America marks 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks

President Donald Trump said Friday at the Pentagon that the powerful American spirit that has endured in the 25 years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks demonstrates how “our country is stronger than it has ever been before. 

“September 11 reminded us of the terrible power of hate. The 25 years since have shown us the even greater power of the American spirit to endure and prevail, and to win,” Trump said while paying tribute at the Pentagon. “And today, our country is stronger than it has ever been before. It has never been as strong as it is right now.” 

“Because of that spirit, when future generations come here in 25, 100 or 250 years from now, they will stand in a nation that is free and unyielding in the face of evil, and they will still honor the heroes of 9/11, who no age will erase from the memory of time,” Trump added. “It will never, ever be forgotten. Will never be forgotten. And we can never forget. God bless our 911 families. God bless our unbelievable, brave and beautiful first responders. God bless the United States military and God bless America.” 

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum honored the 40 passengers and crew members aboard United Flight 93 on Friday, saying their decision to fight back on Sept. 11, 2001, transformed ordinary Americans into enduring examples of courage and sacrifice.

“They were willing to take the action necessary to save others because they understood what was happening,” Burgum said at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Burgum recalled how the passengers prayed, held a vote and ultimately resolved, “Let’s roll,” before confronting the hijackers.

“That force was love,” Burgum said. “They loved this country. They loved life. They loved their family. They loved their God. They loved the values of freedom and liberty. And they knew that that was under attack. And they knew that they must act.”

Burgum also noted that 103 million Americans have been born since 9/11, arguing that “never forget” now means ensuring future generations are taught the story of the Flight 93 heroes and the sacrifices made that day. 

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s presence at Friday’s 9/11 remembrance at Ground Zero drew criticism from some in the city, including one former police officer who said the mayor “probably should have skipped it” and another mourner who called his appearance “disrespectful” and “very offensive.”

Mamdani has faced criticism over his associations with controversial political and online figures, as well as his decision to appoint Ramzi Kassem as his administration’s chief counsel.

Kassem previously represented a Guantánamo detainee linked to an al Qaeda terrorist plot. Former New York Republican Gov. George Pataki, 9/11-era FDNY Commissioner Thomas von Essen and others called on Mamdani to skip the ceremony.

“He showed up anyway. It does bother us,” Walter Matuza, whose father Walter was killed that day, told Fox News Digital.

Matuza said he was part of the group of victims’ families that initiated the petition to keep Mamdani away.

He cited Mamdani’s association with streamer Hasan Piker, who once said America “deserved 9/11,” as well as Mamdani’s appointment of Kassem.

Matuza, of Staten Island, said his father was one of dozens at Carr Futures brokerage who died after American Airlines Flight 11 struck the north tower just above their 92nd floor offices.

Mike, a former New Jersey police officer, told Fox News Digital he recalled watching the terror unfold on television from across the Hudson – and later came to Manhattan to help relieve exhausted NYPD officers stuck at their posts.

“Based on the rhetoric that he’s used in the past. Yeah, he probably should have skipped it,” Mike said of Mamdani.

He added that Mamdani’s appointment of Kassem also troubled him, saying the mayor could’ve handled the situation in a “whole different way.”

“But, he did it and unfortunately people aren’t going to forget it.”

Another mourner called Mamdani a “communist” when asked about his appearance on Friday, adding that the memorial was “not supposed to be a political event.”

Steven, who traveled all the way to New York from Hobe Sound, Florida, to attend the remembrance, lambasted Mamdani’s presence as “disrespectful” and “offensive.”

“I’ve been following that over the past couple weeks and I saw that I think they had upwards of 700,000 New Yorkers requesting him not to be here. I mean, as the mayor, I would assume he has the right to be here…. But who he represents and the people he’s affiliated with… I feel that he should stay away. I don’t feel that his presence here is wanted, and I think he should honor that as a human being.”

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz, Robert Schmad, Morgan Phillips and Kiera McDonald.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Friday that the 40 victims of United Airlines Flight 93 who fought back against hijackers on 9/11 inspired the U.S. and “brought people together.” 

