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The pain that never dies: 11 years on, the heartbroken fiancée of 9/11 firefighter shows how raw grief still haunts victims' families
- Carrie Bergonia breaks down at World Trade Center site as she remembers her fiancé, firefighter Joseph J. Ogren
- Thousands pay tribute to victims at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania
- Moments of silence observed to mark times of impact for four planes and when the Twin Towers fell, and names of 2,983 victims read by more than 1,000 relatives of victims at World Trade Center site
- President Obama addressed families outside Pentagon: 'Even the darkest day gives way to a brighter dawn'
- But for the first time at World Trade Center site, only families spoke in remembrance of loved ones
Her face creased with emotion as she remembers her fiancé at the site where he perished, Carrie Bergonia shows just how enduring the grief of the 9/11 attacks remains for the families left behind.
Gathering with other relatives and friends whose loved ones were ripped from them on that dark day, Bergonia was overcome with tears as she touched the name of her fiancé, firefighter Joseph J. Ogren, etched into the memorial pools at the World Trade Center site.
'I love and miss you so very much,' she wept as she read out his name at the service on Tuesday morning. 'Until we meet again.'
Bergonia and Ogren met in 1993 as they both vacationed in Cancun, Mexico, and were due to marry on August 10, 2002 in Pennsylvania.
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Pain: Carrie Bergonia cries as she remembers her fiance, firefighter Joseph J. Ogren, at the World Trade Center site on the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks
Struggle: Bergonia breaks down as she reads out her fiance's name, left. They had been together for eight years at the time of his death and were due to marry in 2002
He had followed in the footsteps of his father and, along with his twin brother Lance, graduated from Fire Academy in 1998. He was assigned to Ladder 3 near Union Square and, on September 11, 2001, responded with his team to the fifth alarm.
Bergonia and Ogren's family, including his parents, three brothers and sister, frantically searched for any trace of him in the weeks following the attacks, but he is believed to have perished as the Twin Towers collapsed.
Missed: Joseph J. Ogren, 30, was stationed by Union Square in New York City
Eleven years after his death, Bergonia gathered with the grieving families and friends of the 3,000 victims as they paid tribute at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and in rural Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
At the World Trade Center site, relatives clasped pictures of loved ones, while others brandished signs reading names and messages of love. Bagpipers played as police watched guard over the memorial pools and a giant flag unfurled on Freedom Tower.
More than 1,000 relatives of those killed and others gathered for the annual reading of the list of 2,983 people killed at the three sites.
The reading began at 8:39 a.m., with pauses for moments of silence at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:37 a.m. and 10:03 a.m., the time of impact for the four planes, and again at 9:59 a.m. and 10:28 a.m., the times that the north and then the south tower fell.
Alyson Low, 41, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, carried a picture of her sister, Sara Elizabeth Low, who was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to crash, striking the trade center's north tower. 'I'm tired,' Low said, tearfully. 'I am just so tired.'
'I feel much more relaxed' this year, said Jane Pollicino, who came to ground zero Tuesday morning to remember her husband, who was killed at the trade center.
'After the ninth anniversary, that next day, you started building up to the 10th year. This feels a lot different, in that regard. It's another anniversary that we can commemorate in a calmer way, without that 10-year pressure.'
At the somber day's biggest venue in lower Manhattan, the observance was missing a key feature from years past: politicians' voices.
'We've gone past that deep, collective public grief,' Charles G. Wolf, whose wife Katherine, was killed at the trade center, told NBC. 'And the fact that the politicians will not be involved, to me, makes it more intimate, for the families. ... That's the way that it can be now.'
But Joe Torres, who put in 16-hour days in the "pit" in the days after the attacks, cleaning up tons of debris, said another year has changed nothing for him.
'The 11th year, for me, it's the same as if it happened yesterday,' he said. 'It could be 50 years from now, and to me, it'll be just as important as year one, or year five or year ten.'
In previous years, politicians including U.S. presidents, state governors and New York City mayors have participated in the reading of the names, or have read from the Bible or recited passages from literature.
This year, only the families of the more than 2,750 who were killed when militant Islamist hijackers crashed two jetliners into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, causing their collapse, are appearing on the podium to read their names.
Love lost: Melissa Pullis, of Hazlet, New Jersey, stands at the engraving for her husband and father of her three children, Edward, during memorial ceremonies at the World Trade Center site. September 11, 2001 had been her 33rd birthday
Emotional: A reader breaks down in tears while reading victims' names during ceremonies at Ground Zero. The list of 2,983 people killed at the three sites is read out over three hours
Heartbreak: A woman cries as she leans on a friend near the name of Thomas Tong who died in the attacks, at the South Pool wall
Grief: A woman holds up a picture of a victim before ceremonies marking the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York
Struggle: Dennis Swindell leans over to kiss the inscribed name of his partner, Gary Lee Bright, on the South Tower pool wall
Day of remembrance: A flag is carried past observances held on the eleventh anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center
Memorial: Judy Parisio places an American flag in a plaque of names of the victims at North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial
Politicians may still attend, but under event rules set down in July by the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, chaired by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, none may speak or participate in the reading of names. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will attend the New York ceremony this year.
At the Pentagon outside of Washington, where more than 180 were killed when a hijacked plane was flown into it, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and President Obama spoke in a ceremony that will be closed to the public, attended only by victims' families.
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In a moving speech, the president praised the strength of the families and reflected how the country's 'darkest day' had given way 'to a brighter dawn'.
'Eleven times we have marked another September 11,' he said. 'Eleven times we have paused in remembrance in reflection in unity and in purpose. This is never an easy day but it is especially difficult for all of you - the families of nearly 3,000 innocents who lost their lives. The rest of us cannot begin to imagine the pain you have endured.
Paying tribute: Ava Kathleen Schmoelzer, age 7, from Stamford, Connecticut places flowers on the South Tower pool wall in memory of her aunt
Prayers: A woman pauses outside outside of the World Trade Center site on the eleventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks
Tears: Hector Garcia watches over his wife Carmen as she hugs the name of her daughter Marilyn who was killed in the north tower
Pain: Scott Willens, who joined the United States Army three days after the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01, pauses as he reflects by the South Pool on friends he has lost while on deployment
Never forget: Anna Favuzza copies the name of her brother, Bernard D. Favuzza, who worked at the World Trade Center, and died, on September 11, 2001
Tears: Peggy Bourke and Susan Friedes listen as names of victims are read out by the World Trade Center site
Loved: Khudeza Begum etches the name of her slain nephew as memorial ceremonies are held by the Ground Zero site
Courage: The World Trade Center Flag is presented as friends and relatives of the victims watch on, with some brandishing pictures of their lost loved ones
Show of love: A family member holds a picture of George Cain from the Fire Department at the World Trade Center site
He continued: 'But no matter how many years pass... you will never be alone. Your loved ones will never been forgotten. They will endure in the hearts of our nation - through their sacrifice they helped make the America we are today. The America that has emerged even stronger.'
He added that, since September 11, the country has 'dealt a crippling blow' to Al Qaeda and terrorism.
'Tragedy has brought us together,' he said. 'This anniversary allows us to renew our faith that even the darkest day gives way to a brighter dawn... Even though we may never be able to fully lift the burden of those left behind, we know somewhere a son is growing up with his father's eyes and a daughter with her mother's smile.
'No single event can destroy who we are. no act of terrorism can change what we stand for.'
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