9/11. The name evokes a dark, sinister feeling in just about every single American, whether they were alive to witness the terrorist attacks that took place nineteen years ago or simply learned about it from school.
Fortunately, COVID-19 isn’t going to stop us from commemorating the nearly 3,000 people who perished on the morning of September 11th, 2001. However, our commemoration is going to look a bit different this year.
According to News4Jax, twin beams of light representing the World Trade Center towers won’t be beamed into the sky during this year’s memorial of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, organizers of the ceremony said.

Michael Frazier, a spokesman for National September 11 Memorial & Museum, said organizers were concerned about the health risks to workers who would set up the display.

Instead, the Memorial and Museum are planning an alternative display that will include spires and facades of buildings in Manhattan being illuminated in blue, he said.

A familiar face is set to visit the Memorial on the historic day. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will be in attendance in New York City on 9/11 together with his wife, Karen, The Associated Press said. Almost six months after the coronavirus forced it to shut down, the 9/11 Memorial Museum will be reopening on the 19th anniversary of 9/11, first to those who lost loved ones and then to the public.

Also, according to The Daily Pennsylvania, both political candidates for the upcoming 2020 election, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, will be paying a visit to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The memorial marks the field where an airplane crashed as passengers and crew fought hijackers over control of the plane, preventing an attack on the U.S. Capitol building on September 11, 2001. All 44 people aboard Flight 93 that day were killed, The New York Post reported.

Due to the coronavirus, the Observance will be shortened from its usual 90 minute ceremony to a 20 minute Moment of Remembrance during which the name of each fallen passenger and crew member will be read aloud, along with the ringing of the Bells of Remembrance. It will begin at 9:45 a.m. EDT, and will observe the exact time Flight 93 crashed at 10:03 a.m. EDT.
The service will be streamed virtually on EarthCam if you want to view it.

There will be no musical performances or elected speakers as there have been in the past, but Trump plans to make remarks at the site.
At this point, it is unclear if Trump and Biden will visit the site at the same time or separately.

If you would like to learn more about 9/11, go to this website.