The Tribute in Light in New York City commemorates the 9/11 attacks in the United States. (Photo: AFP-Yonhap)
[Anchor]
On Saturday, tributes and memorials will be held in honor of the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the September 11 attacks.
On that day in 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial aircraft and flew them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a field in rural Pennsylvania.
Two decades have passed and much has changed, but as our Ron Chang reports, there are many who still remember 9/11 like it was yesterday.
[Reporter]
Christina Sunga Ryook.
It's one of the nearly 3,000 names read aloud every year at the National September 11th Memorial, where the Twin Towers once stood.
Christina's father, Ryook Dae-jin, still remembers watching the plumes of smoke emerging from the North World Tower on TV, and driving with his wife to New York to look for their daughter.
(Photo: Ryook Dae-jin)
Ryook usually goes to Ground Zero to pay respects to his daughter.
But because of COVID-19, this year he's paying tribute from his home in Cleveland.
He says even though life goes on, we must never forget.
[Clip: Ryook (English Dubbing)]
"It's a shame that people quickly forgot the 9/11 attacks. It's the day that our daughter died. I am not saying that she should be remembered, but rather all those who perished should be remembered."
(Photo: Ryook Dae-jin)
Patrick Park feels the same way.
He was heading into work on the morning of the attacks when he saw the South Tower on fire.
(Photo: AFP-Yonhap)
The scenes of flames and smoke from the building, papers and ash falling from the sky, are ones he says he can never forget, along with the shock and sadness that came in the wake of the tragedy.
Families of the victims of 9/11 and survivors have expressed hope that people will remember the sacrifices of those who died rather than be angered by the harm that was inflicted on Americans.
(Screenshot: Zoom, Patrick Park)
Park says he now tries to think about the memories of how people came together after 9/11.
[Clip: Park]
"I think if we can remember the loss in a way that doesn't trigger our natural impulse for retribution and remember that impulse for retribution is in every single one of us, maybe we can convert or redeem these atrocities into something that advances us all as a people."
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