As 2012 comes to an end, I am happy to share with you the 9/11 Memorial’s year end update. Thanks to your continued generosity and support, more than 6 million people have visited the memorial since opening in September 2011. They have come from all 50 states and more than 175 nations, reflecting the worldwide need to honor and remember those we lost on 9/11 at the sacred ground of the World Trade Center site.

In this region, we also saw tremendous heartbreak in 2012, from the devastation of superstorm Sandy to the shootings in Newtown, Conn., and the recent attack on first responders in Webster, N.Y. In the wake of these terrible losses, when I look out across the memorial pools, I am reminded that when circumstances require, we come together to care for one another with limitless compassion.

2013 will be a busy year for the 9/11 Memorial. As we welcome millions more to pay their respects at the memorial, we look forward to building the museum with our partners at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and beginning to install the exhibitions that will tell the history of 9/11 for generations to come.

I hope you will please consider making a year-end contribution to help support the memorial and museum and our mission of commemoration and education. We could not have built the memorial without you, and the museum is no different.

On behalf of our chairman, Mayor Bloomberg, the board of directors, and our staff, I wish you and yours health, happiness, and love this holiday season and throughout every season in the new year.

By Joe Daniels, 9/11 Memorial President

The 9/11 Memorial Preview Site at 20 Vesey St. has reopened following closures because of the severe weather after Sandy.  While recovery efforts continue in lower Manhattan, the Preview Site will operate under modified daily hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Continue checking 911memorial.org for updates on the 9/11 Memorial.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff 

The U.S. Department of Defense arranged for 9/11 victims’ families, first responders and others to view a live feed of the Sept. 11 trial at Fort Hamilton Army Base in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. That courtesy was extended to the 9/11 Memorial Museum staff, who are helping to preserve the history of 9/11 and its continued impact on the world in which we live.

October 15, 2012 

The judge heard three pre-trial motions. Most of the time was spent determining whether defendants had a right to not attend their trial. The judge ruled as long as they understood the possible consequences from not attending, they were free to not come. 

I was fascinated by the visual disconnect of these five men dressed traditionally, while being defended by Americans largely in military uniforms, in a computer-filled room that was otherwise dull. There was one notable exception, a female defense attorney dressed in a full-length hijab.

The defendants answered “yes” to one question, “I understand” to another. They voiced concerns. They needed to be explained certain terms. They shuffled papers. They huddled with their lawyers. Some spoke English, some didn’t. In a capital case involving the killing of thousands, swirling with allegations of torture, the banality was striking.

Another viewer noted that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad looked evil. Evil implies an impulse bigger than yourself, a culpability that lies elsewhere. I didn’t see that. I saw an angry man, a possibly unwell man, a criminal. I saw someone in the midst of the minutia of our legal system.

By Noah Rauch, Manager of School and Family Programs 

The 9/11 Memorial Museum continues to collect recorded remembrances from family, friends and coworkers in memory of those so senselessly murdered in the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. These spoken memories will be core components of the Museum’s “In Memoriam” exhibition, where visitors will be able to learn more about each individual through the recollections of those who knew them best – the people who loved them.  

Listen to Lori Lemmer tell an anecdote about her cousin, Steven Elliot Furman.

In another recording, Richard McCloskey remembered his daughter, Katie Marie McCloskey.

The museum invites family members, friends and former colleagues of those killed in the attacks to help preserve the memory of their loved ones by joining Lemmer, McCloskey and others in sharing a recorded remembrance. Currently, recording appointments are being scheduled at the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site, 20 Vesey St., from Oct. 16 through Oct. 18. Remembrances can be recorded anytime through the Call to Remember phone-in archive.

Dial (866) 582-5613 to leave a remembrance in the Call to Remember archive. Call 212.324.6500 or email collections@911memorial.org to schedule an in-person appointment. 

 To learn more about the memorial exhibition, visit 911memorial.org/remember.

 By 9/11 Memorial Staff 

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt today visited the National September 11 Memorial, where she handed over a Danish flag found in the ruins of the World Trade Center, to the National September 11 Memorial Museum.

The Prime Minister also laid flowers by the Survivor Tree and participated in a moment of silence to commemorate the victims of 9/11.

“September 11 remains one of the darkest days in modern history and we must never forget,” Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt said.  “On behalf of Denmark, it is important for me to be here today to pay my respect to the victims their families, and to the survivors of the 9/11 attacks.  And it is my great honor, on behalf of the people of Denmark, to hand over the flag to the National September 11 Museum where it will serve as a token of Denmark’s continued support and commitment as a close friend and ally of the US.”

The National Danish flag “Dannebrog” was retrieved from the ruins of the World Trade Center after September 11, 2001, by the New York Police Department.  It was brought to the Consulate General of Denmark in 2006, where it has since been displayed in the condition it was found.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

Staff photographer Amy Dreher snaps a lot of pictures at the World Trade Center site, documenting the construction progress. Amy also trains her lens on the smaller pieces that may be overlooked with a project of this magnitude. Through “The Lens: Viewing the 9/11 Memorial,” readers of The MEMO blog can share some of the unique vantage points captured by Amy.

WTC aglow:  The 9/11 Memorial, which has had more than 4.6 million visitors since Sept. 12, 2011, is illuminated as One World Trade Center looms in the distance.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff