America marks 25 years since 9/11 with memorials and a new moment of silence

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON/SHANKSVILLE — Americans have marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks with ceremonies at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, remembering nearly 3,000 people killed in the deadliest terrorist attack on US soil.

At Ground Zero in New York, relatives gathered with photographs of those they lost as the ceremony began at 8:46 a.m., the moment American Airlines Flight 11 struck the World Trade Center's North Tower. Family members then began the long reading of the names of the 2,977 people killed on September 11, 2001, together with the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Vice President JD Vance and four former US presidents joined mourners in New York. At the Pentagon in Virginia, senior military leaders gathered where American Airlines Flight 77 struck the building, while families and officials assembled at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville.

This year's commemoration included an important addition: a seventh moment of silence for thousands of people who later died from diseases associated with toxic dust and contaminants released when the towers collapsed. More than 600 firefighters have died from 9/11-related illnesses since the attacks, according to New York Fire Department figures reported by Reuters.

A quarter-century later, September 11 continues to shape American foreign policy and domestic politics. The attacks launched the "war on terror," leading to military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, vast changes to intelligence and aviation security and trillions of dollars in subsequent defence spending. They also contributed to prejudice and hate crimes against Muslim Americans and immigrants from Muslim-majority countries.

Perhaps the most powerful feature of the 25th anniversary is generational. Some people reading victims' names today were children born after their relatives died. For them, 9/11 is simultaneously national history and deeply personal family memory.