On Thursday we mark the 13th anniversary of the attacks on the U.S. by the fanatics of Al Qaeda, which killed almost 3,000 people at the World Trade Center — a great many of whom were from our South Shore communities . . . more

Thirteen years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center that claimed nearly 3,000 lives, Nassau County held a candlelight remembrance ceremony to honor those who died that day. more

On Sept. 11, 2001, many professional, well-trained and dedicated police officers, firefighters and EMS workers lost their lives at the World Trade Center because, in addition to the other tragedies that day, their radios were not “interoperable.” more

Just to the northeast of the Merrick Long Island Rail Road station is a long, rectangular park shaded by oak trees and hemmed in by a black, wrought-iron fence, with a date above the gate –– 09 11 2001. more

Nearly 13 years later, the world officially has a place that captures the emotion and heroism of the horrific Sept. 11 attacks. And let me tell you, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum is an amazing and truly inspiring place . . . more

At 2:49 p.m. on April 15, two pressure-cooker bombs loaded with ball bearings and nails detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, on Boylston Street, shrouding two blocks of multistory brick buildings in white smoke and sending shrapnel hurtling in all directions. Three people were killed and 264 injured in the terrorist attack. Merokean Kara Iskenderian, 20, who is now a junior at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., and a member of the school’s marathon team, was a third of a mile –– or less than three minutes –– away from finishing the race when the crudely constructed, homemade bombs exploded. more

Merrick firefighters and community members gathered at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at the memorial on the northwest corner of Merrick Avenue and Sunrise Highway for a ceremony commemorating the lives of 9/11’s victims. more

On Wednesday, Sept. 11, the Merrick Fire Department will hold a brief ceremony to honor the lives of two of its members, Ex-Chief Ronnie Gies and Ex-Capt. Brian Sweeney, who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, as well as those of all other 9/11 victims. The observance will take place at 7 p.m. at the firefighters’ memorial on Merrick Avenue between Sunrise Highway and the Merrick Long Island Rail Road station. more

The American flag exists at the periphery of most our lives. It takes on significance mainly at events kicked off by the playing of the national anthem, at parades and during the seventh-inning stretch at Yankees games. more

I awoke at 3:45 a.m. on Sept. 30, and by 4:35 I was on a train speeding from Merrick to Penn Station. At 6 a.m., I stood at Liberty and West streets in Lower Manhattan, near 1 World Trade Center. more