Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, Americans on Friday gathered across the country to honour the victims and reflect on the lasting impact of the deadliest terror attack on US soil.
In New York, relatives of those who died, some holding photographs of their loved ones, joined Vice President JD Vance and four former US presidents at Ground Zero in Manhattan for the 25th anniversary commemoration.
The ceremony began at 8:46 a.m., marking the moment American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
Family members later began reading the names of all 2,977 people killed in the September 11 attacks, along with the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
The solemn reading was expected to continue for several hours, with some participants being children who were born after the attacks and never met the relatives they were remembering.
Additional moments of silence were scheduled to mark the crashes of the other hijacked aircraft and the collapse of the Twin Towers.
For the first time, another period of silence was also observed in honour of people who have died from illnesses linked to the toxic dust released after the attacks.
Gregory Carafello attended the ceremony to remember his lifelong friend James Martello, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial firm that lost more than 650 employees in the attacks.
Carafello was himself on the 18th floor of the South Tower but escaped safely.
“Everyone should realize that it was a very bad, catastrophic day for many families,” he said. “These were not warriors. These were people like you and me going to work.”
In Arlington, Virginia, senior military officials gathered in heavy rain for a ceremony at the Pentagon, where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed, killing 184 people.
President Donald Trump was expected to speak there later in the morning. In Shanksville, Pennsylvania, mourners also gathered at the site where passengers fought back against hijackers, bringing United Airlines Flight 93 down before it could reach its intended target in Washington.
The attacks transformed generations of Americans, shaping US foreign policy, domestic politics and attitudes toward national security.
They triggered the US-led “war on terror” and prolonged military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, while Muslim Americans and immigrants from Muslim-majority countries experienced increased prejudice and hate crimes.
The human cost has also continued long after September 11, 2001.
The New York City Fire Department lost 343 members on the day of the attacks, while more than 600 other firefighters, including retired personnel involved in the rescue effort, have since died from illnesses linked to the disaster.
Department figures show that 26 have died from related illnesses this year alone.
Caroline Ogonowski, whose father John was the captain of Flight 11, marked the anniversary with a new generation of her family.
She had her first child this year and named him after her late father.
“This year, there’s this new sadness in knowing that they won’t ever get to know each other,” Ogonowski, who has worked in disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, said in a phone interview. “My father will never know his grandson. And my son will never know his grandfather.
“We owe it to my father and all the others that we lost on that day to make sure that we continue to teach future generations about what happened, about who these people were, who these heroes were, how our country came together and became stronger because of it,” she added.
