U.S. marks 25 years since Sept. 11 attacks

Americans are marking 25 years since the Sept. 11 attacks with ceremonies in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, returning to the sites where nearly 3,000 people were killed and where the country’s course was sharply changed.

The commemorations honor the victims of the 2001 attacks, when al-Qaida-affiliated hijackers seized four commercial airliners. Two planes struck the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan. A third hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers disrupted the hijackers’ plan to use the plane in an attack on Washington, D.C.

Historians say at least 2,977 people died in the initial attacks. NPR reported that a Brown University study found an additional 7,000 U.S. service members died in post-9/11 wars. Tens of thousands more became ill, and many died from illnesses linked to toxic debris after the attacks.

In New York City, families of victims are gathering at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza for the annual reading of the names of those killed in the attacks and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The ceremony begins at 8:30 a.m. local time and includes seven moments of silence marking when the towers were hit and fell, the attack on the Pentagon, the crash of Flight 93 and those who later died from 9/11-related illness and injury, according to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend the New York ceremony, while President Donald Trump is expected to commemorate the anniversary at the Pentagon. The Guardian, citing The New York Times, reported that former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden, as well as former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are also expected to attend commemorations.

“I encourage every American, particularly people who are young enough to not remember that day, just to tune in for a couple of hours and see what it meant,” Vance said last week. “I think that sense of commonality and common purpose that we all had on 9/11, that’s something we really try every single day to get back to.”

Other memorials are taking place across the country. New York City firefighters are scheduled to gather at the FDNY firefighters memorial on Manhattan’s Upper West Side to honor the 343 department members killed on Sept. 11. A Yankees-Mets baseball game will include tributes to first responders and victims. On Wednesday night, a drone show with 2,977 lights illuminated New York Harbor and formed the outline of the twin towers.

At the Pentagon, the national 9/11 memorial is closed to the public for part of the morning, except for victims’ families, survivors and survivors’ families. At the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, observances include a reading of the passengers’ and crew members’ names, bells of remembrance, music, remarks and a public wreath-laying ceremony at the Wall of Names. On Saturday, 40 candle lanterns will be placed beneath the names of each passenger and crew member.

The anniversary also comes as New York City officials released more than 170,000 documents related to health concerns, air quality and the city’s response after the attacks. NPR reported that the records had been withheld by past administrations. Jon Stewart, who has advocated for 9/11 survivors, criticized the delay. “They didn’t recognize that the air everybody was breathing in downtown Manhattan was toxic until October of 2001,” he said. “So to be fair to them, they only buried that information for 25 years.”

The milestone has prompted reflection on unity and division. Former New York Gov. George Pataki told NPR he was proud of New York City’s recovery but troubled by polarization. “The biggest disappointment to me since Sept. 11 is that polarization,” he said. “It’s the opposite of the sense of unity — that we were all Americans — that we felt on Sept. 12.”