Long-stemmed white roses were placed today at the World Trade Center Memorial near the names of victims who were killed 20 years ago by a massive terrorist bomb planted in the parking garage.
Dozens of relatives and city officials gathered to commemorate the lives lost in the first wave of the one-two terrorist punch that would shake America to its core.
“Today we stop and remember the six innocent people killed in the World Trade Center attack two decades ago,” 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels said.
“Like those lost in the 2001 attacks, the memory of each victim will be forever preserved at the Memorial and Museum for future generations. Their lives and the history of February 26, 1993 will never be forgotten.”
A cell of terrorists detonated about 1,200 pounds of explosives in a rental van in the underground parking garage at the World Trade Center at 12:18 p.m. on February 26, 1993.
The blast killed Stephen Knapp, 48 John DiGiovanni, 45, Robert W. Kirkpatrick, 61, William Macko, 57, Wilfredo Mercado, 37, Monica Rodriguez Smith, 34 and her unborn child.
Knapp’s son, Stephen, and Macko’s son, Michael read the names after a bell rang at 12:18 p.m. signifying the moment the killer bomb detonated.
“It is a difficult day,” Michael Macko said. “Losing my dad was traumatic. I certainly miss him. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about him.”
At the end of the ceremony, tear-filled family members placed the white roses near bronze-etched names.
One man kissed his rose before he laid it down across the names.
“Every year it is sad,” said Knapp’s daughter, Denise Knapp Rossilli. “The memories just come back and it’s just sad. But we stick together as a family. We get to see the other families each year. We support each other and that’s what it is about, coming back each year. “