the *DON* JONES INDEX…
	GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED 9/18/26... 14,316.06 9/11/26... 14,318.72 9/4/26... 14,376.51 6/27/13... 15,000.00 Original
*(THE DOW* JONES INDEX: 9/18/26... 51,778.04; 9/11/26... 52,064.10; 6/27/13… 15,000.00)**

LESSON for FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER EIGHTEENTH, 2026 – “LOOKING AROUND and ABOUT amidst the NINE ELEVEN!”

A week ago today, Don Jones... well, not exactly celebrated; nearer the case (except for a few random domestic jihadists)... observed the twenty fifth anniversary of the attacks by Muslim fundamentalists on the Pentagon, the World Trade Center and the failed attempt on either Congress or the White House which we now call the Nine Eleven. The occurrence was memorialized in the American and most foreign press; it has since migrated to the newer generation of devices – websites, blogs, social media, streamsites and more.

On the occasion, President Donald Trump led a Pentagon ceremony, while US Vice-President JD Vance attended a memorial at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, along with all four living former US presidents and first ladies. (BBC, ATTACHMENT ONE)

Moments of silence were held to mark the timings of the attacks and the names of nearly 3,000 people who died were read out.

This year, the names of the dead were read out for nearly four hours at the ceremony in Manhattan.

Two beams of light illuminated the sky for a Tribute in Light on Friday evening, as other landmarks in New York state lit up blue in commemoration.

At the Pentagon, President Trump attended a commemoration alongside cabinet secretaries and Condoleezza Rice, who was national security adviser on 9/11.

"Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago," Trump said. "We will never, ever forget. That's why we fight today," telling the gathered that the Islamic Republic (Iran) "will never, ever have a nuclear weapon".

Commemorations were also held in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed after passengers fought back against the hijackers.

“Every year on 11 September,” the BBC reminded us, “bells ring to commemorate the exact time that each of the four planes crashed, and the exact time the Twin Towers fell.

“Each of the six bells is followed by a moment of silence.

(This year, a seventh bell was rung to commemorate the thousands who died from diseases including cancer after the attacks. Illnesses related to dust and smoke from the towers' collapse have since claimed more than threefold the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the attacks, US health officials say – see more below).

The print, electronic and unofficial media were also lit up with stories from survivors, and the families of the victims – some still angry, some accepting, even forgiving (but never forgetting)

Events were also held elsewhere to honour the victims. In Milan, a group of Italian and US firefighters participated in a ceremonial stair climb... such has become a standard tribute to honour the emergency responders who died in the line of duty while in London, there were ceremonial event at Buckingham Palace (attended by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and the US ambassador Warren Stephens) and at Lloyd's of London.

The Toronto Stock Exchange also held an event to remember colleagues who died in the attacks. In Gander, Newfoundland, Peter Hoekstra, the US ambassador to Canada praised the small town that took in thousands of passengers from 38 diverted planes in the hours after the attack.

His remarks come amid fraught relations between the US and Canada, with the two countries engaged in a trade war. Ahead of the 9/11 commemorations, some Gander residents had called for Hoekstra's invite to be rescinded but most still applauded although former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said: "I have (a) message for American friends... never mistake our generosity for weakness." He received a standing ovation.

Patriots in the US and abroad re-enacted ceremonial stair climbs to honour the emergency responders who died in the line of duty; 110 floors up and down the Galfa Tower, in Milan in remembrance of the number of storeys on each of the Twin Towers.

But skeptics continued to wonder then the trial of mastermind Khalid Shiekh Mohammed – associate and possibly overseer of the Nine Eleven; the majority of those who carried out the 9/11 attacks were from Saudi Arabia and planning was led by al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin-Laden, scion of a prominent Saudi family.

But Saudi officials have repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks, and in 2004 the 9/11 Commission Report "found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded" al-Qaeda.

Now, of course, the Saudis are allies of America as the war in Iran continues... as does the infighting by Sunni and Shiite Islamists as has resulted in the destruction of U.S. fighter jets and other weapons of war on bases in friendly Sunni countries like Kuwait and the U.A.E.

For the Lesson of September 18th we obtained timelines and takeaways from the ceremonies at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Shanksville (ATTACHMENTS THREE, FOUR and FIVE) and combined them into a chronological grid treating factors to the particulars of the attack, the perps and victims and all of the implications and consequences that ensued.

An update on the crisis from the Jerusalem Post (ATTACHMENT SIX) figured that he name “The War on Terror” fingered the enemy’s weapon instead of the enemy’s cause. “In World War II, Americans were told, rightly, that they were fighting fascism, not the kamikaze suicide. During the Cold War, all Westerners understood that the enemy was not the Soviet Union’s atomic bomb, but communism. Now the enemy was jihadism, but world leaders, from America through Europe to China, would not say this.

INTELLIGENCE EFFORTS ALONE CANNOT DEFEAT JIHADIST IDEOLOGY

“Yes, 9/11 ignited an international intelligence effort to thwart jihadist attacks before they are waged, and to hound their plotters wherever they may nest. But that is not enough,” alleges the JPost’s Amos Asa-El. “Civilization has an enemy, one that, deep in its soul and mind, cannot accept pluralism, or even just diversity, and thus seeks to subdue all other faiths by terrorizing millions worldwide. That must be said; plainly, repeatedly, and loudly.

“Seen this way, the threat that announced itself at the millennium’s outset is intact, and must be met with two global efforts, one military, the other political.

“The military aim should be what is now Israel’s doctrine: namely, fight tooth and nail any jihadist militia that emerges on your borders. The political aim should be to tell mankind what jihadism has in store for it, and to expose the governments that help its plots.”

Even conspirators like Macklemore!

Next week’s Lesson will include the aftermath of Nine Eleven... both for the first and second weeks after.

	IN the NEWS: SEPTEMBER 11^TH to 17^TH, 2026
Friday, September 11, 2026 Dow: 52,572.29	*The Day!* Americans remember with “grief and good deeds”. Stories of heroes and martyrs abound. Names of victims read at WTC; ghostly WTC lightshow by night.** The MidEast and terror today – security doomscrollers call now the most dangerous time in the history of the world, citing Houthi capturing Red Sea port to wholly shut off Saudi oil, online jihadists recruiting and grooming domestic “lone wolves”, the decline of democracy and America itself and dangers of AI. Turnabout tech Jacob Coxon fear 100% chance of human extinction by 2030 in a “Terminator” scenario, “moderate” doomscroller Albert Engleberger says the odds are only 10%. Dangers include AI use in technologies of mass destruction like biowar, unemployed workers facing starvation and/or revolution and autonomous (fe: Hugging Face) robots deciding they are better than flawed humanity. (60^th anniversary Star Trek marathons predicted many such menaces.) MAGAmen disagree, Ted Cruz says if we’re going to do killer robots, “I’d rather that they be American killer robots.” Other Cassandras cite rising ignorance of history and simple stupidity among American youth as well as the increasing partisanship over culture and “affordability” as midterms approach. Djonald UnHinged, at his Dallas Trumpalooza, offers a solution to the latter – a $5,000 handout to all adult Americans... but only if Republicans keep the House and Senate. Democrats call it a dream but, if realized, a bribe and a budget busting disaster.
Saturday, September 12, 2026 Dow: Closed	The Day After. While local communities are still holding memorial events like stair climbings and gravestone cleanings, tabloidsters are still gaga over celebrity concert. Snarling Republicans decry the WTC presence of Muslim Mayor Mandabi (but at least he and Rudy G. shake hands in a gesture of civility; sour Democrats complain about Trump going to the Pentagon instead of WTC (with all the other ex-Prexies), Then he flies off to Ireland to chat with Euros and play golf as Houthi jihadists increase control of the straits of Bab-al-Mandab (not Mandabi), back in Washington, his dirty pool contractors now say it was their incompetence, not vandalism, that turned the waters green. Federal e-con-mystics confirm that inflation, up 3.4% with new hikes on gas and, especially, diesel and fuel oil, far outpaced wages. (See numbers below) While Presidential pressure on the Fed to lower interest rates withers, pressure from numbers to raise them escalates – even tho’ more and more high mortgage rates are causing declines in homebuying and, now, home prices. In American laboratories, genetic genealogists are still working on the 40% of unidentified 9/11 remains (often just dust or bones) and promise breakthroughs. Flock pop-up shock also escalates as the surveillance cameras pass 120K with its officials summoning police to arrest reporters and photographers; saying the spooksies now solve 20% of American crimes. Civil libertarians reply travel data is being stored for future political repression and some operators (including those same police) are spying on ex-wives, unfriendly neighbors and selling their data out to insurers, employees and others, leading to calls for “guardrails”. AI execs like Dario Amodei (no relation to slasher movie director Dario Argento) now say the tech needs “guardrails” too – or even a pause in progression to scrutinize its implications. Competitors like Sam Altman and even Elon Musk agree as the media takes notice.
Sunday, September 13, 2026 Dow: Closed	It’s Talkshow Sunday and Amodei is all over the boob toob, scaring the roobs... On ABC’s “The Week”, he explains his “Pace the Frontier” letter (here) that notes autonomous AI attacks on smaller competitors Huggy Face and Ruby Gems... admits dilemma that going too fast will invite a robot takeover, but going too slow will enable China to develop biowar tech. (Russia goes unmentioned... so far) Next up is Coxon, who says Dario’s demurral is “great” and hopes America can come to some agreement with the Chinese but calls for “third party monitors” to evaluate and regulate. And then the politicians... House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) - himself fending off the far left socialists like AOC and El-Sayed) admits that Speaker Mike killed the AI guardrails and they would bring it up again if Republicans stop stopping Congress to go on vacation and campaign. To counter Trumpalooza, he’ll convene an Assapalooza (of appaloosa equines) Caucus to formulate an AI “kill switch”. He also says that Trump’s $5K handout cannot be considered serious after his lies on Iran and Medicaid, but waffles on impeachment. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) admits $1.3T giveaway costs might drain the budget (or, it being already underwater, deepen the trench) but says the midterm economy is good because of all the new jobs (due to ageing out of workers and ICE deportations of migrants). The ABC roundtablers doubt Trump’ll have to shell out because the midterm outlook is looking worse and worse for ‘Pubs despite their dark money, gerrymand’ring and focus on Socialist... nay... Communist culture wars. Liberal Donna Brazile asks: “What’s the matter with Kansas?” as the deep red state is now in play because farmers hate his wars and tariffs. RINO Christie adds that MAGA is losing in Iowa too and many purple state pachyderms don’t want Trump “front and center.” National Reviewer Ramesh Ponneru agrees that the handout is a “gimmick” and the trade war with Canada is killing midterm prospects in the upper Midwest; Astrid Herndon of Vox says Prez has “lost all credibility” in having to resort to his Scarymander. Amodei then jumps to “Face the Nation” and agrees with critics surprised and afraid that AI autonomous apps are being developed by private corporations without gumment oversight – instead of Trump, why not a coalition of “democratically elected” regulators. Dr. Abdul Sayed denies pro-Jihadist Piker is his “running mate” in Wisconsin and, saying some ‘Pubs are privately un-Trumped, wants to “nationalize” AI. Gov. Spencer Cox (R-Ut), author of “Off Ramp” also admits concern from AI CEOs but opposes moratoria in favor of “sitting down at the table.” Hosting the Hill/News Nation roundtable, Chris Stirewall says there’s not only partisan age and gender gap but also a marriage gap – nearly three quarters of unmarried women favor the asses in November. Rightist panelists from Reason and the Wall Street Journal call handout “foolish”, the mail in ballot chaos “chaotic” and express nostalgia for the good old days of unity after 9/11 under Dubya. and say “bring back decency.”
Monday, September 14, 2026 Dow: 52,421.20	The wars roll on. As fighter jets on the newly arrived USS George Washington blow up Iranian “shadow tankers” in ol’ Hormuz while their Houthi allies shut down Saudi ports in the Bab-al-Mamdani, Trump has found out who the real villain is in the soaring prices at the pump: the Ukrainians! Them as have effrontery enuff to blow up Russian refineries (from which America still sucks gas, through intermediaries)... just as bad as the Canadians, whose petrol we tariff. Our esteemed President also says that he supports unregulated AI and Flock camera to keep track of his swollen Enemies’ List and calling critics “sick”, shutting down that museum named after the loser JFK instead of Himself, and wants to churn out more crypto – as is enriching Don Jnuior, diplomat Jared and maybe Erik, too. But he does have his happy side, too... after his detour to Dublin he’s halved the tariffs on Irish whiskey. Weekend sports saw Arch Manning Jr. delight Dad as Hollywood Smothers’ last second plunge gave Texas an upset win over number one Ohio in a week of thrills, spills and scoring (NFL record combined points 59-37 Bears outscoring of Panthers). It was also the first week for the NFL and Swifties delighted in the Travis and Mahomes’ Monday night miracle. Americans failed again at the US Open, but the women ballers took the FIBA cup by defeating France “Widow’s Bay” gobbled up a record fourteen trophies while the Nielsens on the struggle between the Emmys and the Chiefs-Broncos bustup reported the awards down.
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 Dow: 51,950.06	Under globalist pressure, Russia and Ukraine tentatively agree to refain from refinery wrecking ballrooms – for what their words are worth. In case the answer is “nyet”, President Trump cancels the regulations on extracting petrol from National Parks over the whining of the climate changers. But he’s handed a rare slap from SCOTUS which cancels his cancellation of vote-by-mail provisions as, with the dark money and darker gerrymandering, may just save his House and Senate majorities. Jewish billionaire Robert Kraft kicks pro-Palestinian Macklemore off Ed Sheeran’s tour bus as Israeli settlers escalate what some Euros are calling genocide in Gaza and the West Bank. Kash Patel says he will send FBI agents to “monitor” election fraud in the midterms - Democrats say the objective is to intimidate voters.
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 Dow: 51,480.80	Trump sockpopup Fed Chair Warsh grows a pair and defies Himself by raising interests rates by a quarter of one percent to 4.25% as opposed to lowering them and says “there might be more hikes coming.” He argues that raising rates will slow inflation – a dicey premise – and that people who have money to save or invest will benefit by the higher rate. Those who won’t: credit card debtors and wannabe homebuyers. Trump posts on Truth Social that he would prefer the rate to be “one percent or less.” Most blame the war for the higher gas ($4.36) and diesel ($6.15/gal.) prices but POTUS also has an alternate villain: Ukrainian President Zelelskyy who is calling out Trump’s gasbuddy Bad Vlad Putin for assassination plots against Russian dissidents hiding in America and bombing Russian oil plants. Iran’s Houthi surrogates consolidate their closure of the Bab-al-Mandami straits to choke off Saudi oil as Congress hands Djonald UnLeaded a rare slap by invoking the War Powers attack to choke off the war (despite it being headed to a certain veto). The media, meanwhile loses some of its own – the crew of NBC’s LA station in a copter crash covering a deadly freeway crash. And infighting erupts among the AI royalty with META CEO Zuck and Nvidia nabob Jensen Huang declaring war on Altman and Amodei (above) over whether robots are growing so powerful that humans should install “kill switches” on them while they still can.
Thursday, September 17, 2026 Dow: 51,	Mother Nature ends the week as it began... wildfires in the West but flooding now creeping into New Mexico and Arizona, drought does Dallas (60 days without rain) and record temperatures across the Southeast... Memphis and Nashville holding in triple digits for days past and days to come. President Trump threatens to tear down the Kennedy Center if its board does not rename it after Himself while work on the White House Golden Ballroom continues and the reflecting pool contractors say their errors, not vandals, caused it to turn green. There is more bad news for him amidst the Midterm polls as a “blue waves” rolls over the waters... even deep red states like Iowa start wearing purple. As a few rogue Republicans express support over the Democratic plan to impeach WarSec Hegseth, Speaker Mike sends Congress home early to avoid a vote and delay it until after midterms as the politicians party and campaign and the dark money rolls in. Many voters are distracted by the opening of pro, college and high school football or by the Emmys and “Dancing with the Stars”. (See below) Little girls get the Girl (doll) of the year... “Daisy Davenport”... and the Christmas merching is already underway. Country fans get a treat when a prehumous acceptance speech recorded by Dolly Parton is played posthumously after she is awarded an American Music Award.
The Fed interest rate hike sends the Dow tumbling down to its worst closings in months while the Don just stagnated and Jones struggled with an ever-rising inflation rate.

