Remembering September 11 - Eleven Years Later

More than a decade after terrorists attacked the United States, killing nearly 3,000 people, Americans pause Tuesday to remember those who lost their lives and their loved ones surviving without them.

A memorial service will be held in Milwaukee Tuesday morning at the time two planes hit the World Trade Center towers.

Mayor Tom Barrett, Milwaukee  County Executive Chris Abele, Gov. Scott Walker, Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn and Gurmal Singh of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin

While the will occur every-other-year, it’s clear the memories of the attack on our nation will stay with residents for the rest of their lives.

Looking back

The attacks left an indelible mark on residents like Brookfield firefighter Joe Washcovick, who to help first responders cope with their trauma.

A member of a Wisconsin firefighters union employee assistance program team, Washcovick said in a 2011 interview: "It really was an unbelievable thing to watch how the human spirit just came together.

“Everyone thinks they have tomorrow to make that decision to make everything right, whether it be with God or in our relationships,” Washcovick said. “But we’re all just one little flip away from not being there.

“That’s what 9/11 taught me — that everything is a gift and to remember that, whether it’s hugging your kids or telling your wife you love her or being nice to a person walking down the street.”

Brookfield resident Linda Braun was living and working in New York as a Manhattan luxury hotel's director of sales. She with thousands of other New Yorkers, covered in dust from the fallen towers.

As a crowd of people headed up the east side of Manhattan, "it was like being in a war zone without being in a war. It was so surreal, like an action film," Braun said in a 2011 interview.

It hurts to remember her 9/11 experiences, which she doesn't talk about with people. She doesn't like to look at images. If talk about it comes on the radio, she switches the station.

But Braun said she felt compelled to tell her story to remind people what happened that day and try to regain "that spirit where people pulled together and were thinking of our country as one.

"It's about sticking together and remembering what others have gone through and being a good neighbor in a crisis," she said. "It's about paying tribute, especially to the firefighters. It's really extraordinary what they did."

Interfaith group seeks peace, unity

Religious leaders with the on the decade anniversary. Members of some 16 diverse churches weaved ribbons together amid songs and prayers.

Arlene Spanier of Congregation Emanu-El led the song "Let There Be Peace on Earth."

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