Americans gathered across the United States on Friday to mark 25 years since the September 11 attacks, remembering the 2,977 people killed when hijacked aircraft struck the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
At the National September 11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan, relatives read out the names of those who died in the 2001 attacks and the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing. The ceremony began at 8.46am, the moment American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower.
Vice-President JD Vance attended alongside former presidents George W Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The gathering brought together the only living presidents and former presidents apart from Donald Trump, who attended a separate ceremony at the Pentagon.
Family members spoke the names for hours, with some readers born after the attacks and too young to have met the relatives they were honouring. The memorial said the full list comprised 2,983 men, women and children killed in the two attacks.
Several moments of silence marked the impact of the other hijacked planes, the collapse of the Twin Towers and the attack on the Pentagon. For the first time, an additional silence honoured those who have died in the years since 2001 from illnesses linked to the toxic dust at Ground Zero.
Elsie Caldwell attended carrying a photograph of her son Kenny, whose remains were never recovered. She recalled his final phone call that morning, when he told her: “Mom, I just want to let you know that I love you.”
Gregory Carafello, who escaped from the 18th floor of the South Tower, returned to remember his lifelong friend James Martello. Martello worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost more than 650 employees in the attacks.
“These were not warriors. These were people like you and me going to work,” Mr Carafello said.
The 9/11 anniversary and its lasting toll
The commemorations also drew attention to the continuing toll on first responders and rescue workers. The New York City Fire Department lost 343 members on September 11, while hundreds more have since died from illnesses associated with the rescue and recovery operation.
The FDNY is adding the names of 36 members who died from World Trade Centre-related illnesses to its memorial wall this year. The department has also published a report examining the long-term health effects of the attacks and the subsequent work at Ground Zero.
Patrick Whalen’s father, a New York firefighter who spent months at the site, died in 2021 after being diagnosed with a rare cancer linked to exposure to carcinogens.
“The government told him it was safe to breathe, and, obviously, it was not true,” Mr Whalen said after an FDNY memorial service.
In Arlington, Virginia, Mr Trump attended a ceremony at the Pentagon, where American Airlines Flight 77 killed 184 people. In heavy rain, an American flag was unfurled before the President recalled passengers aboard the aircraft, including a pregnant woman, a family travelling to Australia and three sixth-grade pupils on a school trip.
Mr Trump praised first responders and members of the armed forces, but also used the event to defend his administration’s war with Iran, saying the country must be prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“September 11th reminded us of the terrible power of hate,” he said. “The 25 years since have shown us the even greater power of the American spirit to endure and prevail, and to win.”
A separate ceremony took place in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at the site where passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93. The aircraft crashed into a field before reaching its presumed target in Washington.
The attacks reshaped American foreign policy and domestic life, leading to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and a far-reaching expansion of security measures.
They also left a lasting mark on Muslim Americans and immigrants from Muslim-majority countries, who faced increased prejudice and hate crimes in the aftermath. Zohran Mamdani, New York’s first Muslim mayor, attended the Ground Zero ceremony despite calls from some Republicans for him to stay away.
For many relatives, however, the anniversary remained focused on personal loss. Caroline Ogonowski, whose father John was captain of Flight 11, brought her newborn son to his grandfather’s grave this year. She named the boy after the pilot.
“My father will never know his grandson. And my son will never know his grandfather,” she said. “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.”
