According to CNN , the men and women who were first on the scene of the 9/11 terrorist attacks are not invited the 10th anniversary memorial ceremony: The first responders are not invited to this year’s September 11 memorial ceremony at ground zero, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office confirmed Monday. It’s a painful insult for many of the approximately 3,000 men and women who risked their lives, limbs and lungs on that monumental day, puncturing another hole in a still searing wound. In a statement, Bloomberg spokesman Andrew Brent said the commemoration ceremony is for the victims’ families.