Vice President Pence will take part in a scaled-back commemoration of the 9/11 terror attacks in lower Manhattan on Friday.
The veep and his wife, Karen, plan to participate in a name-reading ceremony sponsored by the Tunnels to Towers Foundation after the main National September 11 Memorial & Museum scrapped its traditional gathering over coronavirus concerns.
“The horrific loss of life … requires that we read these names out loud, in person, on this day, every year,” said Frank Siller, head of Tunnel to Towers, who lost his brother, FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller, in the attack. “We can never minimize that fateful day.”
About 130 close relatives and friends of 9/11 have been invited to attend the event, which will take place on the street near the corner of Church and Liberty streets on Friday morning.
As in past years, it will take most of the morning to read the nearly 3,000 names of those who died on Sept. 11, 2001.
All participants will be required to wear masks and will comply with social distancing regulations, a foundation representative said.
The rep said the group had received permission for the event from authorities.
The Tunnels to Towers Foundation is also handling 9/11 light displays in Washington D.C., where a plane crashed into the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Penn., where a hijacked plane crashed after passengers sought to overwhelm terrorists.
The traditional light display at the former site of the Twin Towers will be done as usual by the September 11 Memorial & Museum.
The memorial initially balked at putting on the inspirational light show this year, citing a coronavirus budget gap. But the state and ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg ponied up the cash to make it happen.
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