NEW YORK — Today marks 23 years since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks that forever changed New York City and the nation.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed when al Qaida hijackers crashed four jetliners into the twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in southwest Pennsylvania.
On this day every morning for the past 23 years, families who lost loved ones in the worst terror attack on American soil make the solemn trek to observe the six moments of silence, hear the reading of the names, and fulfill a sacred promise to never forget.
As years pass, more and more names are being read by children and young adults born after the attacks – as an older generation passes on the grave responsibility of remembering this day to a new generation.
Watch the solemn remembrance at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum streaming live on CBS News New York in the video player above.
9/11 moments of silence A New Jersey police officer holds an American Flag before the start of the ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial on the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York. Pamela Smith / AP
Wednesday’s ceremony honors the 2,983 victims killed in the 2001