NEW YORK — A poignant phrase echoes when 9/11 victims' relatives gather each year to remember the loved ones they lost in the terror attacks.

“I never got to meet you.”

It is the sound of generational change at ground zero, where relatives read out victims' names on every anniversary of the attacks. Nearly 3,000 people were killed when al-Qaida hijackers crashed four jetliners into the twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in southwest Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.

Some names are read out by children or young adults who were born after the strikes. Last year’s observance featured 28 such young people among more than 140 readers. Young people are expected again at this year's ceremony Wednesday.

Some are the children of victims whose partners were pregnant. More of the young readers are victims' nieces, nephews or grandchildren. They have inherited stories, photos, and a sense of solemn responsibility.

Being a “9/11 family” reverberates through generations, and commemorating and understanding the Sept. 11 attacks one day will be up to a world with no first-hand memory of them.

“It’s like you’re passing the torch on,” says Allan Aldycki, 13.

He read the names of his grandfather and several other people the last two years, and plans to do so on on Wednesday. Aldycki keeps mementoes in his room from his grandfather Allan Tarasiewicz, a firefighter.

The teen told the audience last year that he’s heard so much about his grandfather that it feels like he knew him, “but still, I wish I had a chance to really know you,” he added.

Allan volunteered to be a reader because it makes him feel closer to his grandfather, and he hopes to have children who’ll participate.

“It’s an honor to be able to teach them because you can let them know their heritage and what to never forget,” he said by phone from central New York. He said he already finds himself teaching peers who know little or nothing about 9/11.

The Virginia National Guard confirmed that it has launched an investigation into two soldiers who have espoused anti-government views while running a county militia in the state.

Last week, Military.com reported that two Guardsmen -- Staff Sgts. Daniel Abbott and Alexandra Griffeth -- are running the Campbell County Militia, which operates in the countryside around Lynchburg, Virginia, with the blessing of Campbell County's Board of Supervisors.

In a statement provided to Military.com, Virginia National Guard spokesman A.A. Puryear said that it is "aware" that the pair are active in the militia "and have initiated an investigation into the matter."

Puryear said that the service component "will take appropriate action, in accordance with U.S. Army guidelines and directives, once the investigation is complete" and noted that the state Guard "welcomes the focus on extremism and discussions about what meets the Army's definition of extremist behavior."

When asked for a comment last week, Puryear declined to say whether the Guard was investigating Abbott and Griffeth.

After reviewing several hours of the militia's meeting videos, Military.com discovered a pattern of Abbott issuing threats against the federal government and making it clear that his militia's mission is to be ready to wage a potential war.

At an event earlier this year, Abbott said that the U.S. government "is the greatest threat to our safety and security."

"Power is akin to force. I would argue there are only two [forces] man has direct access to. One of those is violence ... [and] the threat of violence."

Meanwhile, Campbell County's Board of Supervisors officially recognized the militia "as a barrier against a tyrannical government" in a six to one vote in 2020.

Several retired military officials issued a letter in support of Vice President Kamala Harris as Republicans attempt to tie her to the chaotic 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“Vice President Kamala Harris is the best – and only – presidential candidate in this race who is fit to serve as our commander-in-chief. She has demonstrated her ability to take on the most difficult national security challenges in the Situation Room and on the international stage,” the group wrote in a National Security Leaders for America letter.

The letter cited Harris “rallying our allies against Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine to standing shoulder to shoulder with our allies in the Indo-Pacific against China’s provocative actions, to advancing U.S. leadership on space and artificial intelligence.”

The letter comes after House Republicans and Democrats issued dueling documents casting blame for mistakes made in the US exit from Afghanistan. The Republican report cites Harris as having worked “in lockstep with President Biden behind the scenes to withdraw all US troops.” It also aims to implicate Harris in its accusations by referring to the current government as “the Biden-Harris administration.”

The group of retired generals placed blame on former President Donald Trump for “putting service members in harm’s way” while he was in office, and argued he didn’t leave the Biden administration in a position to execute a withdrawal efficiently.

“Without involving the Afghan government, he and his Administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that freed 5,000 Taliban fighters and allowed them to return to the battlefield,” the letter claimed.

“Then, he left President Biden and Vice President Harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal, and with little time to do so. This chaotic approach severely hindered the Biden-Harris Administration’s ability to execute the most orderly withdrawal possible and put our service members and our allies at risk.”

The exit of American troops from Afghanistan had always been a critical goal for Biden. During his time as vice president, Biden repeatedly pushed then-President Barack Obama to draw down troop numbers – advice which Obama ignored, ordering a troop surge before beginning a drawdown.