WASHINGTON (WJZ)–Observing the anniversary of 9/11. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks shocked the world and made homeland security a national imperative. Pat Warren reports Marylanders remember that day in many ways.

September 11, 2001. America was shocked into stillness as terrorists crashed planes into the Twin Towers. The Pentagon was also hit and Flight 93 crashed in western Pennsylvania. Those events are marked in the shadow of the World Trade Center in Baltimore with a memorial that serves as a sundial.

“And on every September 11, the shadows cast a shadow on the notched edges where it shows what happened throughout the day—when the north and south tower were hit and when they fell and when the Pentagon was hit and Shanksville when the plane went down there,” said Hannah Byron.

In Howard County, 911 dispatchers from around the state were honored for the jobs they do and think of their counterparts that day in New York City.

“It was a very, very overwhelming day for them and I can truly empathize with them,” said Baltimore City 911 operator Allison McPhaul.

“I couldn’t imagine what they must have been going through,” said Howard County 911 operator Andrew Cummins. “It must have been very intense.”

United Way of Central Maryland (UWCM) convened its annual major volunteer event, Day of Action. For the
event, UWCM mobilized more than 400 volunteers at nearly 50 locations across central Maryland, such as Meals on Wheels, American Cancer Society, Moveable Feasts, My Sister’s Place, Our Daily Bread, and Boys & Girls Club of Metro Baltimore.

Sixty-eight Marylanders were killed in the 9/11 attacks.