How the Nation and World Are Commemorating 9/11 A look at some events nationwide and around the world on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks: 11 memorial - a 30-foot bronze sculpture of a waving American flag that morphs into a memorial flame - the father of one victim endorsed the crackdown on terrorism. Dov Shefi, the father of Hagay Shefi, who was attending a conference that day in the twin towers, said, "Let us hope that the free world will continue to fight against leaders of terrorist organizations and their supporters; let all the souls of the thousands of victims whose names are marked on this great living memorial in Jerusalem be remembered from here to eternity." WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama laid a wreath at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., in one of several official observances in and around the nation's capital. Obama recalled a day "when grief crashed over us like an awful wave." SHANKSVILLE, Pa. - Scores of people began arriving shortly after dawn at the site where a United Airlines jet crashed in southwestern Pennsylvania after the crew and passengers revolted against their hijackers. "Every 9/11 I come out to one of the sites," said Robert Hamel of El Segundo, Calif. Hamel spent the 10th anniversary at the ground zero ceremony in New York City last year, and plans to visit the Pentagon for next year's anniversary. Hamel says he feels a need to be connected to the tragic events of the day. GLEN ROCK, N.J.: For some communities in the New York City region, 2012 was the first year without an official Sept. 11 memorial observance. The northern New Jersey community of Glen Rock held no organized public commemoration. The Glen Rock Assistance Council and Endowment, a community group set up to help families of the town's 11 victims, decided after months of community meetings that it was time to end the public events and let people remember on their own. "It was a difficult decision," said Brad Jordan, the group's chairman. We felt this year it was more appropriate for a more personal and private observance. HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Hundreds of people attended a Long Island ceremony. At the event at Point Lookout Beach in Hempstead, residents wrote messages and names of victims on a panorama of the New York City skyline. Some included the names of service men and women serving overseas. BOSTON - Names of the more than 200 people with direct ties to Massachusetts who died were read by Gov. Deval Patrick, Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray and family members during a ceremony in Boston. A wreath was placed at the state's 9/11 memorial in the Boston Public Garden.