“There are thousands of fields like this all across our commonwealth,” Shapiro said, while speaking in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. “On that morning, this field was perfectly ordinary. That all changed shortly after 10 a.m., when 40 incredibly brave passengers and crew members aboard United Flight 93 turned this ordinary field into hallowed ground.” 

“Those 40 heroes weren’t soldiers trained to fight in war, or first responders prepared to run toward danger,” Shapiro continued. “They were people who woke up on a Tuesday morning in September and kissed their loved ones goodbye, got on a plane to go to work to visit friends or family just like millions of Americans do each day. They were lawyers and students and business owners, engineers and journalists, retired nurses, pilots and flight attendants, ordinary Americans who did an extraordinary thing.” 

“They did not wake up that morning with the expectation that they would find themselves on the front lines of a war. No doubt they were scared when the terrorists hijacked the plane, but they did not let that fear control them,” Shapiro said. “Instead, with faith in one another, faith in their God, and a deep, abiding faith to this country, they organized. They mobilized, and they summoned the courage to stare evil in the face and fight back. Their actions saved countless lives.” 

“Those 40 heroes embodied the essence of our American spirit true courage, a belief in one another, and a commitment to something greater than oneself,” Shapiro also said. “Their heroism inspired a nation and brought people together.” 

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Friday on the anniversary of 9/11 that it’s the possibility of another attack is “probably not a matter of if, it’s more a matter of when something happens again.” 

“And it won’t be because we didn’t do our job. It’s because that one little person that wanted to tear down our American dream went unnoticed,” Mullin added. 

“People say, what’s your biggest fear? That’s one of them. That’s one of them. It’s tough to protect all the homeland. It’s tough to sometimes fight — and I’m not trying to get political here, but I will — sanctuary cities where they don’t want us to go into,” he continued. “And they’re harboring abetting activities just like this. They can say it’s for humanitarian purposes. But the truth is, when you become a sanctuary city and you’re not supporting law enforcement, you’re not allowing law enforcement to do their job, it’s a safe haven that incubates terrorist activity.” 

“And it doesn’t just stay local in Seattle or San Francisco or New York City or Boston. Or even Fairfax, Virginia. It bleeds into other parts of the country, too. What happens in one place of the country affects all of us. And so for one thing, we should all agree on is we should all be in the same boat, we should all be with pulling on the same war, trying to protect the homeland regardless of your politics,” Mullin said. 

“Regardless if you think blue or you think red, regardless of if you’re independent or you’re libertarian, we should all want our families to be safe,” he concluded. “We should all want our neighbors to be safe. We should all be rooting for our first responders, for our law enforcement to succeed every single day. We should be constantly going after those criminals, no matter how big or how small it is.” 

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Javed Ali drove past the Pentagon on his way to work in northern Virginia.

Roughly half an hour later, American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the building.

From his office in Falls Church, Ali could see smoke rising from the Pentagon. A year later, in a turn that captured how dramatically the country had changed, he was walking into the still-damaged building himself — now working in the Defense Intelligence Agency’s counterterrorism office.

“It was a very eerie and odd and surreal moment in my career,” Ali told Fox News Digital.

Ali’s career would eventually take him from the DIA to the newly created Department of Homeland Security and later the FBI, giving him a front-row seat to the enormous national security architecture America constructed after the deadliest foreign attack on U.S. soil.

Twenty-five years later, that architecture presents something of a paradox.

By one of its clearest measures, the post-9/11 system appears to have made another attack on the scale of 9/11 far harder. The United States has not suffered another terrorist attack remotely approaching the scale and complexity of 9/11, which killed 2,977 people. U.S. intelligence and military operations dismantled much of the al-Qaeda network that planned it, while new agencies, surveillance authorities, watchlists and intelligence-sharing systems were designed to ensure that another group could not exploit the same seams in American defenses. The 2026 U.S. intelligence community assessment said counterterrorism operations have degraded al-Qaeda and ISIS’s ability to quickly rebuild their leadership and plan large-scale attacks against the U.S. homeland.

But success against the threat of 2001 did not eliminate terrorism. It helped change it.

