BOSTON (AP) — The anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings got underway Tuesday morning with a wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the explosions.
The ceremony was attended by the families of the three bombing victims as well as relatives of the MIT campus police officer killed in the blasts' aftermath.
Middle Tennessee State University accounting professor Paula Thomas will certainly never forget the day of the bombings. Thomas was in Boston running in the marathon one year ago. She hadn’t quite reached the finish line when she learned of the explosions.
“Then we heard very, very soon that people had been killed. So it was just absolutely devastating to hear that and I stopped and got very, very teary-eyed and emotional. There were people all around who had family at the finish line, not knowing if they were OK or not.”
Boston is promising a full day of tributes to those who died, the more than 260 people who were injured, and the first responders, doctors and nurses who helped them.
Vice President Joe Biden will be among the dignitaries expected to honor the victims later Tuesday.