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Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today traveled to New York City and honored the memory of Richard Rescorla with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Department's highest honor, for his heroic actions on September 11, 2001. "Since the 9/11 attacks, we have seen exceptional models of resilience all around us," said Secretary Napolitano. "By honoring Richard Rescorla with the Distinguished Public Service medal, we remember his heroism and commitment to the preparedness of the thousands of employees under his watch." On September 11, 2011, Richard Rescorla was Second Vice President for Security at Morgan...

Molten aluminum mixing with water could have ultimately brought the towers down. More than ten years after the fact, a scientists based at the Norwegian research institute SINTEF is proposing that a well-documented chemical reaction spelled the ultimate demise of the Twin Towers after the attacks of September 11, 2001. This isn’t another conspiracy theory, nor is it proven fact. But Christian Simensen theorizes that a mix of molten aluminum from the aircraft bodies mixed with water from the sprinkler systems could have catalyzed secondary blasts that brought the World Trade Center towers to the ground. Simensen’s idea, presented at...

Simensen claims that it is overwhelmingly likely that the two aircraft were trapped inside an insulating layer of building debris within the skyscrapers. This leads him to believe that it was the aircraft hulls rather than the buildings themselves that absorbed most of the heat from the burning aircraft fuel. The SINTEF scientist believes that the heat melted the aluminium of the aircraft hulls, and the core of his theory is that molten aluminium then found its way downwards within the buildings through staircases and gaps in the floor – and that the flowing aluminium underwent a chemical reaction with...

I've never seen this before, it's a tear jerker.

Members of the group 'Muslims against Crusades' hold placards as they gather during an anti-U.S. rally, held close to the memorial ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of the September 11 U.S. attacks at the Memorial Garden, adjacent to the U.S. Embassy in central London, Sunday Sept. 11, 2011.

Is it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued? Actually, I don’t think it’s me, and it’s not really that odd. What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. Te atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all...

Nearly six years ago, in November 2003, a design called 'Reflecting Absence,' conceived by NYC Housing Authority architect, Michael Arad, was selected as one of the finalists for the World Trade Center Memorial. Arad's poignant design featured two pools in the footprints of the destroyed WTC's towers, each an acre in size, with waterfalls cascading down their sides, representing endless tears shed for the victims. In January 2004, the design, now-revised with landscape designer Peter Walker's eastern white pine trees, was chosen as the winning design slated to open on September 11, 2011, for the tenth anniversary. WIKI Michael...

Tonight's Saturday Night Cinema is 9/11, the day of horror caught by chance by a French film crew documenting the 9-month rite of passage of a newbie firefighter. Instead, we witness firsthand the actions the heroes who gave their lives to save their countrymen in the worst-ever attack on American soil in our nation's history. Jihad had come to America. This is a searing historical document. I have seen it many times. It shakes me still and reminds me how monstrous and evil the enemy is. Also, please see also the documentary on how the victims trapped in the World...

Video collection of 9-11 news broadcasts from WTC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVhhu5OjMf8&feature=share

People are discussing the geopolitical implications of 9/11 and how the tragedy changed our country, and most of what's been said has been worthy and serious. But my thoughts, as we hit the 10th anniversary, are more local and particular. I'm in a New York state of mind. There were two targets, Washington and New York. Washington saw a great military institution attacked, and quickly rebuilt. In Washington people ran barefoot from the White House and the Capitol. But New York saw a world end. New York saw the buildings come down.That was the thing. It's not that the...

He's been called a "prophet" for being so ready for the attacks, "the Man Who Predicted 9/11" in a History Channel special, and a true American hero by countless others. As tragic as the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, was, the sky-blue day still held unexpected miracles, and Richard "Rick" Rescorla was at the center of one of the greatest -- the evacuation of financial-services behemoth Morgan Stanley. Rescorla , a 62-year-old retired and decorated U.S. Army colonel, had focused on security at the World Trade Center for years. Prior to the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993,...

The cousin of a British-born hero of 9/11, who died in the Twin Towers, has spoken of his continuing sadness and pride at what his relative did that day. Rick Rescorla, who was head of security for banking firm Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, is credited with saving 2,700 people ten years ago by making sure they left the World Trade Centre's South Tower before it collapsed. The 62-year-old Cornishman, who became a US citizen in the 1960s and was decorated during service in the Vietnam War, foresaw the terrorist attacks, with his warnings featuring in a Channel 4 documentary in...

Former New York City computer manager Natarajan Venkataram had repeatedly apologized for stealing $10 million from federal grants to help identify the remains of 9/11 victims. But he wasn’t sorry enough to return more than $400,000 stashed in his bank account in India. Venkataram — now serving 15 years in federal prison — had actually been fighting in court to try to block authorities from seizing his ill-gotten loot.

THE FIREFIGHTER MENTIONED IN THIS STORY IS A PERSONAL FRIEND OF MINE. I TRUST HIM IMPLICITLY. HE IS ALSO THE FIREFIGHTER THAT SUED TO STOP THE GROUND ZERO VICTORY MOSQUE AND IS THE FATHER OF A SERVING U.S. MARINE.

The bone-chilling wail of bagpipe playing "Amazing Grace" echoed through a Queens church yesterday as yet another fallen firefighter from the World Trade Center tragedy was memorialized in death. It was yet another day — of many more to come — for Masses and memorial services for both heroic rescue workers and innocent civilians lost in the flames and collapsing towers. At the memorial Mass for 49th Battalion Chief John Moran, his younger brother, Firefighter Michael Moran of Ladder 3, recalled how he spoke to his brother by cell phone after the second plane crashed into the Trade Center. "I ...

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There is nothing wrong — and much that is right — with building a national monument to memorialize the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 9/11 attacks a decade ago. The awful events of that day traumatized the country — and changed it. The dead deserve to be remembered. Far be it from me to suggest otherwise. What I do want to suggest, though, is that what’s being built in the name of 9/11 — a staggering $11 billion worth of government-sponsored construction on the 16 acres we now call ground zero — is an example of just about everything...

There are times when the church makes you feel proud. Priests' response to 9/11, ten years ago, is one of them.This became evident as the U.S. Bishops' Office of Media Relations interviewed and sought reflections from a few persons for "The Catholic Church Remembers," a website memorial of video clips, photos and print that can be found can be found here.Cardinal Edward Egan, retired archbishop of New York, was one of the first responders that fateful morning. He headed for Ground Zero when he heard of the attack. As he was on the way Mayor Rudolph Giuliani called and asked...

The New York City medical examiner’s office said on Tuesday that it had identified the remains of Ernest James, 40, a victim of the World Trade Center attack. The remains were identified “within the last few days” through DNA testing, said Ellen S. Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office. She declined to disclose more specifics about what type of remains were tested. Mr. James, who worked for the professional services company Marsh & McLennan, was one of nearly 300 members of the firm who died on Sept. 11, 2001. In addition, more than 60 consultants working with the firm that...

Eleven days after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Debra Tosch arrived at Ground Zero with her partner Abby to search for survivors. “We turned this one corner and there it was: the collapsed towers. It was overwhelming, like, where do you even start?” Tosch recalls. Abby, a black Labrador trained to lead rescue teams to trapped victims in disaster areas, was more assured. “She knew it was time to search,” says Tosch, the executive director of the Search Dog Foundation. As one of 13 SDF teams deployed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the Trade Center...