Today’s most difficult threats increasingly involve individuals radicalized online, small cells with little warning signature, foreign terrorist organizations seeking to inspire attacks from afar, and an expanding layer of cyber and state-sponsored threats capable of reaching deep inside the United States without hijacking an airplane.

The question 25 years after 9/11, therefore, is not simply whether Americans are safer.

They are safer from one kind of attack — while increasingly exposed to others.

The live-streaming website EarthCam has released a new video showing the World Trade Center site being rebuilt in the aftermath of 9/11.

“Beginning with imagery from its live-streaming camera just days after the attacks, the time-lapse film brings together decades of change from multiple vantage points in a powerful visual account of resilience and transformation,” EarthCam said in a statement.

“EarthCam began documenting Ground Zero days after September 11, when Founder and CEO Brian Cury installed a camera overlooking the site to support rescue and recovery efforts,” it added. “As the mission at the site changed, EarthCam remained, preserving each successive phase of its evolution, curating an archive of over 14.7 million images and capturing one photo every minute for the past 25 years.”

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., shared a photo of the Flight 93 memorial on Friday as Americans around the nation commemorated the 25th anniversary of the grim Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

“Hallowed ground here at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville commemorating 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,” Fetterman wrote in a post on X.

“This sacred land honors the Americans who fought back to prevent another, larger attack. The precise timing of the wreath layings marked the times of each attack in New York City, Arlington, Virginia, and Shanksville,” he added. “May we never forget the thousands of innocent lives we lost that day, and always remember the selfless actions of our first responders, volunteers, and military in the days after.”

Individuals aboard Flight 93 heroically took action after their plane was hijacked on September 11, 2001.

“Using airfones, passengers and crew began making calls to report the hijacking. They soon learned the shocking news about the other hijacked planes and quickly realized that Flight 93 was part of a larger attack on America. This realization led to a vote and a collective decision to fight back,” according to an account on the National Park Service website.

“In just over 30 minutes, this diverse group of people on Flight 93 developed a plan and put it into action. The cockpit voice recorder (reader discretion advised) captured the sounds of their struggle: shouts, screams, calls to action, and sounds of breaking glassware. To stop the uprising, the terrorist piloting the aircraft began to roll it to the left and right, and pitch the nose up and down. In its final moments, the plane turned upside down as it passed over rural Western Pennsylvania. The terrorists remained in control of the plane and chose to crash it rather than risk the passengers and crew regaining control of the aircraft,” the NPS page notes. “At 10:03 a.m., Flight 93 plowed into an empty field at a speed of 563 miles per hour. Upon impact, the 5,500 gallons of jet fuel on board the aircraft exploded, creating a ball of fire that rose higher than the trees.”

A 21-foot, 16,900-pound steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center’s South Tower arrived in Indianapolis last month as part of a nationwide tour commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a tribute that will ultimately end up back at Ground Zero.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation brought its “Steel Across America” tour to the Indiana War Memorial and Museum on Aug. 19, marking the tour’s 31st stop. The beam is traveling more than 10,500 miles through 21 states and Washington, D.C., before returning to New York City for a Sept. 11 commemoration.

The piece of steel recovered from Ground Zero in the days after the attacks by first responders who rushed to the site has since become a symbol of the nearly 3,000 civilians, firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and military personnel who died that day.

“For the past four months, communities across the country have welcomed this sacred piece of American history with incredible emotion,” Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller said in a press release. “Watching people stand in front of that steel, hugging it, praying over it, weeping, reminds me every single day of why we do this work.”

The Indianapolis ceremony included a color guard, a pipes and drums procession, the national anthem performed by the Voices of the Indianapolis Fire Department and an invocation from Indianapolis Fire Department Chaplain Mike Gatliff.

Terry Strada, the widow of 9/11 victim Tom Strada, who drew cheers at a ceremony in New York City on Friday morning after calling out Saudi Arabia, told Fox News Digital that it’s the media’s responsibility to hold the country accountable. 

“It’s absolutely the media’s responsibility to teach it factually, to not sweep it under the rug,” she said. “That supposed ally of ours, you know, was part of this attack.” 

