One of the many heartbreaking images to come from yesterday's September 11 tenth anniversary ceremony was that of Robert Peraza, touching and kneeling in front of his son's etched name at the National 9/11 Memorial. That moment was captured on the front pages of many newspapers, as well as others of loved ones looking at 9/11 victims' name in the memorial for the first time.
Peraza's 30-year-old son, Rob, was a commodities trader on the 104th floor of the North Tower (American Airlines Flight 11hit between the 93rd and 99th floors); he was one of 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees who died on 9/11. Peraza told the Post, “I just began to walk, and I found it... It was, to me, very emotional to find the name. I knew it was in the north pool. It’s very moving." He added that "family has raised nearly $250,000 to start a scholarship in his son’s name for his alma mater, upstate St. Bonaventure University."
Other mourners were also moved by the chance to see victims' names in the pools; a man who lost his brother and cousin in the attacks told the Daily News, "Just seeing the names ... it breaks me up."
The nearly 3,000 victims' names are placed in "meaningful adjacencies"—meaning that coworkers are placed near each other—around the two pools. You can search names and their placements here.
