At 9/11 memorial, new recognition for a longer-term toll

The Sept. 11 memorial at ground zero has been evolving as the 18th anniversary of the attacks approaches.

This year, when nearly 3,000 victims’ names are read aloud there Wednesday, a half-dozen stacks of stone will quietly salute an untold number of people who aren’t on that list.

The granite slabs were installed on the memorial plaza this spring . They recognize an initially unseen toll of the 2001 terror attacks: firefighters, police and others who died or fell ill after exposure to toxins unleashed in the wreckage.

Caryn Pfeifer’s husband, firefighter Ray Pfeifer, died in 2017 of cancer. It developed after he spent months searching the rubble for remains.

She says the new 9/11 Memorial Glade gives families like hers a place to “think about everybody.”

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