THE DON JONES INDEX

CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000

(REFLECTING… approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)

Gains in indices as improved are noted in GREEN. Negative/harmful indices in RED as are their designation. (Note – some of the indices where the total went up created a realm where their value went down... and vice versa.) See a further explanation of categories HERE

ECONOMIC INDICES (60%) THE WEEK’S CLOSING STATS...

CATEGORY

VALUE

BASE

LAST

CHANGE

NEXT

VALUE (ORIG.)**

CHANGE (to JAN – JUNE 2026) from 100%

JULY 17

Reconfigured

SEP. 4th

LAST WEEK

THIS WEEK

OUR SOURCES and COMMENTS

INCOME

(24%)

6/17/13*

% UP – DOWN

Wages (hrly. Per cap)

1350

8/21/26

+0.346%

8/26

1,909.78

70.89%

1,353.92

1,353.20

1,357.88

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/average-hourly-earnings 37.62 37.75

Median Inc. (yearly)

600

8/21/26

+0.054%

9/4/26

1,474.31

40.75%

600.80

601.46

602.82

603.10

603.43

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 68,273 316 353

Unempl. (BLS – in mi)

600

8/21/26

+2.44%

8/26

555.52

614.28

629.26

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000/ 4.1 nc

Official (DC – in mi)

300

8/21/26

-0.087%

9/4/26

216.73

299.92

309.27

318.71

318.99

319.27

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 6,881 873 867

Unofficl. (DC – in mi)

300

8/21/26

+0.007%

9/4/26

259.80

299.62

284.26

283.86

283.82

283.78

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 14,041 042 043

Workforce Participation

Number

Percent

300

8/21/26

-0.013%

-0.025%

9/4/26

295.81

299.98

298.74

297.81

297.73

297.66

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ In 162,083 062 043 Out 106,465 526 580 Total: 268,548 588 623

60.355 338 323

WP % (ycharts)*

150

8/21/26

-0.163%

8/26

149.25

149.27

149.03

https://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate 61.40

OUTGO

(15%)

Total Inflation

1050

8/21/26

+0.4%

8/26

901.77

1050

1052.10

1051.05

1046.85

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +.1 .4

Food

300

8/21/26

+0.1%

8/26

257.37

300

299.40

299.19

298.89

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +.1 .1

Gasoline

300

8/21/26

+3.9%

8/26

181.96

300

320.10

329.38

316.53

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm -2.9 +3.9

Medical Costs

300

8/21/26

-0.2%

8/26

267.14

300

300.30

298.50

299.10

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.6 -0.2

Shelter

300

8/21/26

+0.3%

8/26

238.38

300

299.70

299.40

298.50

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.1 .3

WEALTH

(6%)

Dow Jones Index

300

8/21/26

-0.73%

9/4/26

400.18

299.80

295.37

305.29

296.71

294.54

https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/index/ 53,686.11 52,064.10 51,682.64

Home (Sales)

(Valuation)

150

8/21/26

-1.97%

-0.53%

9/4/26

137.08

155.60

154.17

152.61

158.23

150.38

151.69

147.42

150.88

147.42

150.88

https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics

Sales (M): 4.06 3.98 Valuations (K): 431.4 429.1

Millionaires (New Cat,)

150

8/21/26

+0.057%

9/4/26

137.72

150.15

150.32

159.78

159.95

160.04

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 24,439 454 468

Paupers (New Category)

150

8/21/26

+0.030%

9/4/26

134.69

149.92

149.82

145.49

145.44

145.40

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 37,058 072 083

GOVERNMENT

(10%)

Revenue (trilns.)

300

8/21/26

+0.125%

9/4/26

485.69

300.85

301.77

302.65

302.96

303.34

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 5,592 601 608

Expenditures (tr.)

300

8/21/26

+0.094%

9/4/26

287.16

299.59

298.86

292.19

291.91

291.63

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 7,414 423 432

National Debt (tr.)

450

8/21/26

+0.072%

9/4/26

344.44

448.90

446.23

440.49

440.22

439.90

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 40,111 144 173

Aggregate Debt (tr.)

450

8/21/26

+0.21%

9/4/26

352.67

448.15

445.20

440.68

439.89

438.98

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 114,801 5,073 311

TRADE

(5%)

Foreign Debt (tr.)

300

8/21/26

-0.072%

9/4/26

252.18

295.57

293.90

293.22

293.04

292.83

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 9,609 616 623

Exports (in billions)

150

8/21/26

-1.27%

8/26

197.73

145.70

140.98

139.19

https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 314.7 310.7

Imports (in billions))

150

8/21/26

-2.83%

8/26

130.49

145.32

150.83

146.56

https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 388.0 399.3

Trade Surplus/Deficit (blns.)

150

8/21/26

-17.27%

8/26

182.61

108.06

121.12

100.20

https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 73.3 88.6

SOCIAL INDICES

(40%)

Events of the Week

ACTS of MAN

(15%)

World Affairs

450

8/21/26

+0.1%

9/4/26

466.24

448.20

448.65

444.17

443.83

444.17

President Trump visits Ireland expresses support for reunification as U.K voters reject assisted suicide legalization. Finland discovers Viking treasure cache.

War and terrorism

300

8/21/26

-0.1%

9/4/26

280.07

298.80

298.22

295.55

295.25

294.95

Pentagon defies President, admits shortage of munitions. Israel blasts more Hezbollah tunnels while Houthi attacks on Red Sea ports raise gas and oil prices even more. Trump gives Bibi $2.8B in arms, paid for by American taxpayers. Pro-Israel billionaire Bob Kraft kicks pro-Palestinian Macklemore off Ed Sheeran tour. JusDep accuses Russia of hiring hitman to kill dissidents escaping to America.

Politics

450

8/21/26

-0.1%

9/4/26

450.15

448.20

447.75

445.07

444.62

444.18

Demented Mitchy M. returns to Congress in wheelchare with midterms in 53 days. Filthy ads proliferate. In bad week for POTUS, SCOTUS rejects his mail-in ballot ban (promoting Kash Patel to send FBI to the polls to investigate fraud - liberals contend to intimidate voters and retaliate against the corporate donor class by proposing 32 hour work week). Republican revolt against Iran war causes Speaker Mike to send Congress home for long paid vacation to delay vote until after the midterms; Donald Junior’s lavish wedding paid for by Russian oligarch and Ky Republican primary loser Tom Massie files impeachment papers against Hegseth. Speculator sells Trump boyhood home in Queens at twice the price. Clueless female trespasser arrested for invading Kamala Harris home.

Economics

450

8/21/26

-0.2%

9/4/26

426.64

450.00

449.55

445.51

445.96

445.07

In another Trump scump his Fed head Warsh raises interest rate; now new inflation reports find diesel tops $6/gal, mortgage rates top 7% as TV-con-mystics promote apps that can reduce fast food prices (but can also steal your identity). To pay for your pizzas, experts say that the jobs needed are for “people who know how to build things.”

Crime

150

8/21/26

-0.2%

9/4/26

201.34

149.55

149.40

149.10

148.80

148.50

Four killed in Louisiana stabbing spree, 3 in Minnesota police shootout as Tuscaloosa loser shoots 8 at party, kills none as also while Miami maniac assaults ER staff – despite many injuries. Bad dad kills baby and claims “forces” told him to, mean mom reciprocates by throwing her dead baby in dumpster. Crooked caretaker poison disabled man by filling water bottle with bleach – ensuring a clean death – while man stabbed to death in dispute over barbecuing technique. Marijuana smoker in Warm Springs, CA kills arresting police officer. Scammer scams Travis Kelcey in Ponzi scheme named “Swife Ark@”, a ton of meth found inside cabbages at Mex border.

ACTS of GOD

Environment/Weather

450

8/21/26

-0.1%

9/4/26

275.85

447.30

446.85

443.28

442.84

442.40

Western wildfires include Lucas in Mendocino, CA, and Washington State blaze started by stupid kids playing with fireworks. Tornadoes in Artichoke, Mn. Flash flooding in Iowa and Westport, CT – 13 rescued. Trump EPA greenlights removal of climate regulation rules.

Disasters

450

8/21/26

+0.2%

9/4/26

463.08

450.00

449.55

449.10

449.55

450.45

Five die, 40 injured in Swiss bus crash, 76 killed in Philippines ferry fire. Three killed in LA news copter crash, Ryan Air CEO says passenger who claimed to be suckd out window was “delusional.” On the ground, worker killed at @ butcher plant,

In the good news, Miami drivers escape rig collapse, 70 year old hiker rescued after 11 days lost on Michigan island, @ candidate Tom Tiffany swims for his life after plane crash in lake, @ a whale rescued from entangling ropes in @ and President Trump lifts tariffs on Irish whiskey.

LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE INDEX

15%

Science, Tech, Education

600

8/21/26

-0.1%

9/4/26

617.97

600.00

599.40

598.80

598.20

Flocked Florida sentenced to life for vehicular homicide, released after two weeks as gumment admits AI errors. AInfighting pits go slow Dario and Altman vs. gung-ho Jensen and Zuck. Obama calls for AI slowdown; robot rebellions called “misaligned” while Lee Harvey Trump says “negative voices” helping China in advance of his planned trip to talk tech in Beijing and defends Kennedy Center teardown due to JFK being an “overrated” politician.

Equality (econ/social)

600

8/21/26

-0.1%

9/4/26

675.06

603.00

601.81

601.21

600.61

More women entering workforce in “men’s jobs” like welding. FIBA USA girl ballers beat France to win trohy

Health

600

8/21/26

+0.3%

9/4/26

440.46

595.06

593.84

592.03

593.84

New blood test detects pancreatic cancer. Doctors in St. Louis separate twins conjoined at the head. USDA fights rabies outbreaks with vaxxing airdrop while antivaxxers hail 3 new measles deaths in Pennsylvania. Add new Legionnaires variant to plague roster: @ But the FDA declares Cyclo plague over... so enjoy a salad! Ricky Joy sour candy crush recalled as is bacterial soap and frozen desserts full of stones.

Freedom and Justice

450

8/21/26

+0.1%

9/4/26

477.76

449.55

447.75

447.30

447.75

In courts, the son of a deceased adult filmmaker arrested as accessory in murders of 5, maybe 7 women in Philly, @ and a jury grants $40M to the parents of a girl kicked from an Uber to be killed on highway. Ex-dictator of Kosovo gets 25 years for war crimes.

CULTURAL and MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS

Diversive incidents***

Cultural

Sporting

Transitional

*** Diversive value raised from 3 to 4% 8/1/26

600

8/21/26

+0.2%

9/4/26

595.85

450.45

454.05

453.60

454.50

“Practical Magic 2” finally overthrows “Spiderman 74” at box office. Denmark’s “Woman Unknown” wins best film at Venice Fest; John Malcovich is best actor (“Dark Horse Nine”). “Widows Bay” wins 14 Emmys. Parisians applaud nnstiffed Celenie Dion at first concert in 6 years. Fired lateniter Steven Colbert guests on shaky lateniter Jimmy Kimmel show and shaves his beard.
@

It’s opening week for football – NCAA sees #1 Ohio State upset by Texas behind Arch Manning Junior (whom wokesters say should be banned or even jailed for saying bad words) and Hollywood Smothers (who didn’t smother anyone) while Iowa State President Harry Potter celebrates upset over Oregon. NFL thrills and chills include upsets and record opening day offense as @ 59-37, Tom (Cruise) and Taylor celebrate KC win. Alexander Zverev defeats American Ben Shelton in US Open finals, Anna Rybakina wins women’s title.

RIP: Bob Mackie, fashion designer to stars from Marilyn to Cher to Taylor – even Carol Burnett! Psychedelic artist Peter Max and Voice alumnus @. Dolly Parton’s posthumous acceptance for American Music Awards inspires @ farmer to honor her with a corn maze.

Miscellaneous incidents

450

8/21/26

+0.1%

9/4/26

555.05

450.90

454.51

454.96

Baby giraffe born in Florida zoo but no-kill animal shelters so crowded that the killing has to resume. Girl doll of the year: “Dawn Davenport” of @wis/Mich Nursing home nurse accused of performing exorcisms on elderly.

The Don Jones Index for the week of September 18th through September 24th, 2026 was DOWN 2.66 points

The Don Jones Index is sponsored by the Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman and Independent Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan, Administrator. The CNC denies, emphatically, allegations that the organization, as well as any of its officers (including former Congressman Parnell, environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman and cosmetics CEO Rayna Finch) and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy and Renaissance” and “The Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best, mere pawns in the web-serial “Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective legal action against parties promulgating this and/or other such slanders.

Comments, complaints, donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com.

ATTACHMENT ONE – FROM the BBC

'NEVER, EVER FORGET' - AMERICA MARKS 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11 ATTACKS

By Grace Eliza Goodwin at the 9/11 memorial in New York, Bernd Debusman Jr, Kwasi Gyamfi Asieduand and Nadine Yousif, Canada er

Twenty-five years after 9/11, US presidents past and present have commemorated the lives lost when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

President Donald Trump led a Pentagon ceremony, while US Vice-President JD Vance attended a memorial at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, along with all four living former US presidents and first ladies.

Moments of silence were held to mark the timings of the attacks and the names of nearly 3,000 people who died were read out.

Two beams of light illuminated the Manhattan sky for a Tribute in Light on Friday evening, as other landmarks in the state lit up in blue in commemoration.

All living former US presidents attended a memorial in New York City. President Trump spoke at the Pentagon.

George W Bush, who was president at the time of the attacks, was joined by former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton at Friday's ceremony at the World Trade Center site.

At the Pentagon, President Trump attended a commemoration alongside cabinet secretaries and Condoleezza Rice, who was national security adviser on 9/11.

"Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago," Trump said. "We will never, ever forget. That's why we fight today."

He sought to link the "war on terror" that followed 9/11, which sparked years of US involvement in Middle East wars, with his current conflict in Iran.

Trump told the crowd that the Islamic Republic "will never, ever have a nuclear weapon".

Commemorations were also held in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed after passengers fought back against the hijackers.

9/11: What happened and how many people died in September 11 attacks?

Janice Brooks had only moved to New York a couple of weeks before 9/11 to begin what she calls "the biggest adventure", working for a company on the 84th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

She told the BBC she was in the office when the first plane hit the North Tower. While she was evacuating, the second plane hit with an "almighty thud".

Brooks said she heard "one of those horror film screams" as a woman was hit by debris. She looked up and saw a "big gaping hole" where her office should have been.

Every year on 11 September, bells ring to commemorate the exact time that each of the four planes crashed, and the exact time the Twin Towers fell.

Each of the six bells is followed by a moment of silence.

This year, a seventh bell was rung to commemorate the thousands who died from diseases including cancer after the attacks.

Illnesses related to dust and smoke from the towers' collapse have since claimed more than threefold the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the attacks, US health officials say.

As the names of the dead were read out for nearly four hours at the ceremony in Manhattan, a 9/11 widow criticised Saudi Arabia and what she characterised as failures by US officials to hold the kingdom accountable.

"You are missed more with each year that passes," Terry Strada said of her husband Tom Strada in remarks broadcast live worldwide.

"But how can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder?"

The comments by Strada, national chairperson of 9/11 Families United, drew applause from the audience.

You can listen to Terry Strada's story in the BBC radio documentary Intrigue: A 9/11 story

The majority of those who carried out the 9/11 attacks were from Saudi Arabia and planning was led by al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin-Laden, scion of a prominent Saudi family.

But Saudi officials have repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks, and in 2004 the 9/11 Commission "found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded" al-Qaeda.

FAMILIES ATTENDED CEREMONIES TO HONOUR THE LIVES LOST

Events were also held elsewhere to honour the victims.

Commemorations were held at Lloyd's of London.

The Toronto Stock Exchange also held an event to remember colleagues who died in the attacks.

In Gander, Newfoundland, the US ambassador to Canada praised the small town that took in thousands of passengers from 38 diverted planes in the hours after the attack.

"When people in America hear the word Gander, our hearts soften," Pete Hoekstra said.

"As a representative of the United States government, thank you for your friendship... to the nation of Canada, thank you for being a partner and for the d sacrifices that you made with us."

Still, Hoekstra's speech was met with applause. But in separate remarks afterwards, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said: "I have message for American friends... never mistake our generosity for weakness." He received a standing ovation.

In Milan, a group of Italian and US firefighters participated in a ceremonial stair climb to honour the emergency responders who died in the line of duty.

Dressed in their uniforms and carrying equipment, they climbed 110 floors up and down the Galfa Tower, in remembrance of the number of storeys on each of the Twin Towers.

