Sept 11 anniversary marked by sombre remembrance 25 years later (with photos)

A child touches a flower at the memorial during the 25th anniversary commemoration ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York, US, on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. Families and officials returned to the World Trade Center site on Friday to mark the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Reuters/Bloomberg

NEW YORK (Bloomberg): A quarter-century after the Sept 11, 2001, terror attacks, families returned to the World Trade Center site on Friday to read aloud the names of the dead, marking a milestone anniversary of a tragedy that reshaped America.

Mourners and survivors gathered around the twin waterfall pools that mark the footprints of the two towers in Lower Manhattan for the sombre ceremony. Joining for the day of remembrance were Vice President JD Vance, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former mayors Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg. All of the living US presidents, aside from President Donald Trump, were also in attendance: Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

As has been the tradition, family members are reading out the names of the 2,983 people killed on 9/11, as well as the Feb. 26, 1993, World Trade Center bombing. Beginning at 8:46 a.m., six moments of silence are being observed at the times when each of the towers was struck, when each fell, when the Pentagon was attacked and when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed.

The 17-minute period between the north and south towers being hit defined an era and a nation, and 25 years later, an estimated 100 million Americans – nearly 30% of the population – are too young to remember that day.

President Trump attended a ceremony Friday morning at the Pentagon, honoring the 184 people who died there on 9/11 when a hijacked plane crashed into the Arlington, Virginia, building. At the Department of Defense headquarters, Trump is expected to give brief remarks, as he did at last year's Pentagon commemoration.

For the first time, this year's Lower Manhattan ceremony includes an acknowledgement of how the toll of the attacks is still growing. After the reading of the names, a seventh moment of silence will be observed, honoring those who died years later from illnesses and injuries linked to the aftermath of the attacks. It is a recognition that even as the morning the twin towers collapsed passes from living memory for more Americans, its consequences are still unfolding.

Nowhere is that more deeply felt than in the New York City Fire Department, which lost 343 members when the towers fell. In the 25 years since, 453 members have died from cancers, lung diseases and other illnesses linked to the toxic dust and debris that blanketed Lower Manhattan.

Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore, 32 years old on 9/11, was an EMS Academy instructor in Queens who got the call and went to work. She now leads a department where only about 700 of its 17,000 members were there that day.

"What we have found so far is the fire department continues to live that day," Bonsignore said in an interview.

Firefighters who were children when the towers fell now work alongside the dwindling number who responded that morning. New recruits inherit the stories of people they never knew and a skyline they never saw. And the number lost to the attacks' long aftereffects continues to rise.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Trade Center Health Program now cares for more than 145,000 survivors and first responders, with enrollment swelling by roughly 10,000 people in each of the past two years. More than 57,000 members have had a certified cancer diagnosis.

"We expect to continue seeing cancer and other serious conditions that have longer latency periods," CDC Director Erica Schwartz said at a Sept 3 event commemorating the work of the World Trade Center Health Program. "That is one reason this 25th anniversary carries such meaning."

Speaker of the New York City Council Julie Menin credits her experience organizing to rebuild Lower Manhattan as the reason she is in public service.

At the time, she was a lawyer and owner of Vine, a restaurant and catering company, living not far from the site of the attacks with her family and parents. They remained downtown, with Menin founding a nonprofit dedicated to helping small businesses and becoming a founding trustee of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

Menin helped secure US$1mil in funding this year for the institution to expand education and outreach for New York City students. She wants them to learn about the tragic events as well as "the acts of heroism of the first responders, and the unity that really brought the city together, and simple acts of kindness that happened in those days and weeks after 9/11."

First responders continue to adopt lessons learned from the attacks. The FDNY and EMS have made changes to their communications systems and technologies used to locate members in emergencies. And they continue to work to keep memories of that day alive.

"You own it, and that's how we have been able to keep this alive," said Bonsignore. "And I feel confident that they will own that day, like I own it, having been there firsthand." – Bloomberg