More Photos: How 9/11 Touched Us

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

There are moments we all share—nearly unimaginable in their grand impact, and profound in their personal effect. Sept. 11, 2001 was undeniably such a time. Patch—working in collaboration with the Huffington Post and the Action America project—has collected hundreds of stories about the ways the terrorist attacks of 9/11 affected the lives of people in the communities we serve. A small handful of those stories—focusing on residents of Morris, Somerset and Sussex Counties, but including more than two dozen others from throughout New Jersey—are told here through photographs. Starting Sunday morning, hundreds more are at the Huffington Post. If you'd like to share your own story about how 9/11 affected you, e-mail Louis@Patch.com (if you've …

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'Empty Sky' Memorial Remembers Fallen Towers, 746 New Jerseyans

The new 9/11 memorial in Jersey City's Liberty State Park drew hundreds Saturday.

Nearly 10 years to the day, hundreds gathered on the northeast waterfront of Liberty State Park in Jersey City Saturday afternoon to pause for a moment of silence in remembrance of the 2,977 people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. That moment was part of an hour-long ceremony to unveil a new memorial titled “Empty Sky” that names the 746 New Jersey residents killed on that clear September morning. Unlike the hours and days following 9/11 when the New York City airways were eerily quiet and the Twin Towers in pieces, the sky above lower Manhattan on Saturday seemed anything but empty. Helicopters buzzed to and fro beneath marbled gray clouds. The Freedom Tower at One World Trade Center, still under construction, soared …

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Area Muslims: 9/11 Attacked Our Faith

They share their thoughts about their experiences following America's day of terror.

When terrorists attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001, they weren't only attacking people, or institutions, or the U.S. government, or a commercial center. They were attacking Islam itself, according to area Muslims. “Anyone who goes out and harms others is acting against Islam,” said Khaliff Watkins, a writer and producer for Ebru.tv, based in Somerset. And while there is a perception that many people are now seeing the difference between Muslims and terrorists, for some time after 9/11, Islam and terror were linked.  “I think, the way Muslims have been viewed after 9/11 has changed throughout the years, but right after the attack and for many years Muslims were seen as potential terrorists,” said Nuray Sonmez, director of the Interfaith …

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Prentiss Gray

11:39 am on Saturday, September 10, 2011

Well said, Michael!   more ›

9/11: 10 Years Later

WTC Steel Connects Communities Across U.S. to 9/11

In hundreds of communities, a piece of steel from the Twin Towers beget memories of a day to mourn and prayers for a future of peace. Today, Patch shares many of those stories with you.

To the son who followed a family legacy into firefighting, it evokes the father and former Long Island fire chief who fell that day. To the director of a Georgia park, it explains why he’s been called to war three times in the past decade. To the residents of Gig Harbor, Wash., it required no less than an escort of firefighters, paramedics and up to 100 motorcycles during its nine-day, cross-country passage from New York City to the crash site of United Flight 93 in rural Pennsylvania to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota to its new home in the Pacific Northwest. Shards of a symbol, hunks of steel. Bolt-studded, fire-scarred beams that until 9/11 supported the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York now lie scattered across American towns…

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Remembering 9/11: Send Us Your Twin Tower Photos

A decade after they were destroyed by terrorists, Patch looks back at the New York City landmarks.

From now until Sept. 11, Patch will be collecting your pictures of the World Trade Center, a growing gallery in tribute to the Twin Towers.  As the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks approaches, Patch will be recognizing the area residents who died on that September morning. We also want to remember the towers when they stood proud, so please either upload your photos here or email them to louis@patch.com or mike@patch.com with a short note about the origin and date of the picture.

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