ATTACHMENT TWO – FROM the ASSOCIATED PRESS

US MARKS 25 YEARS SINCE THE SEPT. 11 ATTACKS

By JENNIFER PELTZ and TED SHAFFREY Updated 6:14 PM EDT, September 11, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans commemorated the 25th anniversary of 9/11 on Friday, remembering the shock, the dead and the sweeping consequences of the al-Qaida attacks on symbols of U.S. might and prosperity.

The milestone anniversary brought memorial rituals — wreath-laying, flag-flying, moments of silence, vigils and readings of victims’ names — and volunteer projects in tribute to a day that about half of U.S. adults remember as the most historic event of their lifetime, according to a new poll. On Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida extremists hijacked four commercial jets and crashed them into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Elsie Caldwell carried a photograph of her son Kenny Caldwell to the trade center to hear his name and all the others read aloud Friday morning. She last spoke to him that morning a quarter-century ago.

“Mom, I just want to let you know that I love you,” her son told her in a final phone call, she recalled. His remains, like those of many other victims, have never been recovered.

AP correspondent Julie Walker s Americans are marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

The attacks brought down the World Trade Center’s twin towers — icons of U.S. economic power, and among the tallest buildings on Earth — and blew a hole in the Pentagon, the U.S. military’s fortresslike headquarters near Washington. The fourth plane was headed for Washington, officials concluded, but the aircraft went down in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew members stormed the cockpit and fought the hijackers.

“Sept. 11 reminded us of the terrible power of hate,” President Donald Trump said Friday at the Pentagon’s anniversary ceremony.

Trump honors 9/11 victims at the Ellipse, pledging to ‘never forget’

One attack, many Americas: Why 9/11 and its many griefs land differently 25 years later

“The 25 years since have shown us the even greater power of the American spirit to endure and prevail, and to win,” added the Republican, who was in his native New York on 9/11.

Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on 9/11, attended the observance at the National Sept. 11 Memorial in New York, along with former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and current Vice President JD Vance. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wiped away a tear as he revisited the place where the attacks killed 658 of his colleagues — including his brother, Gary Lutnick — at the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum laid a wreath at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania after hailing the courage of the plane’s passengers and crew: “The actions they took should inspire us all.”

For Angilic Casalduc, attending the New York commemoration “helps to show you’re not alone.” She lost her mother, Vivian Casalduc.

“There’s no timeline for grief, and unfortunately, no one can say how you can grieve, but coming here once a year makes it feel just a little bit better,” she said.

Traditionally, there are no political speeches at the ground zero commemoration, where victims’ relatives read aloud the long list of names and added personal messages. They thanked first responders and the military, invoked religious faith, appealed for national unity and touched on the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia. The kingdom was the homeland of most of the hijackers but denied any involvement in the attacks.

Mostly, relatives spoke of, and to, loved ones — whom some were too young to remember.

“You dreamed my whole life for me, and you only got eight months of it,” said Trisha Pakkala, who lost her mother, Deepa Pakkala.

Kiersten Haub, who was 16 months old when the attacks killed her father, firefighter Michael Helmut Haub, said: “I carry you through every milestone.”

Besides moments of silence at key points in the attack timeline, this year’s ceremony added another moment to honor people who were exposed to the clouds of toxic dust released by the twin towers’ fiery collapse and have since died of cancer and other illnesses. Questions remain about how many people developed health problems linked to the dust.

THE IMPACT OF 9/11 ENDURES

It’s a reminder of how the attacks’ long shadow has reached into many corners of life in the U.S. and beyond.

The U.S.-led global war on terrorism included invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan — the latter Washington’s longest war — and detentions and harsh interrogation of terror suspects in an international network of secret CIA prisons. The U.S. found and killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, but the accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed still awaits a trial 23 years after his capture.

The attacks changed U.S. air travel, led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, prompted new federal surveillance and intelligence-gathering powers and banking regulations and generated ongoing debate over the balance between security and freedom.

Sept. 11 engendered a culture of individual vigilance summed up by the slogan, “ If you see something, say something,” while a wave of patriotism propelled some Americans to join the military, fire departments and police forces.

Casey Kloepfer was 4 when his father, police Officer Ronald Kloepfer, was killed at the trade center. The son became an officer himself this June, wearing his dad’s badge number.

“It’s big footsteps to fill, but it’s definitely something that I take very seriously and want to continue to honor him and be the best police officer I can,” he said by phone this week.

NEW YORK’S MAYOR COMES UNDER SCRUTINY

Amid the post-9/11 calls to service and appeals for national unity, the attacks also fanned mistrust, prejudice and hate crimes directed at Muslims.

In the quarter-century since, Muslim Americans have played a growing role in public life from statehouses to Congress to New York City Hall, where Zohran Mamdani is the city’s first Muslim mayor. Yet he faced some criticism for attending the anniversary ceremony at ground zero.

Republican ex-Gov. George Pataki and 9/11 victims’ relatives cited, among other things, past remarks that some of Mamdani’s political associates have made about the attacks. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, also opposed Mamdani’s attendance, though the two shook hands there Friday.

Mamdani, a Democrat, said this week he loves the city and country and that he wanted the anniversary to focus on victims’ families, first responders and New Yorkers who helped one another after the attacks, which he called a “horrific act of terror.” The 34-year-old mayor was an elementary school student in New York on 9/11.

One victim’s son and namesake, Michael Massaroli, used his time at the podium Friday to deplore people “using this tragedy to spread hate” against Muslims and others.

“That’s wrong, and that does no honor to the victims here,” he said.

TIMES SQUARE BILLBOARDS PAUSE S

Remembrances extended far from the attack sites, including beams of light projected from New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, a stair climb at Mississippi State University’s football stadium and a ceremony at Honolulu’s 9/11 memorial.

Sept. 11 isn’t a federal holiday, but Congress has designated it both Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

“One appropriate way to remember is by serving,” said Jay Winuk, who lost his brother Glenn Winuk and then co-founded the organization 9/11 Day with friend David Paine. The group coordinates volunteer opportunities and this year arranged for dozens of Times Square billboards to pause their at 9:11 a.m. Friday.

Instead, they simply displayed the time.

___

Associated Press journalists Michael R. Sisak, Anthony Izaguirre and Julie Walker contributed.

PEANUT GALLERY

Comment by Stephanvh.

It freed up stock controlled by those whose interest aligned with America's. Most notably media, It was then purchased by our enemies.

Comment by freespeech.

Party at Building 7! Oh yeah, collapsed into its own footprint in sympathy with the other 2. Controlled demolition. Jets as cover story. Now it's said the Pentagon jet was theater. Hmm. And bombshell new doco about killing Palestinians as "insanely fun." Emphasis on insane.

Comment by RicQ.

I remember it vividly. I lived in the South Loop (downtown) area of Chicago. We looked at our skyscrapers and wondered if we could be next. We were all united in our shock and sorrow. Other countries were united with us as well. I don’t recall anyone preaching hate at the time. We wanted to mend things and fix the country. That was something positive that came from the attack, unfortunately the feeling of us all being Americans and fellow humans has not lasted For a time afterwards there was an eerie silence due to the absence of planes in the sky.

Comment by WTH1.

Since we're honoring victims of terrorism, how about we include these names too. An AP-Airwars investigation identified 123 children, all age 13 or younger, killed by the Trump Admin's bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab:

Age 6: Kamali; Mirani; Chamali; Saleminia; Yazdan; Zakeri; Zeinali; Zarei; Nasiri; Ranjbar; Zakeri; Shayesteh; Shahdadi; Hosseinpour.

Age 7: Ahmadzadeh; Pegah; Salari; Shahrjou; Ghasemzaei; Mohammadi; Boostani; Ghassemi; Gol-Azin; Farahi; Karimi; Pari-Taghi; Ahmadi; Mehdikhah; Salehi; Ranjbari; Sartakzadeh; Mohammadi; Nazari; Salari; Nazari; Keryani; Behrami; Gholami; Zarei; Barani; Habashian; Karamzadeh; Ansari; Bahrami.

Age 8: Soltani; Forouzanfar; Zaeri; Zarei; Jadavi; Ahmadizadeh; Jangjoo; Derazehi; Dehghani; Zakeri; Salari; Zeinali; Jamali; Raoufi; Shahsavari; Chamali; Behrouzi; Pirzadeh; Pasand.

Age 9: Keryani; Jafari; Rasouli; Bahadori; Zakeri; Shahmiri; Pari-Taghi; Ghassemi; Darvishi; Delavari; Zarei; Shahdoosti; Jafari; Mallahi; Ahmadzadeh; Shahzeidi; Ranjbari; Karimi; Ali-Hosseini; Salari; Sharafi; Makizadeh; Salehi.

Age 10: Arab-Kish; Boostani; Ahmadzadeh; Zarei; Ghasemi; Faghirdoost; Sadeghi; Rahsepar; Pazark; Salari; Mirdoraghi; Abadizadeh; Raeisi; Loghmani; Jangichi; Zakeri; Zakeri; Hafizi; Ahmadi.

Age 11: Zarei; Hasanzadeh; Bagheri; Mafakheri; Rahdar; Bahrami; Mokhtari; Abbasi.

Age 12: Raeisi; Ahmadzadeh; Mallahi; Soleimani; Arab-Kish; Sartakzadeh.

Age 13: Jalali; Bahrami.

ATTACHMENTS THREE through FIVE CONTAINED IN GRID

ATTACHMENT THREE: FROM NBC

ATTACHMENT FOUR: FROM USA TODAY

ATTACHMENT FIVE: FROM NEW YORK TIMES

GRID

Nine Eleven ceremonies, listed chronologically...

COLOR KEY:

RED – from NBC

GREEN – from the New York Times

GOLD – from USA Today

FROM the NEW YORK TIMES... Sept. 11, 2026

(Timeline, takeaways and updates. See website here for photos, videos and references)

FROM USA TODAY - Sept. 11, 2026

See website here for photos, videos and references)

OVERNITE

Sept. 11: 3:00 a.m. ET

By Maya King and Jeffery C. Mays

Facing Islamophobic attacks, Mamdani keeps the focus on 9/11 victims.

Three days before the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, conservative politicians stood with victims’ relatives on the steps of City Hall to repeat their demand that Mayor Zohran Mamdani not participate in the formal ceremony on Friday memorializing the tragedy.

But in truth, Mr. Mamdani has been commemorating the anniversary for weeks.

FROM NBC - Sept. 11, 2026

(Timeline, takeaways and updates. See website here for photos, videos and references)

Recap: NYC marks 25 years since 9/11 with ceremonies and tributes in lower Manhattan

Nearly 3,000 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, when Islamic terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial planes and flew directly into the lifeblood of our nation.

By Jennifer Millman • Published September 11, 2026

Nearly 3,000 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, when Islamic terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial planes and flew directly into the lifeblood of our nation. It was the deadliest terror attack in history.

The vast majority of those victims came from lower Manhattan; nearly 2,800 people died when two jets crashed into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. Both collapsed.

When the first plane hit, an estimated 17,400 people were in the two towers. No one survived above the impact zone in the North Tower; 18 above the South's escaped.

6 moments of silence are traditionally observed on the anniversary. 4 mark the moment each hijacked flight crashed, and 2 mark the towers' collapses. This year, a 7th moment of silence memorializes those who lost their lives to 9/11-related health issues.

The WTC Health Program says 9,000+ people have died from related health problems, triple the casualties from the attacks.

Those after-effects jumped front and center this week when the city released 170K pages of never-before-public documents suggesting officials knew of air quality risks.

Twenty-five years ago today, Islamic extremists hijacked four U.S. commercial airplanes in the name of al-Qaida, flying two into the soaring towers of the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and crashing one in a Pennsylvania field amid a heroic passenger rebellion.

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, marked the deadliest terror attacks in history, killing nearly 3,000 people. More than 3/4 of the victims died amid the disaster in lower Manhattan. Decades later, 9/11's legacy continues to claim lives. Today and always, we remember them.

5 AM

5:33 AM EDT

He was minutes from retiring from the NYPD — then ran to Twin Towers on 9/11

By Jen Maxfield

John William Perry was the only one of 23 NYPD officers killed on 9/11 to be off-duty at the time.

He was at NYPD Headquarters at One Police Plaza, filling out his retirement papers, when he learned the first plane hit the Trade Center’s North Tower. He stopped the retirement process, asked for his badge back, and rushed to the scene.

Perry’s last known act of bravery was helping a woman out of the South Tower. He died when it collapsed. Read the 38-year-old's full story at NBC website noted above.

NBC New York via NYC PBA

John William Perry was submitting his NYPD retirement papers when the first plane hit the North Tower.

5:33 AM EDT

9/11 through art: How a father's survival brought color to his daughter's life

By Andrew Siff and Jon Sosa

Her dad, Pasquale Buzzelli, was going to work on what seemed like a normal day at his office on the 64th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. A Port Authority engineer, Pasquale headed down the stairs when the 110-story building collapsed around him, just as he reached the 22nd floor.

Born in the shadow of 9/11, Hope, now almost 25, grew up amid an atmosphere of resilience, gratitude and — as her name describes it — hope. Read her full story.

5:33 AM EDT

Looking back at 9/11: How the attacks shaped the last 25 years

By NBC Staff

Twenty-five years after two hijacked planes brought down the World Trade Center in clouds of dust, Lower Manhattan is thriving. The Financial District is now FiDi, with twice as many residents, and new bars and restaurants in a neighborhood that once closed up when Wall Street’s trading day ended.

The observatory at the rebuilt One World Trade Center looks out over New York City from the country’s tallest building, its height a symbolic 1,776 feet. The 9/11 Memorial & Museum draws about 9,000 people a day.

The deadly attacks on U.S. soil changed the country in many ways, and the impacts are still reverberating through our society. Here's a retrospective.

5:33 AM EDT

‘Dad would be totally with me on that'

By Greg Cergol

On Sept. 11, 2001, Ronald Bucca raced toward the World Trade Center, climbing further up the burning South Tower than almost anyone else that morning. The FDNY fire marshal was later found dead, his turnout coat covering a woman he had been treating for shock.

Twenty-five years later, his children remember their dad as someone who not only made the ultimate sacrifice but also lived his life to the fullest. Read the full story.

Teaching the next generation about the 9/11 attacks

FDNY fire marshal Ronald Bucca was among the first to respond to the World Trade Center, making it farther up the burning South Tower than nearly anyone else that morning. Greg Cergol has the story.

5:34 AM EDT

From the archives: Man in iconic dust photo recounts 9/11 attacks

By Pei-Sze Cheng

Man in iconic dust photo recounts 9/11 attacks | NBC New York Archives

A photographer snapped a photo of Edward Fine walking away from the twin towers, covered in dust and debris, holding a cloth over his mouth.

Edward Fine has saved everything he was wearing on Sept. 11, 2001, when a photographer snapped a photo of him walking away from the twin towers, covered in dust and debris, holding a cloth over his mouth. The photograph later became an iconic image from the day of the attacks. Here is his story.

5:35 AM EDT

By the numbers: The planes

By NBC New York Staff

Here's the breakdown.

American Airlines Flight 11: 11 crew & 76 passengers + 5 Hijackers (Boston to LA)

United Airlines Flight 175: 9 crew & 51 passengers + 5 Hijackers (Boston to LA)

American Airlines Flight 77: 6 crew & 53 passengers + 5 Hijackers (DC to LA)

United Airlines Flight 93: 7 crew & 33 passengers + 4 Hijackers (Newark to San

Francisco)

Total hijackers: 19

Total of passengers/crew lost on all 4 planes: 246

5:35 AM EDT

7 moments of silence in 2026

By Jennifer Millman

The nation has traditionally marked the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, with seven moments of silence.

8:46 am – Flight 11 crashes into North Tower

9:03 am – Flight 175 crashes into South Tower

9:37 am – Flight 77 crashes into Pentagon

9:59 am – South Tower collapses

10:03 am – Flight 93 crashes in Shanksville

10:28 am – North Tower collapse

12:13 p.m. Moment of silence for those who died of 9/11-related health issues

5:46 AM EDT

Drones recreate Twin Towers, honor victims ahead of 9/11 anniversary

By Brian Price

5:48 AM EDT

Bush's approval rating soars in 2 weeks after 9/11

By NBC News

The week immediately after 9/11, Bush’s approval jumped to 89% and then grew to 90% at the end of the month. No president in the history of Gallup’s approval ratings has seen a higher approval rating. The second-highest approval was George H.W. Bush at the end of Gulf War.

