On 15th Anniversary Of 9/11, Mass. Honors Those Who Lost Their Lives In Attacks

Massachusetts honored those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 attacks 15 years ago with ceremonies in Boston and throughout the Commonwealth.

Two hundred and six people with Massachusetts connections were killed in the attacks. Their names were read at the State House Sunday morning.

Leslie Blair book-ended the reading of the names with a poem in two parts, vowing to remember the fallen. She said the State House remembrance is like going to a funeral every Sept. 11 for her sister, Susan Lee Blair, who died in the attack on the Twin Towers.

"I pay my respects to my sister and all of the nearly 3,000 souls who were taken from us that day," Blair said. "It is a bit cathartic, but it is a bit heavy as well because we do it every year."

A wreath-laying ceremony, led by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, was held before the reading at the permanent Sept. 11 memorial in the Boston Public Garden. Relatives of victims participated in the ceremony.

Another memorial service took place in the House Chamber, featuring the awarding of the Madeline Amy Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery.

The award was given posthumously to George Heath, who was at a Bertucci's restaurant in his hometown of Taunton when authorities say he intervened between a man armed with a knife and a pregnant woman. The woman survived, but Heath did not.

Madeline Amy Sweeney was a flight attendant from Acton who authorities say provided critical information to officials on the ground. She was on American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked out of Boston.