New york: Twenty-five years after the deadliest attack on US soil, Americans paused on Friday to commemorate the nearly 3,000 people killed when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, and to wrestle with the consequences of September 11 that reverberate to this day.
According to France24.com, in New York, family members of the victims joined Vice President JD Vance and four former US presidents at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. The ceremony began, as always, at 8:46 am with a moment of silence to remember the shocking instant when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the World Trade Center's North Tower. Shortly after, victims' family members began reading aloud the names of all 2,977 people who died on September 11, as well as the six people killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, a somber recitation that lasted for hours.
Other moments of silence, marking when the other three airplanes crashed and the two towers collapsed, followed. For the first time, a seventh silence was observed to honor the thousands who have died since 2001 from illnesses tied to the toxic dust that poisoned the air for months afterward.
In Arlington, Virginia, senior military leaders gathered amid heavy rain early on Friday to watch the unfurling of an American flag at the west side of the Pentagon where American Airlines Flight 77 hit, killing 184 people in all. President Donald Trump spoke at a ceremony there, renewing the commitment to remember the events and the victims of that fateful day. He emphasized the ongoing fight and struggle that emerged from the tragedy.
Mourners also held a ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at the crash site where passengers brought down one of the four hijacked jetliners, United Airlines Flight 93, that had been headed for Washington.
The attacks shaped generations of Americans who lived through the day or grew up in its aftermath, influencing US foreign policy, domestic politics, and public attitudes toward security. But for many whom the attacks directly affected-the victims' families, first responders, and rescue workers-the anniversary is a tribute to the lives lost on a clear blue day a quarter century ago and the heartbreak that followed.
Caroline Ogonowski's father, John, was the captain of Flight 11, which took off from Boston 47 minutes before striking the North Tower. Ogonowski, now 39, had her first baby this year and named him after her father. She shared her sorrow and determination to keep the memory alive for future generations.
A generation of Americans has grown up since 2001, too young to remember the attacks but whose lives were fundamentally altered by them. The attacks initiated the "War on Terror," leading to significant changes in US domestic and foreign policy. However, the repercussions also included a rise in prejudice against Muslim Americans and immigrants from Muslim-majority countries, a sentiment that persists today.
Casualties were not limited to those who perished on September 11. Many rescue workers who spent weeks or months at the site afterward, as well as nearby residents and others, were sickened by toxins in the air and eventually died. The New York City Fire Department, which lost 343 members on September 11, continues to lose members to 9/11-related illnesses, highlighting the enduring impact of the attacks on those who responded.
Information that the air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe came from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Its former administrator, Christine Todd Whitman, later apologized, acknowledging the agency's limitations in understanding the risks at the time. The impact of these misjudgments continues to affect the lives of many who were involved in the rescue and recovery efforts.