5:57 AM EDT

By NBC New York Staff

NBC 4, Telemundo 47 memories 25 years after 9/11

If you were in the tri-state on 9/11, you probably remember how blue the sky was that morning. For those working in the city that day, the stark contrast between the beauty above and the terror below is unforgettable. Our team shares their memories from that morning.

MORNING: 9/11 2026

6 AM

6:01 AM EDT

By the numbers: The victims

By Jennifer Millman

When the first plane struck, an estimated 17,400 people were in the World Trade Center's two towers. No one survived above the impact zone in the North Tower, but 18 escaped the floors above the impact zone in the South Tower. Records show 2,977 people in total were killed that day.

Here's the breakdown:

2,753 killed in NYC

On Flights 11 (87) and 175 (60)

North Tower (1,470) and South Tower (695)

First Responders (441)

184 killed in Washington, D.C.

On Flight 77 (59)

In the Pentagon (125)

40 in Shanksville on Flight 93

246: Plane Passengers & Crew

2,165: Total WTC victims in both towers

Citizens of more than 90 countries were killed

343 Firefighters killed (of the 441 First Responders killed in NYC)

22,000 remains recovered

Victims identified from DNA of remains: 1,644 victims

Unidentified Remains: 1,109

40% of the 2,753 people killed at World Trade Center (As of Sept. 2019)

In the last 10 years, only 1% more victims’ remains have been identified

2,983 names are listed on the NYC Sept. 11 memorial, including six who died in the

1993 World Trade Center truck bombing

Estimated that NYC Mayor Giuliani attended 200 funerals in 2001.

6:21 AM EDT

‘Go up': FDNY chief who sent brother into North Tower reflects on 9/11

By Michael Gargiulo

A morning call for a possible gas leak was the last normal thing FDNY Chief Joseph Pfeifer experienced on Sept. 11, 2001.

"It was a beautiful summer day with the brightest of blue skies," he said. "All of a sudden, we heard a loud noise of a plane coming overhead, and we saw this plane racing down the Hudson River, so low I could read the American Airlines on the side."

Pfeifer was the first fire chief to respond to the World Trade Center. With him was a film crew, working on a documentary about a rookie firefighter. Instead, it ended up capturing some of the most dramatic moments of 9/11. Now he tells his story as the nation marks 25 years since the attacks.

'I knew this was not an accident, but a deliberate attack.'

6:22 AM EDT

WATCH: Full 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero, more special coverage

By NBC New York Staff

We'll have live coverage on all platforms throughout the day. See special coverage of the ceremony above, starting around 8:26 a.m.

6:27 AM EDT

LIVE CAM: 9/11 Memorial Plaza overhead shot

By Cristian DeMarco

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

6:27 a.m. ET

Mack Liederman

Here are the schedules for the ceremonies.

Flowers laid at the Sept. 11 memorial on Wednesday in Lower Manhattan.

On Friday, the annual ceremony at the Manhattan memorial site known as ground zero will mark 25 years since the attacks on Sept. 11.

There will be six individual moments of silence at the exact time each World Trade Center tower was struck, each tower fell, the Pentagon was attacked and United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the plane’s hijackers. For the first time, a seventh moment of silence will be held to honor those who died from illnesses stemming from the attacks.

6:45 AM EDT

‘Never forget': Mamdani releases video statement

By Jennifer Millman

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani marked the 25th anniversary of 9/11 in an X post. He will also attend the ceremony at Ground Zero.

6:54 AM EDT

Run of show for 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero

By Danielle Abreu

7 AM

7:02 a.m. ET

Dave Sanders

Before sunrise on Friday, the 9/11 Memorial was quiet. An N.Y.P.D. officer walked around the north reflecting pool, where flowers and tributes had been placed for the anniversary.

7:23 a.m. ET

Madaleine Rubin

On solemn ground near Shanksville, a tireless devotion to Flight 93 heroes.

Two weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, Roxanne Sullivan left her home outside of Shanksville, Pa., in the pouring rain, trudged down a dirt road and crossed a grassy field.

Staring out at the incinerated clearing where United Airlines Flight 93 had plunged into the earth, killing all 40 passengers and crew members and the four hijackers aboard, and bringing the eyes of the world to her small town, Ms. Sullivan dropped to her knees, closed her eyes and prayed for the victims’ souls. It was the first day she and others were allowed by officials to get up close to the site, which is visible from her home.

7:24 AM EDT

NBC New York Morning News: 25 Years Since 9/11 | NYC Remembers | FDNY Honors Fallen

By NBC New York Staff

NBC New York Morning News marks 25 years since the September 11 terror attacks, as New York City and the nation honor the nearly 3,000 lives lost and the first responders who raced into uncertainty.

Live team coverage includes remembrances at the World Trade Center and across the tri-state. In New Jersey, ceremonies honor the state's 750 residents who were killed, including a remembrance at Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange.

7:27 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

Police officers and families of 9/11 victims are gathered around a pool at the 9/11 Memorial in New York. Some police officers are hugging and taking pictures together. Some people are engaged in silent reflection. Small American flags and flowers are dotted around the memorial.

7:28 AM EDT

From the archives: The ‘Man in the Red Bandana'

By NBC New York Staff

‘The Man in the Red Bandana' on 9/11 | Chuck Scarborough 50th Anniversary

There were many heroes on September 11th. One of them, for months, was only known as the “The Man in the Red Bandana”. He saved as many as 18 lives, but lost his own. Chuck Scarborough s on the 15th anniversary of the attacks.

There were many heroes on Sept. 11. But for months, one of them was known only as the "mysterious man in the red bandana" who saved as many as 18 lives while sacrificing his own.

In 2002, as the first anniversary of the terror attacks approached, the world -- and his family -- learned who the hero was. News 4's Chuck Scarborough told his story then, with the help of his grieving parents. Chuck met with them again in 2016 and spoke about the impact their son has had and the legacy he left behind. Read more.

7:30 AM EDT

By the numbers: The cleanup

By Jennifer Millman

Ground zero

Clean-up Cost: $650 million

Survivors found under the rubble: 18

At 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2001, rescuers freed Genelle Guzman from the wreckage.

Body parts found: More than 20,000

Fires remained at Ground Zero: 99 days

1.8 million tons of debris removed over 9 months

Rescue, Recovery and Cleanup volunteers: 91,000

End of recovery mission: May 30, 2002

More than 175,000 tons of the World Trade Center steel repurposed to various organizations and government

The Pentagon

Clean-up Cost: $700 million, estimated by the Department of State in 2002.

People who worked on the project: nearly 15,000, with as many as 3,500 at one time

The area of work: 400,000 square feet of space

Tons of debris removed from the site: 50,000

Demolition began: October 18, 2001, lasted 1 month

Reconstruction began: Nov. 19, 2001, finished June 2002

First tenants returned to offices: August 15, 2002

Of the three sites, Pentagon has the fastest clean-up, rebuild and unveiling of memorial

7:33 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

Mayor Zohran Mamdani just arrived at the remembrance ceremony and is greeting other officials. Mamdani, who has faced Islamophobia leading up to the ceremony, including calls for him not to attend today’s memorial, will stay for the reading of all the names of 9/11 victims, his aides have said.

7:48 AM EDT

A timeline of the day

By NBC News

Here's a detailed timeline of Sept. 11, 2001, from when the first hijackers passed through a security check in Portland to when then-President George W. Bush supposedly went to bed.

The morning of

5:45 a.m.: Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari pass through a security check in Portland, ME, preparing to board a plane that will take them to Boston. They are the first of 19 hijackers.

8:00 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11, with 92 people onboard (81 passengers and 11 crew), takes off from Boston Logan International Airport for Los Angeles.

8:14 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 175, with 65 people onboard (56 passengers and 9 crew), takes

off from Logan for Los Angeles.

8:21 a.m.: American Flight 77, with 64 people onboard (58 passengers and 6 crew), takes off

from Washington Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles.

8:24 a.m.: American 11 sent the following transmissions shortly after turning off its transponder:

American 11: "We have some planes. Just stay quiet, and you'll be O.K. We are returning to the

airport. // Nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet."

8:35 a.m.: FAA notifies the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) about the

suspected hijacking of Flight 11.

8:37 a.m.: Pilots on United Flight 175 tell air traffic controllers in Boston that they had seen

American Flight 11.

8:42 a.m.: United Flight 93, with 44 people on board (37 passengers and 7 crew), takes

off from Newark Liberty International Airport for San Francisco.

8:43 a.m.: FAA notifies NORAD about suspected hijacking of United Flight 175.

8:46 a.m.: Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The crash affects

floors 90-100.

8:50 a.m.: President George W. Bush is notified of the attacks while in a classroom at Emma E

Booker Elementary School in Florida. He later writes that he believed it to be an accident or the

pilot having a heart attack.

9:03 a.m.: Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The crash affects

floors 78-87.

9:05 a.m.: President Bush is sitting with the second grade when Chief of Staff Andy Card whispers to him about the second plane. Card had previously told him of the first crash. "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack," Card told MSNBC were the words he said to the president.

9:08 a.m.: FAA bans all takeoffs nationwide for flights going to or through New York Center

airspace.

9:21 a.m.: All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan are closed.

9:24 a.m.: FAA notifies NORAD about suspected hijacking of American Flight 77. NORAD

launches two F-16 fighters to try and intercept the plane.

9:26 a.m.: FAA bans takeoffs of all civilian aircraft regardless of destination and cancels all U.S. flights.

9:29 a.m.: Air traffic controllers begin hearing a series of transmissions from United Flight 93

about people in the cockpit and then about a bomb on board.

9:30 a.m.: Bush delivers his first remarks on the tragedy.

9:36 a.m.: Vice President Dick Cheney is taken to a bunker beneath the White House

9:37 a.m.: Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.

9:45 a.m.: In a shutdown of U.S. airspace, FAA orders all aircraft to land at the nearest airport. It is a grounding of all flights over or bound for the U.S. Nearly 5,000 planes are in the air.

9:45 a.m.: The White House is evacuated. Minutes later, the Capitol and other federal buildings

follow suit.

9:50 a.m.: NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani takes over a city office at 75 Barclay Street and attempts to call Vice

President Dick Cheney. They later have to leave that building when the towers collapse

9:50 a.m.: Passengers on United Flight 93 begin calling their loved ones. The calls reveal a plan to overpower the hijackers.

9:59 a.m.: The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses in about 10 seconds.

10:03 a.m.: Flight 93 crashes near Shanksville, PA.

10:15 a.m.: A portion of the Pentagon’s E-ring caves in.

10:28 a.m.: The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 102 minutes after the first

plane struck the building.

10:30 a.m.: NY Governor Pataki declares a state of emergency.

11:02 a.m.: Giuliani calls for the evacuation of Manhattan.

12:15 p.m.: Airspace over the continental U.S. is clear of all commercial and private flights.

1:15 p.m.: Bush gets in touch with Giuliani and Pataki.

1:27 p.m.: A state of emergency is declared by the city of Washington.

The response

1:44 p.m.: The Pentagon says five warships and two aircraft carriers will leave the U.S. Naval

Station in Norfolk, Virginia, to protect the East Coast from further attack

2:49 p.m.: At a news conference, asked about the number of people killed, Giuliani says, "I don't think we want to speculate about that -- more than any of us can bear."

2:51 p.m.: Navy dispatches missile destroyers to New York, Washington.

3:55 p.m.: Giuliani now says the number of critically injured in New York City is up to 200, with 2,100 total injuries ed.

5:00 p.m.: In his third press conference of the day, Giuliani urges tolerance. "Hatred, prejudice and anger is what caused this," he said. "We should act bravely and in a tolerant way."

5:15 p.m.: Fires are still burning in part of the Pentagon.

5:20 p.m.: The 47-story Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex collapses. The evacuated building was damaged when the towers across the street collapsed earlier in the day. Other nearby buildings in the area remain ablaze.

6:40 p.m.: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld holds a news conference in the Pentagon, noting the building is operational.

8:30 p.m.: Bush delivers an address to the nation.

8:35 p.m.: Bush attends a national security meeting

10:21p.m: Secret Service radio squawks with news that Bush has gone home to bed: "Trailblazer. Second floor of the residence."

8 AM

8:01 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

The area for elected officials and dignitaries is filling up as people crowd the plaza. Among those present are Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the House minority leader, and Letitia James, the New York attorney general.

8:04 AM EDT

How the sports world came to a stop after the 9/11 attacks

By NBC New York Staff

A look back at how American sports came to a stop after the Sept. 11 attacks 25 years ago.

8:05 a.m. ET

Axel Boada

An American flag was unfurled from the Pentagon’s roof early Friday, before a ceremony to commemorate the people killed there 25 years ago. President Trump is expected to speak at the event this morning.

8:10 AM EDT

Sun rises over lower Manhattan

By NBC New York Staff

This was the view from the ferry this morning. (See website)

8:19 AM EDT

Mamdani checks in from Ground Zero

By Jennifer Millman

8:21 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

Current and past mayors of New York City are at today’s memorial. Zohran Mamdani and former mayor Bill de Blasio engaged in a long conversation. Several feet away, former mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who led the city through the 9/11 attacks, was speaking to other guests. In an anti-Muslim diatribe on Newsmax, a far-right news outlet, on Sunday, Giuliani said that he was offended that Mamdani would attend today’s memorial. Mamdani and Giuliani have not interacted with one another at the ceremony thus far.

8:21 AM EDT

In photos: These are the people who died in Sept. 11 attacks

By Nelson Hsu

Hijacked airplanes smashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, in terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaida. The South Tower of the World Trade Center burned for 56 minutes before collapsing. The North Tower stood longer, but after burning for 102 minutes, it also fell. Nearly 3,000 people died. Here are their faces. (See website)

8:31 a.m. ET

Maya Shwayder

Cities and towns across the region, and the country, are holding their own remembrance ceremonies today. In Boston, a military brass quintet is playing a medley of patriotic music on the steps of the State House as guests and family members of the 9/11 victims arrive. A small crowd of onlookers is gathering outside the gates.

8:32 a.m. ET

Madaleine Rubin

In Shanksville, Pa., where one of four hijacked airliners, United Flight 93, crashed into a field on Sept. 11, 2001, family members of the victims on board are wearing white ribbon pins and placing flowers beneath the names of their loved ones. The names are inscribed on a marble wall just past the site of the crash. A ceremony will begin at 8:30 am.

8:38 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

Vice President JD Vance has arrived at the ceremony along with several former presidents, including Barack Obama, Joseph R. Biden Jr., George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

8:45 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

A hush descends at the memorial site as a police honor guard unfurls an American flag on stage and a youth choir sings the national anthem.

8:46 am: 9/11: The first plane strikes the World Trade Center

This moment, 8:46 a.m. ET, is when the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, struck the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. It is one of the moments of silence being observed as part of the commemoration ceremonies, marking pivotal events of the attack.

8:46 a.m. ET

Liam Stack

The living ex-presidents and first ladies are standing in a row, their hands over their hearts, as they listen to a choir sing the national anthem. Vice President JD Vance stands with them.

Image on website.

8:53 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

The reading of the names of those killed in the attack has begun. The first readers are a young man whose uncle was killed in the attacks, and a young girl who lost her grandfather.

8:54 a.m. ET

Madaleine Rubin

At 8:46 a.m, the tolls of the bells of remembrance — two large, silver bells — rang out twice in the hillside meadow in Shanksville, Pa., where a crowd of hundreds is gathered in silence. The timing signifies the collision of the first plane with the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. Officials will strike the bells again three times this morning.

8:55 a.m. ET

Maggie Haberman

As the moment is being honored in New York City commemorating the first plane hitting the first of the twin towers, President Trump’s pre-taped interview with the WABC host Sid Rosenberg played. During the 8:46 a.m. minute, while there was silence in the city, Trump, a native New Yorker, attacked The New York Times over its reporting on him, and denied he was interested in speaking at the Ground Zero memorial, as The Times reported. He insisted he would have almost certainly been allowed to if he had asked, despite a rule against speeches, and then said that he will be speaking at the Pentagon memorial this morning.

8:56 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

As the names are read, people in the plaza are holding up pictures of firefighters, police officers and others killed in the attacks.

8:58 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

In a sign of the quarter century that has passed since the Sept. 11 attacks, the first two groups of readers included children who had never met grandparents who were killed in the attacks.

