A quarter-century after one of the deadliest terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, Americans from across the country came together on Saturday to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, pausing to honor the nearly 3,000 lives lost and reaffirming the collective promise that those killed will never be forgotten.
Commemorative events were held at the three primary sites forever altered by the 2001 attacks: Lower Manhattan’s National September 11 Memorial, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense at the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the Flight 93 National Memorial in the rural hills near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Family members of victims, current and former public officials, first responders, and ordinary citizens joined each gathering, sharing quiet moments of reflection, reading the names of those who perished, and laying wreaths to honor their memory.
At the New York memorial, which is built around the footprints of the fallen Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the sound of bagpipes echoed through lower Manhattan as relatives took turns calling out the names of loved ones. Many left flowers, handwritten notes, and small personal mementos at the bronze parapets that line the memorial pools, carrying on a tradition that has persisted for 25 years. At the Pentagon, service members and defense officials joined in a solemn remembrance ceremony, paying tribute to the 184 people killed when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building. In Shanksville, attendees gathered at the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93, where passengers and crew fought back against hijackers, preventing the plane from reaching its intended target in Washington and costing all 40 on board their lives.
Across all three events, speakers and attendees echoed a shared sentiment: that the memory of those lost on September 11, 2001, remains undimmed after 25 years, and the nation will forever hold their stories close. “We will never, ever forget,” was the refrain repeated by countless participants, tying together the grief, resilience, and national unity that has defined the annual remembrance for a generation.