President Donald Trump is expected to deliver remarks at the Pentagon, where American Airlines Flight 77 struck 25 years ago. All living former presidents will attend the ceremony in New York City, a rare joint appearance marking the milestone anniversary. Tributes are being held across the country, from ground zero to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Flight 93 crashed after passengers fought back.
170,000 Pages the City Kept to Itself
The anniversary arrives with an uncomfortable disclosure. Earlier this week, New York City released more than 170,000 pages of previously undisclosed records about air quality in the aftermath of the attacks. The documents show city officials at the time knew conditions around ground zero were unsafe, even as workers, residents and students returned to Lower Manhattan.
The records land hard among first responders. Rescue and recovery workers spent months on the pile breathing pulverized concrete, asbestos, glass and jet fuel residue. In the years since, cancers, respiratory diseases and other illnesses tied to that exposure have killed thousands, including more firefighters than died on the day itself, a toll the new seventh moment of silence now formally recognizes. One firefighter, reacting to the newly released documents, called them "appalling."
A Day That Reorganized the World
For Americans under 30, September 11 is history rather than memory, but its architecture is everywhere: the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security, the security theater of every airport, the surveillance state debates that never ended. The day changed how the country flies, fights, immigrates and fears.
Twenty-five years on, the commemoration itself tells the story of how the event refuses to close. The reading of names at ground zero still takes hours. The victims' fund still processes claims. And the silences keep multiplying: six moments for the planes and the towers, and now a seventh for the longest casualty list of all, the one still being written in US hospitals a generation later.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the seventh moment of silence at the 9/11 ceremony?
- A new addition this year, honoring the thousands who have died since 2001 from illnesses linked to exposure to toxic dust and debris at the World Trade Center site.
- What did the newly released 9/11 documents show?
- More than 170,000 pages of records released by New York City this week show officials knew at the time that air quality around ground zero was unsafe, despite public reassurances.
- Who is attending the 25th anniversary ceremonies?
- President Trump is expected to speak at the Pentagon, and all living former presidents will attend the New York City ceremony.
- How many people died in the September 11 attacks?
- Nearly 3,000 people were killed on the day. Thousands more have died since from exposure-related diseases, a toll now formally recognized in the commemoration.
