Bermuda is marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States by members of the extremist group, al-Qaeda, recalling the deaths of three of its nationals among the nearly 3,000 lives lost on that day.
“Three members of our own community died that day. We call their names in remembrance: Rhondelle Tankard, Boyd Gatton and Robert Higley,” Premier David Burt said in a statement, adding that “25 years cannot erase the pain and grief of such loss, nor could it make us forget that day and how it changed the world in which we now live”.
The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist strikes carried out by al-Qaeda members targetting the World Trade Center and the Pentagon using hijacked commercial planes.
Premier Burt said that 25 years later Bermuda continues to share the grief of those attacks, adding “25 years later, we also remember. We, too, have never forgotten.
“For many Bermudians, the memories of September 11, 2001, remain vivid. We each remember where we were and what we were doing when the news came. We remember watching events unfold in disbelief. We remember calling relatives and friends in New York, waiting for word and hoping they were safe.”
Burt told the relatives of the Bermudians killed “we understand that time does not mitigate loss. A significant date can make 25 years feel like yesterday.
“Today, Bermuda remembers with you. I also acknowledge that outside of Bermuda, there were many other families who lost loved ones on September 11th, and this year, like every year, is a time to remember them as they grieve.”
Burt said that Bermuda’s memorial in the Botanical Gardens contains a piece of steel recovered from the World Trade Centre and that as “the United States Consulate General marks the anniversary of September 11th with a memorial ceremony at the Botanical Gardens to honour those who died, my thoughts are with those who will gather in remembrance and with every family whose loss is honoured there”. (CMC)
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