9 AM

9:00 a.m. ET

Maggie Haberman

One of the victims’ relatives is making an impassioned address criticizing several administrations for continuing to work with Saudi Arabia in the years since the Sept. 11 attacks. Family members have sought to hold the kingdom responsible in federal court.

“It has been one betrayal after another,” she said. She urged the assembled elected officials to “stand with survivors, stand with Americans.”

9:03 AM EDT

Our team reflects 25 years after 9/11

By NBC New York Staff

9:03 a.m. ET

Erica L. Green

President Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, have arrived at the Pentagon to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Trump is scheduled to speak, and the Trumps will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony.

9:03 am ET

The second plane strikes the World Trade Center

This moment, 9:03 a.m. ET, is when the second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, struck the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. It is one of the moments of silence being observed as part of the commemoration ceremonies, marking pivotal events of the attack.

Current and former dignitaries gather at 9/11 memorial

Christopher Cann

Current and former dignitaries gathered at the 9/11 memorial in New York City, including Vice President JD Vance, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Several former presidents were also in attendance, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George Bush and Bill Clinton.

Other officials at the ceremony include Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

9/11 memorial ceremony begins in NYC

Miles J. Herszenhorn

The memorial ceremony at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan has officially started with the singing of the national anthem.

The gathered crowd – including Vice President JD Vance and former presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George Bush and Bill Clinton – observed a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., the time when the first plane struck the north tower.

9:03 AM EDT

9/11 financial impacts: A 6-day market shutdown

By NBC New York Staff

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the stock market was closed for 6 days, reopening on Sept. 17, 2001. It was the longest shutdown since the Great Depression

Dow Jones fell 684 points, a 7.1% decline, which at the time was a record for the biggest loss in exchange history for one trading day. This record has only been broken by the market reaction to the pandemic

An estimated $1.4 trillion in value was lost during the shutdown

In the weeks following 9/11, New York City lost $323.7 million in tourism, $5 million in Broadway sales, and about $10 million a day for restaurants and hotels.

In the first two years after 9/11, lower Manhattan lost nearly 800 businesses.

The neighborhood now has more companies based there than it did on 9/1

9:05 AM EDT

Names of victims read at Ground Zero

By Rebecca Cohen | NBC News

The names of 9/11 victims are being read at the start of the ceremony at Ground Zero.

All four living former presidents are at the ceremony.

9:06 a.m. ET

Katherine Rosman

The names of 9/11 victims are being read at ground zero by relatives and loved ones. Still on names beginning with the last name B, two people have taken the opportunity to thank Vice President JD Vance for being in attendance.

9:08 a.m. ET

Erica L. Green

The ceremony at the Pentagon is underway, and the president and first lady have been introduced. Among those joining them are Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

9:15 AM EDT

Musical performances honoring the names of the 9/11 victims

By Jon Sosa

Yo-Yo Ma, the renowned American cellist, begins the musical performances as the names of the nearly 3,000 victims who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks are read.

Other musical performances throughout the ceremony will feature Jennifer Nettles and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus,. Additional musical accompaniment will be provided by Ben Pila, Emi Ferguson, Coleman Itzkoff, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Musica Reginae and The Harlem Chamber Players, alongside music director and pianist Adam Rothenberg and vocalists Emily Fink and Naomi Serrano.

9:20 AM EDT

9/11 survivor looks back on his viral email | NBC New York Archives

Adam Mayblum worked on the 87th floor of the north tower, just below where American Airlines Flight 11 struck, and he was one of the few who made it out.

9:32 AM EDT

Bill Clinton: ‘We can't erase the nightmare'

By Daniel Arkin | NBC News

Former President Bill Clinton, who left the White House just 234 days before 9/11, called for greater social solidarity in honor of people who lost their lives in the attacks.

"We can't erase the nightmare that so many have lived through and are still living with today, but we can support the people who have given and lost so much by treating one another with respect, in person and online, and recognizing that what we have in common is far more important than what divides us," Clinton said in a statement posted on social media.

"As 9/11 moves further from lived experience into history, may we always take this solemn anniversary to come together and keep alive the memories of all who were lost. We owe that to them, to their loved ones, to each other, and to future generations," the 42nd president added.

Clinton also highlighted the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, which he co-founded with the late Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., his opponent in the 1996 general election. Clinton said the fund has awarded more than $193 million in scholarships to nearly 4,000 children and spouses of people who were killed or permanently disabled by the attacks.

9:32 AM EDT

NBC 4 photojournalist still wears the same hat he wore on 9/11

By Julia Hecht

NBC New York photojournalist Dave Hiller was just beginning his career with WNBC when the terrorist attacks took place on 9/11. 25 years later, on this solemn anniversary, he keeps a piece of that fateful day with him.

9:35 a.m. ET

Andy Newman

A nephew of Lisa Marie Terry, a vice president of Marsh & McLennan who died in the attack, also gave a brief political speech at the New York memorial. “For 25 years, the deep state has hidden the truth about what happened that day 25 years ago,” he said. “President Trump, you’re our last hope. Release the unredacted files that implicate Saudi Arabia while what’s left of the victims’ families are still alive to see it.”

9:37 ET

Erin Mansfield

Hundreds of people are gathered at the Pentagon Memorial to remember the 184 people who died in the building and aboard Flight 77, which hit the building at 9:37 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are attending on one side of the stage, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others sit on the other side. The solemn ceremony began with a readout of all the victims’ names, followed by a prayer.

Victim's relative calls on Trump to release 9/11 files

Christopher Cann

Speaking at Ground Zero, one of the victims' relatives called on President Donald Trump to release files related to the 9/11 attacks.

"For 25 years, the deep state has hidden the truth about what happened that day," the man said. "President Trump, you're our last hope. Release the unredacted files that implicate Saudi Arabia while what's left of the victims' families are still alive to see it."

The man's comments received a round of applause from victims' relatives gathered at the memorial.

Families of the victims have alleged in federal court that Saudi Arabia supported the hijackers. Saudi Arabia has denied any involvement in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

9:37 AM EDT

At Ground Zero, a new tribute to those who fell ill

By The Associated Press

Traditionally, there are no political speeches at the New York commemoration, where victims' relatives read aloud the long list of names, punctuated with moments of silence at key points in the attack timeline. A crowd of 9/11 family members watched, many holding aloft photos of loved ones who perished a quarter-century ago.

For the first time, this year's ceremony will add a silent moment to honor people who were exposed to the clouds of toxic dust released by the twin towers’ fiery collapse and have since died of cancer and other illnesses. Questions remain about how many people developed health problems linked to the dust.

It's a reminder of how the attacks' long shadow has reached into many corners of life in the U.S. and beyond.

The 25th Anniversary Of The September 11th AttacksGetty Images

New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers stand guard ahead of 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.

9:37 am: Plane strikes the Pentagon

This moment, 9:37 a.m. ET, is when American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon building in northern Virginia. It is one of the moments of silence being observed as part of the commemoration ceremonies, marking pivotal events of the attack.

'She loved it here': Honoring 9/11 victims

Miles J. Herszenhorn

Family members of 9/11 victims are reading the names of the 2,983 men, women and children who died in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Bernadette Vindell, 63, attended the ceremony to honor the memory of her cousin, Ann McHugh, who worked in the south tower.

Vindell said she attended the ceremony at the request of her aunt, McHugh’s mother, who lives in Ireland.

“The minute she asked me, I got emotional,” Vindell said. “That she knows somebody is here for her is so important to me.”

Vindell, who was wearing a green four-leaf clover T-shirt to honor McHugh, remembered her cousin as someone who was adventurous and always smiling.

“She really did love New York too,” Vindell said. “Even though she was from Ireland, she loved it here.”

Victim's relative blasts officials for working with Saudi Arabia

Christopher Cann and Miles J. Herszenhor. The families of 9/11 victims gathered at the memorial ceremony clapped and loudly cheered as a woman called out the politicians in attendance for working closely with Saudi Arabia in the years following the terrorist attacks.

"Administration after administration, including leaders in front of us here today, chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families," said Terry Strada, one of the victims' relatives.

Strada called on officials to "stand with the families, stand with the survivors and stand with Americans.”

Vice President JD Vance and the ex-presidents in attendance did not react to the impassioned remarks. The government of Saudi Arabia has consistently denied allegations that it had any involvement or foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks.

More: Pain of Sept. 11 still ripples through America 25 years later

Honoring those who 'decided to fight back' in Shanksville

Amber South

Deborah Grantham drove from Tennessee to Pennsylvania to observe the 25th anniversary of 9/11 at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville to honor and remember the 40 people who lost their lives when United Flight 93 crashed into a field in Somerset County.

Grantham began planning a year ago to be in Shanksville today. She has visited the World Trade Center site twice in the past, but wanted to come visit Shanksville to honor the passengers who "knew their plane was a missile."

They "knew their plane was going to do something horrendous, and they decided to fight back. It just spoke to me."

Grantham hopes the 25th anniversary of 9/11 helps Americans to remember that we are one people.

"I just hope people realize that this is living history. We all came together, and I hope we come together again. I hope there's more reaching across the aisle, more being Americans, rather than thinking of individual wants and needs.

"These 40 people (on Flight 93) were they Jewish? Were they Christian? Were they male, were they female, were they black, were they white, it didn't matter."

9:39 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

The crowd goes quiet again as a bell is rung to mark the moment when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. After a moment of silence, the reading of the names continues.

9:42 AM EDT

A 9/11 responder developed severe liver damage from the toxins. A new treatment reversed it

By Aryelle Siclait | TODAY

Lazaro Fuentes was at his Upper East Side home with his wife, Wendy, and their youngest daughter, Sabrina, when the towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001. What happened next, he attributes to muscle memory.

He grabbed his Army uniform, untouched for the three years since he was discharged and pivoted to a banking career. Fumbling, he struggled to fasten his pants around his wider midsection. He abandoned the last two buttons; his belt would have to do.

The former commander left his family safety instructions before ing to the 69th Regiment Armory on New York City’s Lexington Avenue. One of the first on site, Fuentes took charge until the higher-ups arrived.

9:47 AM EDT

Unity, mistrust and scrutiny of New York's mayor

By The Associated Press

Sept. 11 generated a wave of patriotism that propelled some Americans to join the military, fire departments, police forces or other public agencies. But amid the national unity that many remember, the attacks also fanned mistrust, prejudice and hate crimes directed at Muslims.

In the quarter-century since, Muslim Americans have played a growing role in public life from statehouses to Congress to New York City Hall, where Zohran Mamdani is the city's first Muslim mayor. Yet he faced some criticism for attending the anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero, something his predecessors have done for years.

Some complaints came from Republican ex-Gov. George Pataki and 9/11 victims’ relatives, who cited among other things past remarks that some of Mamdani's political associates have made about the attacks. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, also inveighed against Mamdani attending, though the two shook hands Friday as they and other officials awaited the observance.

Mamdani, a Democrat, said earlier this week that he loves the city and country and wants the anniversary to focus on victims' families, first responders and New Yorkers who helped one another after the attacks, which he called a “horrific act of terror.” The 34-year-old mayor was an elementary school student in New York on 9/11.

Sept. 11 isn't a federal holiday, but Congress has designated it both Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

9:49 AM EDT

First moment of silence takes place in NYC

By NBC News

The first of several moments of silence observing the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks took place in New York City at an event attended by former and current leaders of the U.S. government.

9:53 a.m. ET

Maggie Haberman

There is a group of family members who had hoped that having Howard Lutnick, whose company, Cantor Fitzgerald, lost hundreds of employees on Sept. 11, in the Trump cabinet would help them in their effort to focus on Saudi Arabia’s possible connection to the attacks. That has not come to pass. President Trump promised in 2016 while he campaigned that he would release information that had been kept private about the attacks.

9:59 am: ET

The south tower of the WTC collapses

This moment, 9:59 a.m. ET, is when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. It is one of the moments of silence being observed as part of the commemoration ceremonies, marking pivotal events of the attack.

Is Mamdani at the 9/11 ceremony?

Miles J. Herszenhorn

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is attending the 9/11 memorial ceremony at Ground Zero in Manhattan.

Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, faced Islamophobic attacks and calls to skip the ceremony from conservative politicians in the days leading up to the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who is standing just steps away from the mayor at the ceremony, said that Mamdani’s presence would offend him. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-New York, also called on Mamdani to skip the ceremony.

The rhetoric is a sharp departure from efforts to unite the country in the immediate aftermath of attacks. President George Bush visited the Islamic Center of Washington and stated that “Islam is peace” amid rising Islamophobia following the terrorist attacks.

In the days leading up to the 25th anniversary, Mamdani ordered the release of documents about the air quality safety in New York City after the Sept. 11 attacks.

In North Carolina, woman who lost her husband in attacks says 'it doesn't get any easier'

George Fabe Russell

Jeanne Smith, 73, drove an hour and a half to attend a 9/11 memorial event in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Her husband worked in the World Trade Center and was killed 25 years ago.

"It doesn't get any easier," she said through tears.

She was disappointed that more people didn't turn out this year.

”It's like a whole generation has forgotten what's happened," she said.

She set up a scholarship in her husband's name, and recipients are required to write an essay on 9/11.

”I don't want any of these kids to forget," she said.

Pentagon Memorial begins with readout of names, prayer

10 AM

10:03 a.m. ET Flight 93 crashes in Pennsylvania

This moment, 10:03 a.m. ET, is when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the moments of silence being observed as part of the commemoration ceremonies, marking pivotal events of the attack.

Video shows bell-ringing ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania

Amber South

'America began to fight back'

Erin Mansfield

“In the skies over Shanksville, Pennsylvania, that very morning, America began to fight back,” said Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaking from the Pentagon.

He was describing the passengers on Flight 93, which was believed to be headed for the Capitol building or the White House, but was forced to crash into a field in Pennsylvania when passengers rushed the cockpit of the hijacked plane.

“The courage of those extraordinary Americans in Pennsylvania, in New York, and right here on these hallowed grounds did not end when the smoke cleared and when the fires went out,” Caine said. “Because survivors and families have carried it forward through service, through sacrifice, and through remembrance.”

10:03 AM EDT

Photos: 9/11 victims' families embrace at World Trade Center site

By Jennifer Millman (See website above)

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.

Rosanne Spirito and daughters Sabrina and Amanda, who lost their sister Catherine Lisa LoGuidice, stand at the reflecting pool ahead of the 25th anniversary commemoration ceremony.

People listen to the U.S. national anthem at the memorial on the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

10:04 a.m. ET

Andy Newman

The reading of the names in New York has been underway for 70 minutes and is still only up to surnames beginning with F: Lucy A. Fishman, Ryan D. Fitzgerald, Thomas James Fitzpatrick, Richard P. Fitzsimons, Salvatore Fiumefreddo.

10:04 AM EDT

Spouse of 9/11 victim pleads for accountability from Saudi Arabia in role played in terrorist attacks

By Jeremy Berg

Terry Strada, the spouse of September 11th terrorist attacks victim Thomas Strada, went off script when reading names at the remembrance ceremony at Ground Zero asking why after 25 years there was “no justice for the role Saudi Arabia played in [his] murder.”

10:04 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

A moment of silence is held to mark when the south tower fell. Yo-Yo Ma is now performing.

10:06 AM EDT

9/11 victim's widow blasts Saudi Arabia during reading of names: ‘Still we have no justice'

By Danielle Abreu

9/11 victim's widow blasts Saudi Arabia during reading of names: ‘Still we have no justice'

The widow of Tom Strada, a bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald who was killed in the north tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, made a rousing plea for the Trump administration to hold the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia accountable for its alleged role in the deadliest attack on American soil.

“My husband, Tom Strada. You are missed more with each year that passes. But, how can it be 25 years, and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder," Terry Strada said after reading her husband's name during the 25th anniversary ceremony at ground zero.

Strada continued, "We finally made it into a court and have proved that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fomented a rancid culture of anti-American terrorism around the globe and then sent its agents to support the radical Islamists hijackers so they could attack you and all of our loved ones.

"But, for 25 years, administration after administration, including leaders in front of us here today, chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families. They withheld evidence…they broke promises, both public and private, it's been one betrayal after another," Strada said.

10:06 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

A few moments later, more bells and a moment of silence mark when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pa.

10:08 a.m. ET

Maria Cramer

A theft spurred the redesign of a Manhattan church’s 9/11 memorial.

The new memorial honors two people killed in the attack, Father Mychal Judge and Carol Ann LaPlante.

In November 2024, a young man entered the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Midtown Manhattan and strode toward its Sept. 11 memorial, a large piece of twisted steel recovered from the ruins of the World Trade Center topped with a metal rose.

