9/11 Victims Are Still Being Identified After 2 Decades
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 07: The Tribute In Light shines into the sky from Lower Manhattan during a test on September 07, 2021 in New York City. Honoring the victims of the September 11, 2001 attack that killed almost 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, the Tribute in Light is a commemorative public art installation that was first presented six months after 9/11 and then every year since on the anniversary. New York City is preparing to mark the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Today marks the 22nd Memorial Anniversary of 9/11. A day we will never forget in American History. Though the tragedy was over 20 years ago, the affects of the events on that day can still be felt today.
A couple of days ago, two more bodies were identified as victims of the events on 9/11. The Chief Medical Examiner identified victims 1,648 and 1,649 earlier last week through advanced DNA testing of their remains. The names of the two new victims have been withheld at the request of their families.
These are the first identifications since September 2021. To identify these victims, the medical examiners had to use next-generation sequencing technology that was adopted from U.S. military to identify the remains of missing servicemembers. The male victim was identified by DNA testing from remains recovered in 2001. The female was also identified through DNA testing, but from remains recovered in 2001, 2006, and 2013.
These advances in DNA technology may be a huge help, but there is still long way to go in identifying the victims of 9/11. Out of the total of 2,753 people reported missing in lower Manhattan after the attacks, only about 1,100 people have been identified. Even though death certificates were issued to all 2,753 missing people, authorities continue to work to identify more remains since only 40 percent have been identified after 22 years.
New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, made a statement regarding the newly identified 9/11 victims saying “As we prepare to mark the anniversary of September 11, our thoughts turn to those we lost on that terrible morning and their families who continue to live every day with the pain of missing loved ones,”
He continued “We hope these new identifications can bring some measure of comfort to the families of these victims, and the ongoing efforts by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner attest to the city’s unwavering commitment to reunite all the World Trade Center victims with their loved ones.”
[Source: CNN]
Music That Heals: Songs That Resonate In The Wake Of 9/11
September 11 was traumatic for the entire country, particularly if you were in the New York area. One thing that helped us to get through it was unity and solidarity, watching everyone come together to pull through a horrifying crisis. But another thing was music, whether it was songs from the era, songs recorded in response to the day, or older songs performed at various benefits and tributes that took on a new meaning, post-9/11.
I was stuck in New York City that day; I’d just started a new job at VH1. We all evacuated our building as most offices did. I lived (and still live) in New Jersey, and didn’t really want to attempt the trip home. Being on a bridge or in a tunnel didn’t seem safe at the time, and I think most mass transit had shut down. I had a friend downtown and she and her husband invited me to stay at their place. Walking downtown (I definitely wasn’t going to take the subway) was surreal: I was walking in the opposite direction that most people were. Going towards that huge column of smoke was horrifying, obviously. I had a “Discman” in my backpack and three CDs. One was an advance of Slayer’s album, God Hates Us All, which — bizarrely — was actually released on September 11. I couldn’t listen to that one that day, or for a long time afterward. I also had an advance of Bob Dylan’s “Love And Theft” which was also released that day. The album had a weird sense of foreboding, particularly on a song called “High Water,” about an impending disaster.
U2’s latest album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, was an album that I had been constantly listening to at the time, almost a year after its release. It worked for me on my long, strange and scary walk from midtown to downtown. “Beautiful Day,” the opening track and first single, felt bizarre given the circumstances but also had a sense of optimism that I needed, and ditto for “Elevation.” But some of the other more meditative songs — like “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of,” “In A Little While” and “Grace” actually helped. Some hit a little too hard: “Peace On Earth” and “New York” felt different than they did when I listened to them on September 10. I remember listening to “Walk On” a few times. Twenty years later, we know what locations were attacked, we know who died. But that morning, we didn’t know what was happening, or why, or when it would end. Somehow, Bono singing “And if the darkness is to keep us apart/And if the daylight feels like it’s a long way off/And if your glass heart should crack/And for a second you turn back/Oh no, be strong” was something I needed to hear. Every year on 9/11, as I process that day and the weeks after, I always listen to that album. Here are some other songs I inevitably turn to, every September 11th.
Rich grew up in the Bronx, NY but moved to Tampa in 2006 to attend the University of Tampa. Even though he completed 4 years at the University for Sports Management, Ortiz realized his true passion for radio after taking a couple of classes to fulfill his communications minor and volunteering at UT's WUTT radio station as a sports director. Rich also worked at several clubs in Tampa as a host/promoter where he would meet and work alongside Davy Rolando, who would be the one who would help him get a job at WiLD 94.1. From there, Rich worked his way up from Promotions assistant to promotions coordinator, to eventually full-time on-air. Rich loves to write about his favorite Tampa food spots, concert reviews, and the WiLDest Florida man/woman stories.
