NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: 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. 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 sombre recitation that will last for hours.
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 is expected to speak at a ceremony there, while mourners also held a gathering in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
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. For families like Caroline Ogonowski's, whose father captained Flight 11, the anniversary remains a solemn reminder of a quarter century of heartbreak and resilience.