The man ripped out the long-stemmed, gold-plated rose and walked out.

10:10 a.m. ET

Madaleine Rubin

Family members of the 40 passengers and crew members killed aboard Flight 93 are taking the stage in Shanksville, Pa., to read the names of each of their loved ones, which are inscribed across a marble wall to their left. Some, like the family of Patrick Joseph Driscoll, are accompanied for the first time this year by great-grandchildren of the people who were killed. It is a reminder, in this small town forever marked by the tragedy, that 100 million Americans have been born since Sept. 11.

10:10 a.m. ET

Shawn McCreesh

Pete Hegseth used his speech at the Pentagon to defend the administration’s war in Iran. “The economic pressure tightens every day,” he said, referring to Iran, not America. “We control the strait. We will finish this fight.”

10:21 AM EDT

Mamdani, Giulani put politics aside at Ground Zero

By Julia Hecht

10:27 a.m. ET

Shawn McCreesh

President Trump is using a significant portion of his speech at the Pentagon to tell the stories of various families of 9/11 victims.

10:32 AM EDT

Buckingham Palace honors 9/11 with special Changing of the Guard ceremony

By Janine Doyon

Buckingham Palace honors 9/11 with special Changing of the Guard ceremony

Buckingham Palace commemorated the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 with a special Changing of the Guard ceremony.

10:34 a.m. ET

Shawn McCreesh

President Trump, speaking at the Pentagon, talked about how the Sept. 11 attacks had changed America. “Twenty-five years after the attacks, we know the world will never return to the way it was at that dawn on that beautiful, peaceful Tuesday morning, 2001, before the towers fell, before the Pentagon was hit, before the specter of evil, and this horrible, horrible evil came crashing into our lives,” he said.

10:35 a.m. ET

Erica L. Green

President Trump has wrapped up his remarks, in which he memorialized the stories of the victims of 9/11 and their families, but also used the occasion justify his decision to go to war with Iran. “We will never ever forget,” Trump said. “That’s why we fight today. We don’t have a choice. There can only be victory.”

10:35 a.m. ET

Jeff Mays

Another moment of silence is held to mark when the north tower fell. Members of the crowd stop conversations and some lower their heads to mark the moment.

10:40 AM EDT

From the archives: Tom Brokaw anchors NBC News special

Tom Brokaw, former anchor of "NBC Nightly News," presented a network special in the immediate aftermath of the attacks and tried to put the shocking events in historical context.

10:46 a.m. ET

Lara Jakes

U.S. allies in Europe recall trans-Atlantic bonds after the 9/11 attacks.

European officials on Friday offered condolences and tributes to Americans on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. But alongside the solemn statements, they also invoked reminders of the moment of strong trans-Atlantic solidarity that emerged after the tragedy a quarter-century ago.

The terror attacks unified nations against the kind of stateless insurgencies that surged over the following two decades. It remains the only time in NATO’s 77-year history that the military alliance invoked Article 5 of its charter, the tenet that an attack on one of its members is considered an attack on all.

10:49 AM EDT

For the first time, the 9/11 ceremony will include a 7th moment of silence

By Jon Sosa

This year’s commemoration ceremony includes a seventh moment of silence, recognizing and honoring the service of thousands of first responders, rescue and recovery workers, and people who died from 9/11-related illnesses.

For the past 24 years, the commemoration of the 9/11 attacks included six moments of silence, representing the times when each of the World Trade Center towers was struck, when each tower fell, and the times marking the attack at the Pentagon and the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.

The seventh moment of silence will take place at the end of the reading of the names and remain as a permanent part of the annual ceremony, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum said.

These are the six moments of silence during the 9/11 commemoration ceremony:

8:46 AM - Observance of time hijacked Flight 11 struck the North Tower

10:54 AM EDT

WATCH: VP Vance and former presidents stand for first moment of silence

By Mia Cortes Castro

VP Vance and former presidents stand for the first moment of silence, marking the moment the North Tower was struck 25 years ago.

10:56 a.m. ET

Andy Newman

How The Times covered the attacks: Writing history in real time.

Serge Schmemann had an enormous task ahead of him, covering the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. But first he had to get to the office.

Subways and buses had stopped running. There were no taxis near his home on the Upper West Side. But he saw a truck from Con Edison, the power company, crawling downtown. “I asked him, can I hop on, and he said, ‘Sure,’ and he got me all the way down to Times Square.”

10:59 AM EDT

Yankees paying 9/11 tribute with emotional ceremonial first pitch

By Jennifer Millman

Brielle Saracini and her husband, Sean McGuire, were both 10 years old when they lost their fathers on 9/11.

11 AM

11:04 a.m. ET

Maia Coleman and Troy Closson

An entire generation is too young to remember a day that shaped their lives.

Twenty-five years after Sept. 11, an entire generation of Americans has no memory of the day the twin towers collapsed in a terrorist attack. For these millions of young people, the attacks exist as yet another chapter of history: something they’re sure has shaped their lives, but in ways they cannot qualify.

The New York Times spoke with more than 30 people under the age of 26 — and heard from almost 200 more — about growing up in a post-9/11 world. Many said they thought the attacks had been overshadowed by the foreign wars that followed them, as well as discriminatory policies and enduring bigotry.

11:10 AM EDT

This mom got to hear, ‘I love you,' right before he died

By The Associated Press

“Mom, I just want to let you know that I love you,” Caldwell said he told her in a final phone call.

She is one of many relatives of victims whose remains never were recovered.

11:13 AM EDT

By Janine Doyon

WATCH: Trump's full speech on 25th anniversary of Sept. 11

President Donald Trump delivered a speech from the Pentagon in honor of the 25th anniversary of September 11.

11:14 a.m. ET

Winnie Hu

Bryant Park displays 2,753 empty chairs.

People placed flowers and notes on the 2,753 empty chairs placed in Bryant Park in remembrance of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York on Friday.

There were exactly 2,753 forest-green chairs — one for each of the lives lost in the Sept. 11 attacks at the World Trade Center.

Beginning at 8 a.m., hundreds of people walked through row after row of empty chairs on the lawn in Bryant Park. The chairs were turned south toward Lower Manhattan where the twin towers once stood.

11:22 AM EDT

Times Square billboards pause reports

By The Associated Press

“One appropriate way to remember is by serving,” says Jay Winuk, who lost his brother Glenn Winuk and then co-founded the volunteer organization 9/11 Day with friend David Paine.

The group helps people find volunteer opportunities and this year arranged for dozens of Times Square billboards to pause their at 9:11 a.m. Friday.

Instead, they displayed the time.

11:24 a.m. ET

Erica L. Green

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave a poignant address at the Pentagon’s Sept. 11 ceremony, recounting her experience that day, from hearing a plane had hit the World Trade Center and thinking “what a strange accident,” to the “profound sadness” she felt after touring the Pentagon and returning home with the smell of smoke on her clothing.

She closed with a striking message to the victims and their families. “Those of us in authority on that day did not see the nature of the danger in time to prevent the attack of 9/11,” she said. “We did what we knew to do, but by definition, it was not enough.”

She said she was grateful that there was not a follow-on attack and that the nation owed a deep debt the armed forces and the intelligence agencies for that. “But I will always carry deep personal remorse for the pain that you, the families of the fallen, still feel, and for the trauma that our country endured,” she said.

11:30 AM EDT

‘The Knicks won in 5,' son of 9/11 victim tearfully tells late dad at ceremony

By Julia Hecht

In 2001, it had been 28 years since the Knicks won an NBA championship. Glenn Davis Kirwin was one of many fans who were holding out for another win.

Kirwin lost his life in the attacks on 9/11. At today’s ceremony, his son participated in the reading of the names, honoring his father and giving both him and the Knicks a special shoutout.

11:39 AM EDT

The impact of 9/11 endures

By The Associated Press

The attacks changed U.S. air travel, prompted new federal surveillance and intelligence-gathering powers and banking regulations, and generated ongoing debate over the balance between security and freedom.

The Department of Homeland Security, many state anti-terrorism laws, and billions of dollars in state and local counterterrorism funding all are post-9/11 creations.

So, too, is the culture of individual vigilance summed up by the slogan “ if you see something, say something.”

Sept. 11 generated a wave of patriotism that propelled some Americans to join the military, fire departments, police forces or other public agencies.

Casey Kloepfer became a New York police officer this June. He was 4 when his father, Officer Ronald Kloepfer, was killed at the trade center.

11:41 a.m. ET

Benjamin Oreskes and Grace Ashford

9/11 was a personal tragedy for a candidate for New York governor.

For Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Republican challenger, Bruce Blakeman, appearing at the memorial for the Sept. 11 attacks on Friday will be the culmination of a solemn string of events commemorating a tragedy from 25 years ago.
But for Mr. Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, the list of those who lost their lives on that day will include friends, former colleagues from his time as a Port Authority commissioner and in one case, a family member.

After the planes struck the World Trade Center towers, Mr. Blakeman’s nephew, Sgt. Tommy Jurgens, a court officer, rushed to the site with his colleagues to help evacuate people from the buildings.

11:41 a.m. ET

Katherine Rosman

Jacob Campbell, whose mother, Jill Maurer Campbell, died in the south tower, spotted a man in full dress uniform among the mourners milling around the World Trade Center memorial. He had a shiny nameplate that said “Bucca.”

Campbell knew that a firefighter with the same last name had reached the 78th floor, where his mother had worked.

“Bucca!” Campbell called out. The man in uniform turned out to be Ron L. Bucca, a retired Green Beret, and his father Ronald P. Bucca, was indeed the firefighter who climbed to the 78th floor. Perhaps their parents were together in their last moments. The two men hugged.

11:46 a.m. ET

Liam Stack

Many of the family members reading the names at Friday’s Sept. 11 ceremony in New York City were infants or young children when their relatives were killed. Some children paid tribute to a murdered parent or relative they never met or were too young to remember. A number of young people also paid tribute to their grandparents, making them the next generation of family members affected by the 9/11 attacks.

11:48 AM EDT

The home run that helped the city heal

By Jennifer Millman

Mike Piazza hit a home run in the first baseball game on New York soil post-9/11.

11:51 a.m. ET

Norimitsu Onishi

A Canadian town that welcomed Americans on 9/11 wrestles with a changing relationship.

Shortly after a second plane hit the World Trade Center on 9/11, the United States closed its airspace, forcing hundreds of U.S.-bound aircraft to divert. Canada took in some 33,000 passengers and 224 planes, despite the possible presence of terrorists on board.

Of the 17 Canadian airports that received stranded travelers, most of them Americans, none became more famous than the airport in Gander, a small town in Newfoundland. Gander, which is the closest North American airport for flights coming from Europe, welcomed 38 planes and their 6,700 passengers — nearly double the town’s population.

11:57 AM EDT

Bells toll to mark the moment North Tower collapsed

One of seven moments of silence at Ground Zero this morning, this one marks the exact minute the North Tower collapsed on September 11, 2001.

NOON

12:06 p.m. ET

Andy Newman

How The Times covered the attacks: The grief desk.

When the twin towers fell, Seth Solomonow was fresh out of journalism school, trying to scrape together a living as a freelance er. One day he heard that The New York Times needed help with its coverage of the aftermath of the attacks. He was hired as a news assistant — a glorified term for a clerk.

The Times had launched a project to write an obituary of every person killed in the attacks, an effort known as the Portraits of Grief. An editor approached Mr. Solomonow. “They were like, ‘This is potentially a really sensitive topic,’” he said. “‘Do you think you’d be up to working on this on a day-to-day basis?’” Mr. Solomonow became the counter of the dead, and the keeper of an ever-expanding list of contacts for family members that he distributed to reporters.

12:07 p.m. ET

Claire Fahy

For the first time, a moment of silence for those who died from 9/11-related illnesses.

For the first time, the annual 9/11 remembrance ceremony will include an additional moment of silence honoring those who have died in the aftermath of the attacks from illnesses they contracted from exposure to ground zero.

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum, which runs the ceremony, announced the gesture in May. Earlier this week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani released documents related to air quality that showed the air around the fallen Twin Towers remained toxic for much longer than officials claimed at the time.

12:26 p.m. ET

Corey Kilgannon

At Lincoln Center, dancers performed a ritual of grief.

A performer dressed in white strode out near the center of the plaza at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and began blowing long, sonorous tones on a conch shell.

His call on Friday morning was a convocation to more than 100 dancers who suddenly appeared in flowing white outfits. They fanned out across the plaza and began running, darting and lunging elegantly like snowy egrets.

12:27 PM EDT

A golf ball found in the World Trade Center rubble became a symbol of incomprehensible loss

By Howie Rumberg | The Associated Press

I stood amid the rubble of the World Trade Center, passing buckets of debris down a line of volunteers and first responders. It was hours after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A little white object poking out of the gray ash caught my attention.

Scuffed and dirty, it was unmistakably a golf ball. And in that moment, it represented an incomprehensible loss that would take years, if ever, to process

A person whose name I do not remember, most likely never knew, told me to not throw it out. We understood the significance of finding something personal in the acres of pulverized concrete and twisted steel. I set it near a mound of shredded metal thought to be pieces of the planes that were flown into the two towers.

People worked tirelessly through those first chaotic hours, frantically digging through what became known as “the pile” for any signs of life. We stood side by side with fellow New Yorkers, digging, doing whatever we felt would help, occasionally stopping as shouts for silence pierced the whir of activity. Early optimism quickly gave way to despair.

12:38 p.m. ET

Maia Coleman

N.Y.P.D. ramps up security for the Sept. 11 anniversary and Rosh Hashana.

The Police Department put heavy security measures in place across New York City for the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 and the Jewish New Year, Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said.

“You will see a massive security operation in place,” Ms. Tisch said on Wednesday at a news conference at Police Headquarters. “Whether New Yorkers are gathered Friday morning to remember those we lost 25 years ago or entering a synagogue that evening to welcome the New Year, they should know that the N.Y.P.D. will be there.”

12:40 PM EDT

Wedding ring found in WTC rubble returned to wife on Mother's Day

By NBC New York Staff 12:40 PM EDT

Michael and Dyan Zinzi were new parents when Michael lost his life in the 9/11 attacks while working at the North Tower. A fireman found his wedding ring in the rubble and returned it to Dyan on Mother’s Day in 2002.

She's never cleaned it. Today, it's still covered in soot and smells of ash and smoke.

12:41 p.m. ET

Liam Stack

After reading victims’ names, two speakers accused Saudi Arabia of a role in the 9/11 attacks.

The relatives of two separate 9/11 victims delivered strident political statements from the stage during an annual remembrance ceremony on Friday, accusing American officials of conspiring to conceal the involvement of Saudi Arabia in the attacks.

Both implored the Trump administration to support their calls for the release of more information.

12:43 p.m. ET

Andy Newman

The readers of the names are nearing the end of the alphabet and are now recognizing the final 100 victims, nearly four hours into the ceremony.

12:49 PM EDT

9/11 movies and documentaries worth watching

By Randee Dawn and Drew Weisholtz | TODAY

In the 25 years since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Hollywood and documentary filmmakers have explored the events before, during, and after.

As Sept. 11, 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of those attacks, TODAY has compiled a list of 17 films for those wanting to look back in remembrance or educate young people who may not have been alive. See the full list

12:49 p.m. ET

Andy Newman

With the reading of the final names – Julie Lynne Zipper, Salvatore J. Zisa, Prokopios Paul Zois, Joseph J. Zuccala, Andrew Steven Zucker, Igor Zukelman – the main part of the ceremony honoring victims nears the end.

Another moment of silence followed, a new addition to the ceremony this year to honor the thousands of people who have died of 9/11-related illnesses since 2001.

12:54 p.m. ET

Liam Stack

Another 9/11 family member just made a political demand from the dais, but this one is not about Saudi Arabia or accusations of a deep state conspiracy to cover up the truth about the attack. The sister of a man who died in the attack said the families of the victims were urging lawmakers “in our strongest voice” to “mark this day, Sept. 11, as a day of atonement, recognition, remembrance and reflection for all the souls lost.”

12:55 p.m. ET

Jeff Mays

The final reader of names calls for the 9/11 attacks not to be used to spread hate, saying it only hurts the survivors and that all the names read today matter.

12:58 PM EDT updated 1:13 PM

‘Today in New York' behind-the-scenes at 9/11

FBI agent died of cancer after 9/11 Pentagon response. His widow tells his story.

