US marks 25 years since the Sept. 11 attacks
Americans marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with memorial ceremonies, moments of silence and tributes honoring nearly 3,000 victims.
American flags and flowers line the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, honoring the lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (Credit: 9/11 Memorial & Museum)
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans commemorated the 25th anniversary of 9/11 on Friday, remembering the shock, the dead and the sweeping consequences of the al-Qaida attacks on symbols of U.S. might and prosperity.
The milestone anniversary brought memorial rituals — wreath-laying, flag-flying, moments of silence, vigils and readings of victims’ names — and volunteer projects in tribute to a day that about half of U.S. adults remember as the most historic event of their lifetime, according to a new poll.
On Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida extremists hijacked four commercial jets and crashed them into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people.
The attacks brought down the World Trade Center’s twin towers — icons of U.S. economic power, and among the tallest buildings on Earth — and blew a hole in the Pentagon, the U.S. military’s fortress-like headquarters near Washington. The fourth plane was headed for the nation’s capital, officials concluded, but the aircraft went down in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew members stormed the cockpit and fought the hijackers.
“In the course of history, there are a few moments that divide time into, really, what came before” and after, President Donald Trump said at a 9/11 remembrance in Washington this week.
The Republican leader, who was in his native New York on Sept. 11 and has often recounted his memories, attended the Pentagon’s anniversary ceremony Friday.
Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on 9/11, and ex-Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden and current Vice President JD Vance convened for the observance at the National Sept. 11 Memorial in New York.
Other administration officials went to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.
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Associated Press journalists Michael R. Sisak, Anthony Izaguirre, and Julie Walker contributed. Read the full report here.
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