Thousands Mourn Nearly 3,000 Victims Of September 11 Attacks

Twenty-five years after the hijacked planes struck on September 11, 2001, Americans flocked to New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania to mourn nearly 3,000 lives lost. The scale of the tragedy is hard to grasp without seeing the numbers: four commercial jets were brought down by terrorists, collapsing the Twin Towers in Manhattan, slamming into the Pentagon, and crashing into a quiet field outside Shanksville.

Friday's most visible ceremony took place at Ground Zero in New York City. That is where the World Trade Center once stood before the buildings came tumbling down after two jets hit them. Today, a memorial and museum occupy the spot. During the service, relatives of the victims read out the names of the dead one by one. They did this every single year since the attack, standing around the two reflecting pools that mark where the towers' footprints used to be.

In Arlington, Virginia, mourners gathered at the Pentagon. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into that building, killing 184 people on board and many more inside. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth both spoke there. "In those harrowing days after the attacks, we saw the authentic spirit of our nation," Trump said. "We were all New Yorkers that day, every one of us." He went on to note how the 25 years since have shown the even greater power of the American spirit to endure and prevail and to win.

Families also met in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to honor the passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93. It is believed the attackers intended to crash that plane into Washington, DC. Instead, people trapped on the aircraft revolted against them. The plane made a nosedive into a rural field instead of hitting its target. Forty victims died in that crash. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro ordered flags in the state to fly at half-staff. He did this to honor the bravery of the men and women who stood up to evil and ran towards danger while others were running away.

The attacks on September 11 marked a new era for the United States. They ushered in what became known as the global war on terror, a decades-long effort that included US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But there have also been lifelong consequences for survivors of the attack. Earlier this week, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released government documents showing city officials knew about the risks of toxic exposure after the Twin Towers fell. An estimated 400,000 people were exposed to chemicals including carcinogens, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thousands are believed to have died from conditions like cancer in the quarter century since the attacks.