By Monica Alba and Michael Kosnar | NBC News

Sandy and Jack Hess met early on in their careers at the FBI and worked together for years, with Jack focused on counterterrorism after the attacks.

Jack retired from the bureau in 2009 to pursue a career in the private sector and often thought about what he saw at the Pentagon that day, according to his wife, but never worried that his health might be at risk.

In 2017, what started as a backache became an emergency trip to the hospital, where a doctor found a tumor on his kidney. Sandy was in disbelief. Read their full story.

1 PM

1:01 p.m. ET

Jeff Mays

After the moment of silence for those who have died from 9/11-related illnesses, several buglers play taps. There is quiet as people file out of the plaza.

1:26 p.m.

Mack Liederman

25 years later, some are sharing their 9/11 stories for the first time.

Martin Trice did not speak about how he helped in the aftermath of Sept. 11, because he thought his story did not matter.

Like many others, he watched the twin towers fall on television. In the days afterward, Mr. Trice — whose father joined the Navy after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 — felt compelled to act.

1:40 p.m. ET

Madaleine Rubin

In Shanksville, Pa., a youth chorus of students from nearby schools is singing a rendition of “My America.” Thousands of students are also watching the ceremony virtually, and teachers are in the audience, officials said. “This site is more than a beautiful, peaceful, solemn monument with names etched in stone,” said Morrie Weiner, a retired firefighter and former United Airlines pilot who often flew the path that Flight 93 took. “It’s also a place to learn. At ceremonies like this one here today, and across the country, we have a responsibility to teach new generations about that day.”

1:45 PM EDT

How 9/11 fireman Bob Beckwith ended up beside President Bush during Ground Zero speech

By Mike Gavin

NY firefighter describes moment Bush stood with him for historic Ground Zero speech

After hearing that President George W. Bush would be speaking to first responders after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, retired firefighter Bob Beckwith climbed on top of a fire engine to get a good view. He never imagined the president would stand beside him to deliver one of his most memorable speeches.

It was three days after September 11, 2001, when the motorcade for President George W. Bush made its way towards Ground Zero. There, he would survey the unimaginable wreckage, thank the tireless rescue workers and attempt to inspire the grief-stricken nation.

Bob Beckwith, at the time, was a 69-year-old former New York firefighter for Ladder Company 164 in Queens whose retirement was interrupted by his overwhelming desire to assist at Ground Zero.

Hoping to get a view of the president as he made his speech, Beckwith climbed atop a fire truck that he and other workers helped remove from the rubble earlier in the day. He assumed Bush would speak across the street at a command post where a tent and microphones had been set up.

While awaiting the president’s arrival, Beckwith was approached by a member of the Secret Service.

1:53 p.m. ET

Andy Newman

After the dust had begun to settle — after the first tower collapsed and shook the earth “as if it were raining trains” and a wave of ash turned the air brown; after he slipped off his tie and handed it to a woman to put around the nose and mouth of her toddler to filter the toxic air; after the second tower fell and he found a phone and called The Times’s metropolitan editor, who told him, “I don’t really know what to tell you to do, but you have good judgment, so follow it”; after he crashed on a sofa in a furniture store alongside some firefighters; after he went home and threw his best suit in the trash and showered the glass out of his hair — C.J. Chivers, a police reporter for The Times and a former Marine, put on a U.S.M.C. sweatshirt and returned to the police barricades by the smoldering piles on the evening of Sept. 12.

He went to a coffee shop and got several cups of coffee and approached officers checking IDs and said, “Hey, I’m going to go down there and volunteer, who wants a coffee?” The cops each took a cup and gave Mr. Chivers a nod and he slipped past.

1:53 p.m. ET

Maya Shwayder and Billy Witz

For Janet Conroy, a longtime American Airlines flight attendant who was based in Boston during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the horror of that day hasn’t left her. It hasn’t left her flight attendant friends Marie Christian and Kathleen Morris, either.

When 9/11 arrives every year, it can be radiant outside, like Friday, but Ms. Conroy still gets a discomfiting feeling. “You’re like, ‘What the heck is wrong with me?’” Ms. Conroy said among her friends as they stood in uniform outside the gates of the Massachusetts State House for the commemoration in Boston of the 25th anniversary of the attacks. “And then all of a sudden you look at the calendar and you’re like, ‘Oh.’”

2 PM

2:04 p.m. ET

Jeffery C. Mays

On Friday, for the first time at the official 9/11 memorial service, a moment of silence was held for those who have died since 2001 from illnesses related to the attacks.

The moment, which came after the reading of the names of people who were killed immediately when the towers came down, was a significant one for Bridget Gormley. Her father, Billy Gormley, a firefighter, died of cancer after responding to the attacks and working on the site, where the air was heavy with dust, toxins and pollutants from the destroyed buildings.

2:25 p.m. ET

Kaja Andric

How Engine 54 noted the 25th anniversary.

Kathleen Lynch Martens sat on a metal folding chair early this morning in Midtown Manhattan, clutching a hand-cut and yellowed newspaper clipping from March 13, 2002.

Ms. Martens, a retired attorney living in upstate New York, explained that it was the day the remains of her brother, Michael Lynch, were finally found, months after the Sept. 11 attacks.

2:32 PM EDT

Sister of victim recalls life of her brother, wants to make 9/11 a Day of Atonement

By NBC New York Staff

2:37 p.m. ET

Madaleine Rubin

Among the crowd in Shanksville, Pa., are volunteers at the site of the crash of United Flight 93 in 2001, now a national park. They are wearing green polo shirts and passing out bottles of water as the heat beats down on the meadow. Several have worked at the Flight 93 National Memorial for more than two decades, having spent a large portion of their lives ensuring that the memory of the 40 people who died at the site remains alive.

2:55 PM EDT

9/11 victim's son says tragedy should not be used to ‘spread hate'

By Daniel Arkin | NBC News

In seemingly unscripted remarks at the ground zero memorial, the son of a Staten Island man killed on 9/11 urged people nationwide to “please stop” using victims’ memories to “spread hate.”

“I think the one parting thing I want to leave everyone with is that you do my dad’s legacy and the legacy of all these victims no honor by using this tragedy to spread hate,” said Michael Massaroli Jr., the son of Michael Massaroli, who was an employee at Cantor Fitzgerald.

“We have seen a medley of people come up today, of all races, all religions, all creeds, and this tragedy is just that — it’s a tragedy,” Massaroli said. “I’ve had to grow up and spend the past 25 years seeing people use it to hate on our Muslim brothers and sisters, to hate on people who don’t look like them, and that’s wrong, and that does no honor to the victims here.”

“I want to use the little platform I have to ask for that to please stop,” he added.

The crowd applauded his remarks.

3 PM

3:29 p.m. ET

Michael Barbaro and Jeffery C. Mays

‘I’ll pray for you’: Giuliani and Mamdani have an exchange at the memorial.

It was a moment freighted with symbolism, and baggage. At ground zero on Friday morning, New York City’s mayoral past and its present crossed paths, warily and awkwardly.

There stood Rudolph W. Giuliani, once the personification of the city’s response to 9/11 and now a peddler of right-wing conspiracy theories, who declared that the sitting mayor, Zohran Mamdani, should not attend the ceremony honoring the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

3:45 p.m. ET

By Madaleine Rubin

In Shanksville, Pa., on Friday afternoon, a long procession of people walked a straight-line path through a meadow, pausing in front of a massive boulder that marks the spot where, 25 years ago, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed and burned on Sept. 11, killing everyone aboard.

This year, as family members of the 40 passengers and crew members killed that day placed flower wreaths atop the rock, several were joined by grandchildren and great-grandchildren of their loved ones.

4 PM

4:01 p.m. ET

In Boston, pain remains, but 'hate cannot drive out hate'

Bailey Allen

Family members of Massachusetts residents killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks gathered at the “Garden of Remembrance” in downtown Boston for a wreath-laying ceremony Friday afternoon.

In attendance were Mayor Michelle Wu, Gov. Maura Healey, Lieutenant Gov. Kim Driscoll and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey.

“It's really hard to grasp what 25 years means when it can feel like it's a such a long period of time and yet so fresh in our memories and still so, so painful,” Wu told the crowd.

Patricia Cahill Hoban, who lost her brother John Cahill in the attacks, laid a wreath at the memorial with her husband, Bob. John Brett Cahill, 56, of Brookline, Massachusetts, was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 175, Hoban said.

She said she thinks of her brother every day. And she said she has forgiveness in her heart for those who committed the attacks.

“I forgave a long time ago,” Hoban said. “Hate cannot drive out hate.”

Earlier in the day, a Sept. 11 memorial was held at Boston Logan International Airport, where American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 took off before being hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center in New York. Massachusetts Port Authority Chief Thomas Kinton spoke of the harrowing minutes, hours, days, and weeks after the attacks.

“As I look around this morning, I see many people who were right beside me during that incredibly difficult time,” Kinton said. “People who picked us up from the tragedy and got to work.”

In Pennsylvania, 'faith and bravery can prevail'

Madolin Edwards and Beth Ann Miller

A gathering at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, came to a close with a laying of wreaths at the Wall of Names memorial.

Earlier, Doug Burgum, secretary of the Department of the Interior, told the audience that it's not just remembering and honoring, "it's about action."

Burgum said if it wasn't for the 40 people on Flight 93 who took action, "our world would be very different today. We can draw from their incredibly heroic actions."

Gov. Josh Shapiro also spoke at the event, saying people in Pennsylvania carry a special responsibility to all those lost in 9/11 and "to all who bear the scars of that day."

Gordon Felt, brother of Flight 93 passenger Edward P. Felt, said he felt the families of Flight 93 are forever in the debt of the community, who welcomed them and kept their stories alive.

"For 35 minutes from the takeover until the plane went down, citizens fought the first battle in a long war," he said. "They won. The flag is still flying over the Capitol."

Felt said Flight 93 did what the nation's founders would have recognized – making one out of many. "The unity was not in spite of their differences," he said. "It was made stronger by them."

"Even in the shadow of death, faith and bravery can prevail," Felt added.

She was on Air Force One on 9/11. Here's what was happening in the air

Irene Wright

ATLANTA – Gathered inside the Buckhead Club, overlooking Atlanta's skyline to the south, members listened intently as Wanda Joell recounted her experience aboard Air Force One on Sept. 11, 2001.

Joell, an Air Force veteran and the first African American flight attendant permanently assigned to the presidential plane, would serve under presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama over her four-decade career.

But on this day 25 years ago, training went out the window when a plane flew into the World Trade Center.

They were scheduled for a two-hour flight back to Washington, DC, from Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, where President George W. Bush was reading to students. Joell was in the middle of her pre-flight duties when she went to place name cards in the flight's central conference room and noticed news alerts popping up on the plane's few television screens.

"President Bush was determined to go back to Washington, the nation's capital. Of course, he was advised against it at the moment. He was coming out of his office, and we met in the hall and we had the chance to embrace," Joell said. "It was unexpected, but at the time it was everything. I felt the heaviness he was carrying."

Joell said that moment was the highlight of her career, when she was able to "console a U.S. president." She described Bush as calm, and said that day taught her what leadership means.

The day's top stories, from sports to movies to politics to world events.

Miles J. Herszenhorn

The 9/11 memorial ceremony at Ground Zero observed a new, seventh moment of silence to remember the thousands of first responders and civilians who have died from 9/11-related illnesses or injuries.

The additional moment of silence took place after the conclusion of the reading of names of victims who died in the attacks.

Gregory Carafello, a survivor of the attacks, said it is “critically important” to include an opportunity to remember the lives of those who died from working at Ground Zero.

“A lot of them were volunteers,” Carafello said. “A lot of them were dump truck drivers and crane operators.”

Virginia Gov. Spanberger reflects on 9/11 unity, today’s division

Karissa Waddick

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said her 12-year-old daughter asked her this morning whether any of the plane passengers survived on 9/11.

The question, Spanberger said, made her realize the next generation must be taught to “understand the devastation” of 9/11 and its lingering impacts.

“That heaviness lasted,” she said, explaining that the response work begun that day still must continue. Reflecting on the country’s unity after 9/11, the governor said it was “a choice” people made.

Mourners remember passengers who overtook hijackers on Flight 93

'Nobody knew what was going to happen next'

Karissa Waddick

Abandoned cars on thoroughfares. Bumper-to-bumper traffic. The uncanny silence. Firefighters running toward the smoke.

At Arlington Firehouse 5, Virginia State Sen. Barbara Favalo remembered the chaos that unfolded around Washington, DC, in the hours after the Sept. 11 attacks.

A firetruck from the station arrived at the Pentagon four minutes after the plane struck the building. The station served as the epicenter of the Pentagon response in the days and weeks after the attack.

“It was something none of us had ever experienced before,” she said.

New Jersey ceremony aims to keep the 'promise we made on Sept. 11, 2001'

Kyle Morel

Hundreds of American flags lined the roads leading to Clifton City Hall, where residents and first responders gathered to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

The brief ceremony around the 9/11 Memorial Garden included the playing of the "Star-Spangled Banner" by the Clifton High School Mustang Band and readings from Pastor Eric Farrar. Clifton Police Chief Thomas Rinaldi and Fire Chief Michael Rowan then read the names of the nine Clifton residents who died in the attacks.

"Today marks the 25th anniversary of a senseless act, an act of brutality that has changed our lives forever," Mayor Ray Grabowski said. "We ask that you continue to honor and pray for those lives we lost by keeping the promise we made on Sept. 11, 2001, to never forget."

Ceremony held at Boston Logan where hijacked planes took off

Bailey Allen

BOSTON – Observers and dignitaries gathered for a remembrance ceremony at Boston Logan International Airport, where American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 departed before they were hijacked the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

A permanent 9/11 memorial was installed at Logan Airport in 2008, bearing the names of the victims who were on the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.

“We have in the Catholic tradition a ritual for blessing churches and cemeteries – hallowing the ground. But it strikes me that there's more than one way to make ground holy, and I feel so honored to be with you today,” Henning said. “And I feel very truly that we are standing right now on hallowed ground, holy ground.”

In his speech at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised the millions of Americans who enlisted in the military in the aftermath of 9/11. He also defended the United States' ongoing war against Iran.

“These dastardly and cowardly attacks changed America,” Hegseth said. “But it changed America not as the cowards had hoped. You see their attacks inspired millions to step forward and say, ‘Send me.’”

“And so, we fought foreign wars. A generation of sacrifice of valor, selfless and steadfast. Even if imperfect, those conflicts were our retribution,” he continued.

Later, Hegseth shifted his focus toward the war in Iran, telling the audience that “struggle against evil continues” and that the U.S. is fighting the “most prolific state sponsor of terrorism.”

“We’re ensuring that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth added. “The economic pressure tightens every day. We control the Strait [of Hormuz]. We will finish this fight.”

Democratic officials to speak at first responder event

Melissa Montoya

Several Virginia Democrats are slated to speak during a ceremony at Arlington Firehouse 5, near the Pentagon, honoring 9/11 first responders.

The speakers include Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Sen. Tim Kaine.

‘So impressed with all the first responders’: Victim families show appreciation

Miles J. Herszenhorn

Firefighters, police officers, and first responders are mingling with each other and the families of 9/11 victims as the reading of the names of 9/11 victims continues.

Barbara Pemberton of Williamsburg, Virginia, attended the memorial ceremony in New York to express appreciation for the first responders and honor the memory of her younger sister, Sue Sauer, who was in the World Trade Center for a work meeting on Sept. 11, 2001.

On her right hand, the 74-year-old wore a bracelet inscribed with Sauer’s name.

“I’m so impressed with all the first responders that are here,” she said. “I go up and thank as many of them as I can.”

A retired educator, Pemberton said she hoped younger Americans would spend time learning about the history of 9/11 and how the country united in the aftermath of the attacks.

“I wish we could go back to the day after 9/11 and see how patriotic people were then,” she said. “We are so divided now and it breaks my heart.”

A solemn remembrance at the Pentagon

Karissa Waddick

Guests attending the ceremony in the Pentagon courtyard walked through the corridor 4 of the Pentagon, near where American Airlines Flight 77 hit. Tour guides explained where the plane hit, and how the Pentagon’s construction may have saved more lives that day.

Pictures of the disaster and cleanup hung on walls, along with quilts and art projects schoolchildren made commemorating the victims. American flags lined the walkway to the ceremony area.

The United States Marine Band played God Bless America and an array of other tunes while guests waited.

