U.S. Marks 25 Years Since September 11 Attacks

The United States observed the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Friday, with commemorations at the three sites where hijacked planes came down in 2001: the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon outside Washington, and a field near Shanksville, Pa., now home to the Flight 93 Memorial. The observances honored the close to 3,000 people who died that day.

President Donald Trump was expected to deliver remarks at the Pentagon ceremony, according to Fox News, which also reported that Vice President JD Vance attended the World Trade Center observance alongside former presidents. In New York, organizers changed the format of this year's Ground Zero program by adding a seventh moment of silence, USA Today reported.

Beyond the three main memorial sites, communities across the country held their own tributes. Flags flew at half-staff and Americans paused for moments of silence in observances that continued through the day. NPR reported that the quarter-century milestone comes as the country remains split over what the attacks mean and what legacy they left behind.

The context

The September 11, 2001, attacks killed close to 3,000 people when hijacked aircraft struck the World Trade Center towers in New York and the Pentagon, and a fourth plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa. That crash site is now marked by the Flight 93 Memorial, one of the three principal locations for annual remembrances. Each year since, the anniversary has been observed with ceremonies at those sites, moments of silence and flags lowered to half-staff, and the date is recognized as Patriot Day. This year's 25th anniversary drew the sitting president and vice president to separate ceremonies, with former presidents also in attendance at the World Trade Center site, according to Fox News. The Ground Zero program itself changed for the milestone: USA Today reported that a seventh moment of silence was added to the sequence of pauses that structures the annual reading of names and remembrance in Lower Manhattan.

Why it matters

The attacks reshaped American national security policy and remain the defining security event of the modern era, making the 25-year mark a significant national moment. The presence of the president, vice president and former presidents at separate ceremonies signals the anniversary's continued weight in public life. At the same time, NPR's reporting that Americans are divided over the attacks' meaning and legacy suggests the milestone is arriving amid disagreement about how the country should remember the day, even as families and communities gather to grieve those killed.

What’s next

Commemorations were set to continue across the country through the day Friday, and Trump's Pentagon remarks were still ahead at the time the ceremonies got underway. What the president says, and how the divided public reception NPR described plays out around the milestone, remain the open questions. Details of any additional official observances beyond Friday's events were not part of the announced programs.