America Marks 25 Years Since 9/11 With Ceremonies in Three Places

Americans marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on Friday with ceremonies at Ground Zero in New York, at the Pentagon and at the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, remembering the 2,977 people killed in 2001. PBS News noted that roughly 100 million living Americans, more than a quarter of the population, were not yet born on that day.

At the World Trade Center site, family members read the names of the dead over about four hours, accompanied by music, bells and moments of silence, PBS and CBS News reported. A seventh moment of silence, added this year, honored people who have died of illnesses linked to the attacks and will become a permanent part of the ceremony, CBS said. Every living former president attended, along with Vice President JD Vance, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul. Yo-Yo Ma performed a musical tribute, CBS said.

At the Pentagon, President Donald Trump spoke at a memorial for the 184 people killed there and aboard American Airlines Flight 77. “In 25 years, a generation has passed since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001,” Trump said, according to PBS. He tied the anniversary to the war with Iran, which began in February. CBS reported that he said, “There can only be victory,” and NBC News reported that he said Iran “will never, ever have a nuclear weapon.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said America is “stronger than ever before,” NBC reported. Condoleezza Rice, who was President George W. Bush’s national security adviser, expressed “deep personal remorse,” and CBS quoted her saying those in authority that day “did not see the nature of the danger in time to prevent the attack.”

In Shanksville, bells tolled and speakers honored the 40 passengers and crew who died on United Flight 93 after passengers fought the hijackers, PBS and CBS reported. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said remembrance “must be active,” noting that about 100 million Americans were born after the attacks or were too young to remember, NBC News reported. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also spoke.

The anniversary was not free of conflict. Relatives of two victims accused the government of withholding information about Saudi Arabia’s role in the attacks, which the Saudi government has denied, PBS reported; 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. Terry Strada, the widow of a victim, said “administration after administration, including leaders in front of us here today, chose to protect the Saudis,” PBS reported.

The CIA released 71 declassified presidential intelligence briefs on the al-Qaida threat before the attacks, the largest such batch it has made public, PBS and CBS reported. PBS said a September 1998 brief warned that Osama bin Laden preferred to strike on U.S. soil and that al-Qaida might fly an explosive-packed plane into a U.S. city. Experts told PBS the documents do not fundamentally change what was known: the threat was clear, but the intelligence lacked the timing and specifics needed to identify the plot.

The human toll continues. CBS News reported that roughly 6,000 first responders, survivors and volunteers have died of attack-related illnesses, that the New York Fire Department added 36 firefighters who died of related diseases to its memorial wall, and that the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund has received at least 112,000 claims and awarded more than $18 billion. Greg Carafello, a survivor, told PBS that “the camaraderie you had after 9/11 was amazing.”