(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is directing U.S. and state flags in Connecticut lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, in remembrance of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Additionally, Governor Lamont announced that the state will illuminate the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge in New Haven – informally known by many residents as the Q Bridge – in red, white, and blue lights beginning at dusk on the evenings of Tuesday, September 10, 2024, and Wednesday, September 11, 2024, in recognition of the anniversary of the attacks. Beacons capable of projecting light nearly six miles into the clear night sky will be lit until the early morning hours.
“The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, took the lives of thousands of innocent people, including many from Connecticut, and we will forever pay tribute to those we lost all too soon,” Governor Lamont said. “That day 23 years ago is one of the darkest in our nation’s history, and we must use this anniversary to reflect about the ideals that unite us as Americans and to recommit ourselves to improving our county and the world for the better. We honor the heroism of the first responders who courageously put their own lives on the line to protect complete strangers, and we pay tribute to the brave servicemembers of the United States Armed Forces who serve our nation and protect our freedoms, especially those whose lives were lost in the ongoing battle to keep us safe since 2001.”
“Our country experienced a significant tragedy 23 years ago on September 11, when terrorist attacks took the lives of thousands of innocent victims, including 161 individuals with ties to Connecticut,” Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz said. “This day reminds us of those we’ve lost, the first responders who heroically risked their lives for the safety of others, and the resiliency of America. The State of Connecticut, Governor Lamont, and I will never forget the victims or their loved ones for the sacrifices that they have made and the tragedies they have endured. Our hearts, our thoughts, and our prayers are with each of them – always.”
Connecticut’s official memorial honoring the victims of the attacks is located on a peninsula at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, where on a clear day the Manhattan skyline can be viewed across Long Island Sound. The memorial features stones engraved with the names of the 161 people with ties to Connecticut who were killed in the attacks. The state park was chosen as the site for the memorial because it is the location where, in the hours immediately following the attacks in 2001, many people gathered to observe the smoke and devastation on Lower Manhattan from across Long Island Sound. Additionally, the site was used immediately after the attacks by the Connecticut National Guard as a staging area for Connecticut’s relief efforts to New York City.
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Connecticut Remembers Names of the 161 people with ties to Connecticut who were killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks:
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