At the 9/11 Memorial

This isn't the first time I've been inside the WTC since the 9/11 attacks, particularly since I've been taking PATH since shortly after service was restored in November 2003. But it is the first time I've seen the completed 9/11 Memorial in person.

The fencing surrounding the memorial was taken down over the weekend and you no longer need to get a timed pass to enter the memorial (the 9/11 Museum is a separate issue, with a $24 admission fee imposed).

So, here are a few pictures taken earlier today of the memorial.

Looking across the South Tower Reflecting Pool.

Looking North at the South Tower Reflecting Pool

Stephen Siller, whose name is memorialized in the annual Tunnel to Towers Run to raise funds for responders.

Looking across the North reflecting pool.

The names of those killed in the 1993 WTC bombing memorialized on the North Tower reflecting pool closest to where the new 1WTC stands.

Rev. Mychal F. Judge, who was honored with being declared Victim number 1 by the Medical Examiner's office.

Looking up at 1WTC from the corner of Liberty and Greenwich.

My observations of the memorial? The enormity of the attacks is hammered home by row after row of names, of those responding to the towers and to the thousands caught inside the towers or the planes that struck them. If you focus on the sound of the waterfalls, it is a serene oasis in the heart of a busy and bustling rebirth of Lower Manhattan.

But the most moving part is what you can occasionally overhear.

"Come kids, I want to show you where your grandfather's name is..."

Considering that so many people have never been able to bury remains of their loved ones - more than a thousand people have never been identified from the remains that have been gathered at the site, these names are a silent tribute and memorial.

Cross posted at LGF.