noted Evans. "Those who lost loved ones can go back and pay their respects."
Stalter was in agreement about the importance of the memorial.
"Anytime something like this happens, it's appropriate to remember those who lost their lives."
Stalter said she wants to see the 9/11 Memorial someday.
"I'd love to go," she said.
Reiner said she would also like to visit the memorial.
"If I would be up there (New York), I would definitely want to go," she said.
Coppernoll said he also likes the idea of a 9/11 memorial site.
"I think the way they did it was a class act," he said. "They didn't build right back on the same exact spot. They're leaving it like Arlington (National) Cemetery, like hallowed ground."
The 9/11 Memorial opened on Sept. 11, 2011, the 10th anniversary of the attacks. It is located on the western side of the former World Trade Center complex where the Twin Towers once stood.
The Memorial Park surrounds two enormous reflecting pools set within the footprints of the North and South towers. This is where the towers used to stand.
The names of people who were killed in the 9/11 attacks in New York, at the Pentagon and on Flight 93, as well as in the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center, are etched in bronze around the edges of the pools.
The 9/11 Memorial
