Two weeks before the ninth anniversary of its destruction, life returned to the World Trade Center site in New York City.
On Saturday, August 28th the first 16 of what will eventually be around 400 swamp white oak trees were planted in the construction site, where they will frame the September 11th Memorial.
Surrounded by cranes and construction equipment, a 1 WTC tower that now stands over 30 floors and the Transportation Center on the southeast corner also rising, the trees are a sign of rebirth in an area that saw so much destruction and lately so much controversy.
The trees come from New York, Pennsylvania and the Washington DC areas, representing the three places directly attacked on that day, and were cultivated in a nursery in New Jersey.
The Memorial, also currently under construction can be seen from the World Financial Center observation floor, picture number 9.
Photo number 10 shows a rendition posted on site of how the area around the Memorial will look like when finalized.
The 9/11 National Memorial is expected to be completed by the 10th anniversary of the attacks.