Like thousands of other emergency responders, NYPD Det. Christopher Cranston dropped everything and rushed to Ground Zero in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001 after learning of the World Trade Center attacks. For six months after, he sifted through rubble at the former Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, amid the deadly toxins that have since caused the death of more than 2,000 people years after the national tragedy. More.

National Park Service officials say a $26 million visitor's center complex at the Flight 93 National Memorial will open on Sept. 10 -- a day before the 14th anniversary of the terrorist attacks whose victims it honors. More.

The FDNY- Carolinas Retirees Association (FDNY-CRA), an organization of retired New York City Fire Fire Department (FDNY) firefighters who now reside in both North and South Carolina, will host and/or participate in 9/11 Memorial events on September 11. More.

With his head bowed during a moment of silence outside the White House, President Barack Obama set the tone Friday for a nation marking a dark day with solemn ceremonies. Fourteen years ago Friday, terrorists hijacked four passenger planes and smashed two into New York's World Trade Center. A third jetliner rammed into the Pentagon outside Washington while a fourth one crash-landed on an empty field in Pennsylvania. More.

Follow the latest updates in the wave of Paris terror attacks: The official death toll is at least 129 people, with 352 injured. *ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Nov. 13 coordinated assault that spanned six locations and involved at least seven terror suspects. Six of the attackers were suicide bombers, authorities said. French police are hunting possible accomplices. More.

A retired FDNY EMT known as a “mentor to many” has died of 9/11-related leukemia, officials said Thursday. Norman Valle, 59, of the Bronx, was laid to rest following a service at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Parkchester on Thursday. Nearly 200 people attended, according to Israel Miranda, president of the union for EMTs and paramedics. More.

A group of funeral home workers sat at the bar inside the Heritage Hotel in Southbury one night, about a week after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Meanwhile, a group of young journalists were at a nearby table. An editor, concerned about the mental toll, told one reporter she’d be limited to covering no more than three of the funerals that week. More.

As I assume my responsibilities as Special Master for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (“VCF”), I do so with great humility and deep appreciation for the significant progress the VCF team has made under Sheila Birnbaum’s steady leadership since the passage of the Zadroga Act in 2010 and its reauthorization in December 2015. More.