Military officers read the names of victims, as screens flanking the stage displayed their photos.The crowd sat silent as the names were read. The only other sound was the planes flying overhead.

A huge American flag raised in East Rochester, New York

Victoria E. Freile

More than 100 people gathered at a remembrance ceremony at the East Rochester Fire Department on Friday morning. The event included a verbal history of what took place on Sept. 11, 2001, punctuated by multiple moments of silence at the times four hijacked planes crashed in New York City, at the Pentagon and in a western Pennsylvania field.

Veterans, first responders, teens and other community members were present and participated in the service as well as musicians and speakers. East Rochester ladder trucks held a massive American flag above the Main Street firehouse.

Turnout gear with the words "Never Forget" were placed near the podium to honor the 441 first responders killed in the initial attack and collapse of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. Among those were 343 FDNY firefighters.

Hegseth says 9/11 inspired 'a generation of sacrifice'

Bart Jansen

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Pentagon that the Sept. 11 attacks inspired “a generation of sacrifice, of valor” in fighting wars against enemies including Islamic terrorists.

“These dastardly and cowardly attacks changed America,” Hegseth said, citing a verse from Isaiah in the Bible. “But it changed America not as the cowards had hoped. You see, their attacks inspired millions to step forward instead and say, ‘Send me.’”

'Honor them and their memories'

Bailey Allen

BOSTON – Ed Scheinbart, 78, of Watertown, stood at the steps of the Massachusetts State House as he attended the 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony.

“This ceremony is very, very meaningful and significant, because it's so important that we as Americans never forget these people,” Scheinbart said. “Even if we didn't know them, we should still honor them and their memories.”

After the ceremony, Scheinbart walked over to speak with family members of those killed.

“May their memories be a blessing,” he told them.

Massachusetts remembers residents killed

Bailey Allen

BOSTON – Teresa Mathai, of Arlington, Massachusetts, wife of the late Joseph Mathai who died in the north tower of the World Trade Center, read the poem, “We Remember Them,” by Rabbi Sylvan Kamens and Rabbi Jack Riemer, as she stood on the steps of the Massachusetts State House.

“At the rising sun and at its going down, we remember them,” Mathai read to the crowd gathered.

“We remember them,” the crowd echoed.

Joseph Mathai was working with the firm Cambridge Technology Partners, attending a risk management conference, when the Sept. 11 attacks took place. Their young children at the time are now married with children of their own, Mathai said.

“On this day, 25 years ago, our world was shattered in a single morning. We lost parents, grandparents, spouses, partners, siblings, children, friends,” Mathai said. “In those raw, painful autumn days of 2001, none of us knew how we would survive the weight of such sudden, devastating loss. Yet out of that unprecedented darkness, something profound emerged: unity.“

After the reading, dignitaries including Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu rose to read the names of the 219 Massachusetts residents killed in the 2001 terror attacks. Among the names read was Daniel Lewin, who was believed to be the first victim of the Sept. 11 attacks.

10:28 am: The north tower of the WTC collapses

This moment, 10:28 a.m. ET, is when the north tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. It is one of the moments of silence being observed as part of the commemoration ceremonies, marking pivotal events of the attack.

Trump says 9/11 showed what Americans are made of

Erin Mansfield

In remarks at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, President Donald Trump praised Americans for their resolve in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. He said Americans responded to “wickedness,” showing what the country is truly made of.

“Americans are made of a goodness and a spirit that can transcend any earthly force and that’s what we’re doing better than anyone else has ever been able to do it because we are sustained by a supreme strength far more powerful than steel alone,” Trump said. At 9:59 a.m., a bell was rung at ground zero in New York City to mark the moment the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.

There was a pause in the reading of the victim's names. American cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed a brief and solemn song.

Another bell tolled at 10:03 a.m., when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Then the reading of victims' names resumed.

Flag hung on Pentagon by 9/11 search and rescue crew

Bart Jansen

The giant U.S. flag hanging off the side of the Pentagon for the memorial was unfurled by what is now called the 911th Technical Rescue Engineer Co. The unit spent 10 continuous days of rescue and recovery operations at the Pentagon after Sept. 11, when American Airlines flight 77 plowed into the building, killing 184 people.

Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recalled that Pentagon staffers battled the smoke and fire to bring their teammates to safety.

“Today is not just a story of loss; it is also a story of great American courage, selfless service and those who’ve made the choice to carry those memories forward,” Caine said. “In the moment of greatest danger, Americans moved towards one another.”

Overcast skies as families read names in NYC

Miles J. Herszenhorn

The weather in lower Manhattan was cloudy and the temperature hovered in the low 70s, making for a comfortable morning as many attendees at the 9/11 memorial ceremony will remain standing for several hours during the reading of victims’ names.

The overcast morning is markedly different from the cloudless, deep blue skies as the world watched news coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Condoleeza Rice describes 'deep personal remorse'

Erin Mansfield

In remarks at the Pentagon, Condoleeza Rice described a “deep personal remorse” she holds for not preventing the attacks on 9/11. She was President George W. Bush’s national security advisor that day and later served as Secretary of State.

“Those of us in authority on that day did not see the nature of the danger in time to prevent the attack of 9/11,” Rice said. “We did what we knew to do, but by definition it was not enough. I am grateful that there was not a follow-on attack.”

She added: “I will always carry deep personal remorse for the pain that you, the families of the fallen still feel, and for the trauma our country endured.”

4:04 PM EDT

Previously classified 9/11 documents released by CIA on 25th anniversary of attacks

By Dan De Luce, Tom Winter and Corky Siemaszko | NBC News

The CIA released 71 declassified documents related to the 9/11 attacks today, the 25th anniversary of deadly Al Qaeda terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The documents, which were posted on the CIA’s website, cover the period from February 1998 to Sept. 12, 2001.

4:31 PM EDT

Former White House chief of staff calls on Americans to remember events of 9/11

By Scott Stump | TODAY

Andy Card, the former White House chief of staff who was pictured whispering in former President George W. Bush’s ear that the nation was under attack on Sept. 11, 2001, called on Americans to remember their promise to never forget the events of that day on its 25th anniversary.

Card, 79, had to deliver the news that multiple planes had hit the World Trade Center while the president sat in front of a classroom of elementary school students in Sarasota, Fla.

“I’m conscious that we have to keep the promise that we made when we said we would never forget,” Card said in the "TODAY" show. “And too many people have moved on and don’t remember to remember.

“But we all promised, so this is a great wakeup call and a conscience-raising response that’s so critical,” he added. “And America is a great country, and the tragedy of 9/11 also was a magnet for all of us to come together as Americans, and we did, and it was so refreshing to see that.”

5 PM

5:07 PM EDT

Manhattan florist donates roses to celebrate victims' birthdays

By Scott Stump | TODAY

A Manhattan floral business owner donates thousands of white roses every year to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum to celebrate victims on their birthdays.

A volunteer places a single rose beside the name of the victim on their birthday, and a photo is sent to the person’s family.

“It’s great to see families come to the memorial looking at the birthday rose,” Michael Collarone said on Today. “It’s a birthday rose, it’s not a memorial rose."

5:36 PM EDT

Empty chairs at Bryant Park represent each life lost on 9/11.

6 PM

6:01 PM EDT

Trial remains elusive for purported mastermind accused of plotting 9/11 attacks

By Larry Neumeister | The Associated Press

A judge’s ruling to throw out the confessions by accused terror mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed may be appealed by military prosecutors, which could mean more delays for the 9/11 terror trial that, for now, is set to begin in June 2028. NBC New York’s Jonathan Dienst s.

Two decades after U.S. authorities locked Khalid Sheikh Mohammed away at a military detention center in Cuba, the purported mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks sometimes seems barely any closer to being put on trial than the day he arrived.

A judge recently set a 2028 date for Mohammed to finally be tried before a military tribunal, but some lawyers predict it will never happen — not that year or any other year. They say the maze of legal issues that arose because Mohammed was tortured following his 2003 capture in Pakistan is too twisted to ever be straightened out.

A fleeting bid to put him on trial in a civilian court in New York City was shouted down years ago over security concerns.

A plea agreement that would have kept Mohammed imprisoned for life, but spared him from a possible execution, began to collapse shortly after it was announced in 2024, and finally died for good last year.

6:24 PM EDT

DHS Sec. Mullin says sanctuary cities like NYC are ‘harboring and abetting' terrorists

By NBC New York Staff

6:46 PM EDT

Dementia is taking a toll on responders, but isn't covered by federal health program

By Berkeley Lovelace Jr., Marina Kopf and Tom Llamas | NBC News

When the World Trade Center Health Program was created in 2011, Stephen Stolarik was among the first to sign up. As a volunteer firefighter, he was at ground zero two days after the attacks, helping with recovery and cleanup efforts. Over the years, the federal program, which gives free healthcare to Sept. 11 responders and survivors, has covered his care for the post-traumatic stress disorder he developed, linked to his time there.

Then, in late 2024, at 59 years old, Stephen was diagnosed with dementia, decades younger than when most people develop the disease.

Stephen and his wife, Theresa, believe his time at ground zero is to blame.

7 PM

7:22 PM EDT

Blanche reflects on the pride in law enforcement officers felt around NYC after 9/11

By Kyla Guilfoil | NBC News

Attorney General Todd Blanche today honored the law enforcement officers who died in connection to their service on 9/11 and reflected on his time living in New York during the attacks.

"The first thing that comes to mind is the appreciation for the men and women who wear the blue and are first responders," Blanche said at a 9/11 event held by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C., today.

"I lived in New York, in lower Manhattan and on Long Island during 9/11," the attorney general said. "In the months after 9/11, in Chinatown, on every street corner in New York, Dick’s Sporting Goods, you couldn’t keep FDNY or NYPD hats in stock. Every single person was wearing an NYPD or a fire department hat, or a T-shirt, or a collared shirt everywhere you went."

Blanche recalled seeing the Yankees, Mets and Rangers teams wear the gear, as well as politicians. The attorney general reflected on the unity he felt by seeing so many New Yorkers wearing those logos.

"Don’t forget, given what we’ve gone through the past few years, how incredible that time was in the support of the men and women who keep us safe and our first responders," Blanche said. "It wasn’t a Republican issue, Democrat issue.”

8 PM to MIDNITE, SEPTEMBER 12TH

BUSH DELIVERS AN ADDRESS TO THE NATION.

At 8:30 PM, President Bush delivered an address to the nation and then, five minutes later, attended a national security meeting.

By 10:21p.m: NBC reported that Secret Service radio “squawked” with news that Bush had gone home to bed: tomorrow would be a different day.

ATTACHMENT SIX – FROM the JERUSALEM POST

MIDDLE ISRAEL: 25 YEARS AFTER 9/11, THE GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST JIHADISM REMAINS UNSETTLED - OPINION

A quarter century after 9/11, the world has seen victories against terrorism but also new attacks and unresolved challenges in confronting jihadist ideology.

By AMOTZ ASA-EL

Having just seen Manhattan’s Twin Towers collapse in a live broadcast, this column wrote: “This week’s towering infernos should etch 2001 in human memory as a watershed year on the scales of 1492, 1789, and 1939” (“A time to kill,” September 14, 2001).

Noting that the third millennium had just opened “with a totalitarian bang,” the column argued that freedom, “the Cold War’s shining victor,” had been dealt a massive blow that demanded a massive counterattack. It followed that “2001 can end up as the year in which the free world waged the ultimate war on tyranny.”

Having lived in this war’s trenches for the subsequent 25 years, Israelis now feel that some of this war has been won, some has been lost, and some – the most important part – has yet to be waged.

The victorious part of the war that followed al-Qaeda’s attacks is visible in south Manhattan. The emergence of the Freedom Tower, where Ground Zero’s cavity once gaped, an inspiring work of iron, steel, and glass that every night shoots skyward a pillar of bright light – is a looming testament to America’s resilience and its attackers’ defeat.

This dimension of victory is in the realm of psychology, but America won in other ways as well.

EVIDENCE CLEARLY shows the IUMS directly threatens Western security by inciting Muslims, the writer says, so are America and Europe waiting for another 9/11 before taking action?

AMERICA’S RESILIENCE OUTLASTED THE 9/11 ATTACKERS’ AMBITIONS

The terrorists hoped to shock American civilization by pitting against each other two of its most iconic inventions: the skyscraper and the airplane. This hope was also dashed. American inventions, from the airplane, the skyscraper, and the personal computer, to the motion picture, the rock concert, and the fast-food restaurant, have remained civilization’s fixtures, to the jihadists’ chagrin.

Equally frustrated was the raid’s political quest. Targeting America’s commercial, military, and political nervous centers was designed to debilitate its economy, army, and government. None of that happened.

On other fronts, however, victory has been elusive.

The attacks’ first success was their inspiration for other jihadist massacres worldwide. Here is a very partial list:

The Bali bombings that killed 202 people in 2002, the Madrid train bombings that killed 193 in 2004, the London Underground attacks that killed 52 in 2005, the Mumbai train bombings that killed 209 in 2006, the Moscow train bombings that killed 40 in 2010, the shopping mall attack in Nairobi that killed 67 in 2013, the Ankara bombings that killed 109 in 2015, the Charlie Hebdo attacks that killed 137 the same year in Paris, the concert hall attack that killed 145 in Moscow in 2024, the New Orleans truck attack that killed 15 last year, and last December’s Bondi Beach shooting that killed 17 in Sydney.

Some would argue that the scope of these attacks and their diminishing frequency indicate a loss of momentum. That was arguable until Hamas’s October 7 attack. The jihadist energy, it proved, is alive and well.

Then there was the failure of what the American president of the day, George W. Bush, called The War on Terror.

IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN CREATED A COSTLY STRATEGIC CHALLENGE

Failure began with the choice of that war’s locations, a pair of entirely different theaters 1,500 km. apart: Iraq is a steaming flatland, Afghanistan is a continuum of snow-capped mountains. Politically, Afghanistan was a fundamentalist theocracy, while Iraq was a secular tyranny. Conquering and governing both countries simultaneously meant military and financial overstretch.

The reason to attack Afghanistan was that it had sheltered the terrorists and shared their jihadist agenda. The reason to attack Iraq was that its leader cheered the attack, and represented all that was politically ill about the Arab world that produced the 19 perpetrators of the September 11 attacks.

Taking Afghanistan was meant to eradicate jihadists. Attacking Iraq was meant to redesign the Arab world. Each of these aims was in itself a tall order, but put together they were too much, even for the US.

That all this ended with Iraq under Iranian influence, and Afghanistan under Taliban rule, is a major fiasco, which began immediately after September 11, with the very naming of the counterattack that Washington resolved to wage.

The name “The War on Terror” fingered the enemy’s weapon instead of the enemy’s cause. In World War II, Americans were told, rightly, that they were fighting fascism, not the kamikaze suicide. During the Cold War, all Westerners understood that the enemy was not the Soviet Union’s atomic bomb, but communism. Now the enemy was jihadism, but world leaders, from America through Europe to China, would not say this.

Intelligence efforts alone cannot defeat jihadist ideology

Yes, 9/11 ignited an international intelligence effort to thwart jihadist attacks before they are waged, and to hound their plotters wherever they may nest. But that is not enough. Civilization has an enemy, one that, deep in its soul and mind, cannot accept pluralism, or even just diversity, and thus seeks to subdue all other faiths by terrorizing millions worldwide. That must be said; plainly, repeatedly, and loudly.

Seen this way, the threat that announced itself at the millennium’s outset is intact, and must be met with two global efforts, one military, the other political.

The military aim should be what is now Israel’s doctrine, namely, fight tooth and nail any jihadist militia that emerges on your borders. The political aim should be to tell mankind what jihadism has in store for it, and to expose the governments that help its plots.

For instance, a recent French government report that the Muslim Brotherhood controls 139 French mosques, and that this is part of a broader Islamist effort, backed by Qatar and Turkey, to infiltrate Europe – should be trumpeted worldwide. (See “French report warns of Islamist ‘entryism’ as risk to national cohesion” BBC.com, May 21, 2025).

That is not what’s happening. In fact, the current American president considers this pair of Islamist engines his allies, and their leaders his personal friends. No, that is not the victory the September 11 terrorists had in mind. It is, however, America’s defeat.

www.MiddleIsrael.net
The writer, a Hartman Institute fellow, is the author of the bestseller, The Jewish March of Folly (Yedioth Books 2026), now available in English on Amazon.

NEXT WEEK’S LESSON will include 1) reportage from between Sept. 11 and Sept. 17 and 2) reportage from Sept. 18 to 24.