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In the days immediately following the attacks, many memorials and vigils were held, including candlelight vigils in New York
on September 12 and September 14, and a candlelight procession in Washington on September 14.In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, over
100,000 people attended a memorial service on Parliament Hill,while all across Europe a three-minute silence was held at noon,
Central European Time.The United Kingdom paid special homage on September 13, 2001, pausing the changing of the guard for
two minutes in silence, then playing the American national anthem.
In addition, pictures were placed all over Ground Zero. Mark Sigmund described it by saying, "In the nearby area,
you can’t get away from faces of innocent victims who were killed. Their pictures are everywhere, on phone booths,
street lights, walls of subway stations. Everything reminded me of a huge funeral, people quiet and sad, but also very nice.
Before, New York gave me a cold feeling; now people were reaching out to help each other.”
Temporary memorials were quickly erected at the three sites, with permanent memorials in the planning stages, or under
construction. One of the first was the Tribute in Light, an installation of 88 searchlights at the footprints of the World
Trade Center towers which projected two vertical columns of light into the sky.It initially ran from March 11 to April 14,
2002, but has since been re-lit every year on the anniversary of the attacks. In New York, the World Trade Center Site Memorial
Competition was held to design an appropriate memorial on the site. The winning design, Reflecting Absence, was selected in
August 2006, and consists of a pair of reflecting pools in the footprints of the towers, surrounded by a list of the victims'
names in an underground memorial space.Plans for a museum on the site have been put on hold, following the abandonment of
the International Freedom Center after criticism from the families of many victims.
At the Pentagon, an outdoor memorial is currently under construction, which will consist of a landscaped park with 184
benches facing the Pentagon.When the Pentagon was rebuilt in 2001-2002, a private chapel and indoor memorial were included,
located at the spot where Flight 77 crashed into the building.A temporary memorial is located 500 yards (450 meters) from
the Flight 93 crash site near Shanksville.A permanent Flight 93 National Memorial is in planning stages, which will include
a sculpted grove of trees forming a circle around the crash site, bisected by the plane's path, while wind chimes will bear
the names of the victims.Many other permanent memorials are being constructed around the world and a list is being updated
as new ones are completed.
In addition to physical monuments, scholarships and charities have been established by the victims' loved ones, along
with many other organizations and private figures.Numerous public benefits and concerts have been held to raise money for
the families of victims. In addition, the Raoul Wallenberg Award was given to New York City in 2001 "For all of its citizens
who searched for the missing, cared for the injured, gave comfort to loved ones of the missing or lost, and provided sustenance
and encouragement to those who searched through the rubble at ground zero."
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