The 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan commemorated on Wednesday afternoon the 32nd anniversary of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Families gathered around the North Reflecting Pool at noon on Feb. 26, clinging to flowers as they looked to honor their loved ones who lost their lives over three decades ago.
John DiGiovanni, Robert Kirkpatrick, Stephen Knapp, William Macko, Wilfredo Mercado, and Monica Rodriguez Smith with her unborn child died when terrorists ignited a bomb containing 1,200 pounds of explosives in the Twin Towers underground garage at about 12:18 p.m. on Feb. 26, 1993.
More than a thousand people were injured in the attack, which many would look back upon as a tragic harbinger of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center that followed eight years later, which led to the Twin Towers’ destruction and nearly 3,000 deaths.
President and CEO of the 911 Memorial and Museum Beth Hillman told amNewYork Metro that the annual Feb. 26 ceremony is not only about paying tribute to the victims of the first terror attack suffered at the World Trade Center but also about ensuring generations to come are aware of the horror that took place.
“Many people today are too young to remember what happened in 2001 with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and certainly too young to remember what happened in 1993,” Hillman said. “We’re grateful for the chance to educate new generations about the attacks on those two days, the impact on the families and the communities that were a part of the people most affected, who were killed that day and who helped to respond, and then the resilience and the courage compassion of all those people who responded to help rebuild and help heal after those tragedies.”
Wednesday’s memorial event saw the reading of the victims’ names, including Mercado, who worked for Windows on the World restaurant and was checking in food deliveries; and DiGiovanni, who was a dental supply salesman visiting the building at the time of the blast. Following the ceremony, families placed flowers where their loved ones’ names are etched.
The combined number of victims from the 9/11 attacks and the 1993 bombing is 2,983.
Despite rising fears that the horrific date will fade in the minds of generations to come, Hillman says she is bolstered by the fact that more young people arrive at the ceremony each year and that the museum’s programs continue to educate and inform.
“I have great faith in the future generations of family members who will continue to come back here to commemorate the 1993 bombing and the terrorist attacks of 9/11, but also in the new generations who are learning from us,” she said. “Our mission is supported by generous donors and members, and the 25 million people who have visited the museum to learn about it, so I have great faith that they’ll continue to carry these messages forward and learn from what happened.”
