Reuters, Pool, September 11, 2014

With the solemn toll of a bell and a moment of silence, the nation paused Thursday to mark the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attack.

Family and friends of those who died read the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in New York, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (AP)

A woman places a flower in the inscribed names along the edge of the North Pool during memorial observances held at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2014. (REUTERS/Justin Lane)

Hattie Wilson places her hand over her heart during the singing of the National Anthem as she mourns her nephew Det. Joseph Seabrook during memorial observances held at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2014. Politicians, dignitaries and victims’ relatives were gathering in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on Thursday to commemorate the nearly 3,000 people killed in al Qaeda’s attack on the United States 13 years ago on Sept. 11. (REUTERS/Robert Sabo/POOL)

Eileen Esquilin mourns the loss of her brother Ruben Esquilin Jr during memorial observances held at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2014. (REUTERS/Andrew Burton/Pool)

An American flag marks the name of a loved one at the North Pool Memorial site as One World Trade Center towers in the background during memorial observances held at the site of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2014 in New York City. This year marks the 13th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and on Flight 93. (Photo by Robert Sabo-Pool/Getty Images)

A wilting rose is left in remembrance of those lost before the memorial observances held at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2014. (REUTERS/Andrew Burton)