Photo: Madison Rogers/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Massachusetts joined the rest of the nation in honoring the 2,996 people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks Wednesday.
Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, and Mayor Michelle Wu attended the annual reading of the names ceremony on the steps of the State House, paying tribute to the 206 victims with Massachusetts ties who lost their lives 23 years ago.
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Family members of victims such as John Brett Cahill of Wellesley, William Christopher Hunt of Kingston, and Todd Russell Hill of Boston also spoke at the ceremony.
There was also a moment of silence held at 8:46 a.m., marking the time that the first plane hit the World Trade Center.
1 of 3 Photo: Madison Rogers/WBZ NewsRadio
2 of 3 Photo: Madison Rogers/WBZ NewsRadio
3 of 3 Photo: Madison Rogers/WBZ NewsRadio
Inside the State House, Driscoll presented the Madeline Amy Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery to 26-year-old Jillian Smith of Wales, Massachusetts. The award is named after the Acton native who was a flight attendant onboard American Airlines Flight 11, one of the hijacked planes. Sweeney provided crucial information about the hijackers to crews on the ground before the plane crashed into the North Tower.
Smith received the award for rescuing her elderly neighbors from a house fire last year.
Elsewhere in Boston, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Boston Public Garden at 1:30 p.m.
The Red Cross held its Day of Remembrance Blood Drive at Fenway Park from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
A procession from Boston Common to the State House for the Massachusetts Fallen Firefighters Memorial Ceremony is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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