District Schools Commemorate 9/11

Students at Mt. Pleasant Elementary make a quilt of good deeds for Patriot Day.

  Students throughout the district's elementary schools probably do not remember anything from Sept. 11  --  most were not even born yet. Their ideas and memories of the event have been filtered through the lens of television, books and stories.  But that did not stop the schools from recognizing the eleventh anniversary on Tuesday.  Sept. 11 is know as Patriot Day in the United States. It is a day of service that honors the victims, police, firefighters and paramedics who responded to the crisis. And these were some of the very words spoken by fifth-graders at their 9/11 ceremony at Pleasantdale Elementary School this week.   Schools and students commemorated 9/11 with various activities, such as a moment of silence followed by an …

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11 Years After 9/11: 'Essex County Remembers'

Many gather at Eagle Rock Reservation Tuesday morning to recall the terror attacks that changed America forever.

  One of the many who looked out from the September 11 Memorial at Eagle Rock Reservation early Tuesday morning was Richard Harris, a flight attendant for United Airlines. “I have never been to a memorial service,” said Harris. “It was emotional because I knew all the people on that flight, Flight 93." Harris was scheduled to work on Flight 93 that day eleven years ago, which crashed in Shanksville, Pa., but he changed his schedule to work on another plane.  This year, however, he said he wanted to attend a ceremony. “I have to move forward,” he said.   Eleven years ago, crowds watched from Eagle Rock Reservation as the New York City skyline was blackened by smoke after planes hit the World Trade Center buildings. On Tuesday, many returned…

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Mike Bolger

1:54 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

A beautiful message that we should all embrace.   more ›

Essex County Remembers 9/11 Tuesday

A ceremony will mark the 11th anniversary of the terror attacks at the September 11 Memorial in West Orange.

  Essex County will hold a memorial service at Eagle Rock Reservation Tuesday morning in West Orange to remember those who died 11 years ago in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.  Overlooking the New York City skyline, Essex County Remembers will mark the eleventh anniversary of the tragedies in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. The ceremony will begin at 8 a.m.  The program will include family members who lost a loved one, elected officials, and clergy members from various faiths.  The observance will be held at the reservation's September 11 Memorial, where there stands statues and the names of all 3,000 victims who died that day.  In addition, the county unveiled at the memorial a 7,400-pound piece of steel from the …

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Patch Remembers 9/11 in 911 Snapshots

We looked out across our sites to pull together 911 photos of everyday Americans whose lives were changed by the events of that day.

Sept. 11—10 Years Later

The Changing Face of Rail, Bus Security

NJ Transit has had to take a new to approach to commuter safety since 9/11.

It was time for a change. After terrorists hijacked four passenger planes and slammed two into the World Trade Center buildings, one into the Pentagon, and another into a field in Pennsylvania, the way professionals approach security for mass transportation needed an overhaul. For NJ Transit, which operates 2,027 buses, 771 trains and 45 light rail vehicles over a service area of 5,325 square miles that meant a change in mindset. “In the past we only focused on crime and great service to customers, but now, here at NJ Transit, what we try to drive home to all our officers is that their main response is counterterrorism,” said Christopher Trucillo, chief of the NJ Transit Police Department.  “I think the dynamic now is that pre-9/11, if an …

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10 Years Later

How Sept. 11 Changed Our Lives

Most of us can remember where we were on that day, but for some, things were never the same.

We asked residents from Patch towns throughout New Jersey how the events of Sept. 11 had changed their lives. Here are their stories, as well as those of more than two dozen others from across the state - including Essex, Union, Morris and Somerset Counties.

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