9/11 25th Anniversary: America Honors Nearly 3,000 Lost Lives

Pennsylvania – (Special Correspondent/Web Desk) – The nation marked the 9/11 25th anniversary on Friday, pausing to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed when hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

In New York, grieving family members stood alongside Vice President JD Vance and four former presidents at Ground Zero. The ceremony opened at 8:46 a.m., the exact moment the first plane hit the North Tower, with a quiet minute of silence.

One by one, relatives read out the names of everyone lost that day, along with those killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. For the first time, organizers added a seventh moment of silence, honoring the thousands who later died from illnesses linked to toxic dust at the site.

In Virginia, military leaders gathered in heavy rain outside the Pentagon, where President Trump was expected to speak. Mourners also gathered in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where passengers brought down a hijacked plane headed for the capital.

For many families, the pain still feels fresh. One woman, whose father piloted the first hijacked flight, recently welcomed a baby boy named after him, a quiet reminder of everything that was taken.

Twenty-five years later, the attacks still shape American life, from airport security to foreign policy, and the country continues losing first responders to illnesses tied to that terrible day.