60 Dead In 9/11 Attacks From Union County To Be Honored Thursday

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ — Union County as a whole will be joining together all day on Thursday, Sept. 11 to honor the 60 residents lost in the 9/11 attacks 24 years ago.

The September 11th Memorial in Echo Lake Park will be under watch of a uniformed Honor Guard from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Individuals are encouraged to bring and light candles at the site. There will also be candles available courtesy of the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation.

The memorial, finished in 2003, came as a collaborative design effort by members of the Union County County Commissioners alongside residents of Cranford, Elizabeth, Kenilworth, Linden, Mountainside, Rahway, Scotch Plains, Summit, Union and Westfield.

Steel from the World Trade Center stands on a five-sided brick base to honor those lost at the Pentagon. The remnants are positioned next to a sculpture of a hand holding an eternal flame, paying tribute to the Armed Service members, emergency responders and riders aboard United Flight 93 that crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

Visitors should use the Springfield Avenue entrance to the park in order to access the memorial site. Many of the county's communities are also holding their own remembrance events on Thursday.

Nearly 3,000 Americans, including at least 750 from New Jersey and six from Summit, were killed in the suicide attacks orchestrated by 19 militants with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaida. Most of the victims were from either New York or New Jersey, where many who lived across the Hudson River from the World Trade Center recall watching the twin towers falling into a cloud of smoke from their homes.

More than 2,700 people died at the World Trade Center alone on 9/11, including the passengers of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175. Another close to 200 were killed when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and more than 40 died on United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

RELATED COVERAGE:

1. Cranford Honoring Residents Lost In 9/11 Attacks
2. Summit Honoring Residents Lost In 9/11 Attacks
3. Westfield Honoring Residents Lost In 9/11 Attacks