Significant meaning behind white roses left under 9/11 victims’ names at memorial
As the US marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11 today (11 September), visitors to the National September 11 Memorial in New York will see a small but deeply meaningful tribute placed beside the names of those who lost their lives.
White roses are placed at the memorial each morning, but there is a very specific reason behind the tradition.
Before the memorial opens to the public, staff at the 9/11 Memorial Museum place a white rose beside the name of every victim whose birthday falls that day.
It is a tradition that began with an idea from a volunteer in 2013 and has since become another way for visitors to learn about the people behind the names, share their experiences and feel a personal connection to those remembered.
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Inscribed on the 9/11 Memorial are the names of the 2,983 victims of the 1993 and 2001 attacks.
Every morning, a member of staff checks a binder inside the 9/11 Memorial Museum, where the victims’ names and birthdays are listed chronologically.
A white rose is then cut a couple of inches below the leaves before being carefully placed at the appropriate name on the memorial parapet.
For George Mironis, both a museum volunteer and a 9/11 survivor, the ritual carries a particularly personal meaning.
When he's working, he requests the responsibility of placing the roses himself, even coming in on days when he is scheduled to be off to make sure the tribute is carried out.
For him, the roses offer a way to honour the friends and co-workers he lost 15 years ago.
There is at least one birthday represented on every day of the year, and often more than one.
So while the roses may appear to be a simple gesture, each one marks an individual life and a story that existed long before their name was inscribed at the memorial.
The flowers are donated by Mikey 'Flowers' Collarone, of FloraTech, a downtown florist and former emergency medical technician who responded to 9/11.
He personally hand-selects the roses from a local flower market before donating them to the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
25 years ago, 2,977 people were killed when passenger jets hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists struck the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York, causing both to collapse, and the Pentagon outside Washington, DC.
A fourth plane seized by extremists – United Airlines Flight 93 – crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania after the crew and passengers fought back and so prevented it from hitting another target, thought to be the congressional building, which houses the US legislature.
It remains the worst terrorist outrage of all time, claiming the lives of victims from more than 90 nations.
Rhiannon Ingle