DRACUT, MASS. (WHDH) - Massachusetts leaders, along with victims’ loved ones, gathered at the Statehouse for an annual moment of silence on Friday.
The moment of silence took place at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
219 names were read of the people who died that day with ties to Massachusetts. A special tribute video played during the ceremony.
A woman whose husband was killed on one of the flights on 9-11 said that 25 years later, his legacy continues.
“But from that awful day we also saw the best in people,” Christine Coombs said. “People associate kindness and unity with 9-11, not only in the communities but politically.”
Following the ceremony, the House Chamber presented the Amy Sweeney Award for civilian bravery. Sweeney, an Acton native and flight attendant on Flight 11, provided critical information to Logan Airport about the hijackers before losing her life.
Governor Maura Healey presented the Madeline Amy Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery to T.J. Swenson.
— Madeline Amy Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery awarded —
Swenson helped authorities stop a gunman who opened fire on Memorial Drive in Cambridge back in May.
Healey commended Swenson for recognizing the danger and putting the safety of others above his own.
The award was presented to Swenson by Sweeney’s daughter Anna, who spoke about her mother.
“My mother was a woman who in her final moments chose courage over fear, and grace over panic,” Anna said. “As my daughters grow older, they will know who their grandmother was. Not just how she died, but how she lived. With bravery, compassion, and unwavering resolve.”
In Dracut, residents will pay tribute to the pilot of one of the hijacked planes.
Dracut native John Ogonowski was in the cockpit of American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to strike the World Trade Center. Today, the fire department will hold a ceremony at the town’s 9/11 memorial, which stands on the land he grew up on.
In Boston, the State House is lit in red, white, and blue ahead of Friday morning ceremonies. Governor Maura Healey presided over the annual moment of silence and the reading of the names of those who died.
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