Congress honors Sept. 11 with gold medals

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury will create three Congressional Gold Medals to honor the 3,000 men and women who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, officials said.

The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award given by the U.S. Congress.

The Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act, signed by President Barack Obama last week, calls for the medals to be displayed at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City, and the Pentagon Memorial in Northern Virginia.

"The awarding of these medals, to each site of the attacks of September 11th, will serve as a reminder to the nation, and the world, that we will never forget," U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement earlier this month.

Duplicates of the medals will be sold to the public to help cover costs and overhead expenses. Any surplus from the sales will be distributed among the three memorial sites, Schumer said.