Ship Built of WTC Steel Arrives in NYC

(NEWSER) - Seven and a half tons of steel from the fallen World Trade Center towers returned to New York today, reconstituted as the bow of a newly launched Navy warship. The crew of USS New York stood at attention for a 21-gun salute as the $1 billion amphibious dock landing ship sailed past Ground Zero. "I thought about my son, how proud he is and all of them, how proud they'd be at this moment," the mother of a firefighter who died on 9/11 told the Daily News . The ship will be christened Saturday. More»

USS New York heads from Louisiana to namesake city for official commissioning

(NEWSER) - A US Navy ship built using materials from the World Trade Center has left the Louisiana yard where it was built and headed north for its official christening. The USS New York, an amphibious transport ship, features at its bow some 7½ tons of steel deemed still usable after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack on its namesake city; it will be commissioned in a ceremony there Nov. 7, Fox News reports. More»

Though some are 'disgusted,' witnessing the 'Falling Man' is vital, author says

(NEWSER) - The “Falling Man” photo reproduced worldwide has disappeared from respectable media, Tom Junod writes in Esquire, but to avert our eyes is to pretend the horrific choices made Sept. 11, 2001, don’t exist. “We have somehow taken it upon ourselves to deem their deaths unworthy of witness,” Junod writes of “the jumpers,” “because we have somehow deemed the act of witness, in this one regard, unworthy of us.” More»

Damages determined for 9/11 attacks

(NEWSER) - Somebody tell al-Qaeda to get out its checkbook. A federal judge yesterday ruled that the terrorist organization owes $9.3 billion for the damage caused to businesses and properties in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, reports the AP . Several insurance companies started their suit in 2003 versus a variety of defendants, seeking compensation for the attack on the World Trade Center. The judge determined actual damages, then tripled them for punitive compensation. More»

Fires kept burning long after terror attacks

(NEWSER) - Though you've no doubt read plenty of stories related to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, here's one that's likely to surprise. Yahoo UK lists nine facts you probably didn’t know about the tragic day:

• Twenty survivors were pulled out of the rubble: One was a secretary rescued after 27 hours.
• One survivor escaped from the South Tower as it collapsed: Ron DiFrancesco was one of just four people who escaped from above the 81st floor. He was on his way out when the second plane hit; it collapsed just after he exited.