“So over the last two decades, the media has become less and less involved with reporting on what the families have been involved in for the last 2 decades, which is, what I’ve been involved in, accountability, justice, and the truth, the full accounting of what happened on September 11,” she said. 

“The media is failing all of us now by not following the lawsuit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that the 9/11 family community is involved in,” she added. “And by not asking hard questions and by not pressuring the administration. There’s a number of things the media could be doing better.” 

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood contributed to this post. 

Condoleezza Rice, who served as the national security adviser to former President George W. Bush on September 11, 2001, said Friday that she will “always carry deep personal remorsefor the pain that you, the families of the fallen, still feel, and for the trauma that our country endured.” 

I want to say something deeply personal. 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 during a ceremony at the Pentagon. “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.” 

“For that miracle, we owe a deep debt of gratitude to our armed forces and to the intelligence community, their service and their sacrifice in the war on terror kept us safe. 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 continued. 

And yet, as I look back, I’m also mindful of what our actions in response taught us about ourselves. I know, too, that we must use these moments of reflection to teach the lessons of that day to a generation of young people who were not even born at the time of the attack. Let us always remember that those who thought the world could be ruled by hate and fear were wrong,” she also said. 

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Friday in a statement that “those who continue to carry the heaviest burdens” of 9/11 and its aftermath “must remain in our prayers.” 

“Today, I remember the clouds of dust that filled clear blue skies twenty-five years ago, stealing away fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends and colleagues. And I remember the faraway battlefields that claimed thousands more in the years that followed,” McConnell said. 

“My deepest sympathies today are with those Americans for whom the grief of September 11th is not abstract but personal and unrelenting,” he added. “Time will continue to ease our nation’s shared pain, but it will never fill empty seats at family tables. And so those who continue to carry the heaviest burdens of that day and its aftermath must remain in our prayers.” 

Rob O’Neill, the Navy SEAL credited with killing Usama bin Laden, had just returned from a 40-day deployment to Kosovo when the world changed forever.

The former Navy SEAL told Fox News Digital in an interview ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11 that he was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, on Sept. 11, 2001, preparing equipment and catching up on emails when every television channel switched to breaking news.

“At first, there was a hole in the North Tower,” O’Neill recalled. “No one even knew what the North Tower of the World Trade Center was that day.”

O’Neill and his fellow service members initially wondered whether a small plane had accidentally crashed into the building. But after the second plane struck the South Tower shortly after 9 a.m. Eastern time, they immediately understood the significance of what they were watching.

“I’m in an operations center with intel analysts and Navy SEALs, and we all collectively knew that our lives just changed,” O’Neill said.

Fox News Digital’s Kiera McDonald contributed to this post.

President Donald Trump on Friday said that he salutes U.S. service members who are working to ensure Iran “will never, ever have a nuclear weapon.” 

“For 25 years, our best and bravest have kept America safe. And today we salute every member of the United States military who served in the war on terror. It is a war on sick, horrible terror,” the president said during a 9/11 commemoration ceremony at the Pentagon. 

“We salute our first responders and law enforcement, and we love them. And we salute the service members working right now to ensure the world’s number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never, ever have a nuclear weapon,” he added, referencing Operation Epic Fury against Iran. 

President Donald Trump said Friday that on days like September 11, “we learn what a country is truly made of.” 

“We’re learning right now what we’re made of. And we have to be strong. And we have to be smart,” Trump said at the Pentagon. “And Americans are made of a goodness and spirit that can transcend any earthly force.” 

“In those harrowing days after the attacks, we saw the authentic spirit of our nation. We were all New Yorkers that day,” Trump said. “Every one of us. We were all New Yorkers. But we were also all Americans. We were all family. We were all patriots. The enemy might destroy what American hands had built, but we could not touch the fight and the fire and the love in our great American hearts.” 

President Donald Trump said on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 that “we will never, ever forget.” 

“That’s why we fight today. We don’t have a choice,” Trump said at the Pentagon. “There can only be victory. We fight hard. We fight to win.” 

“We will always remember the victims and the families of September 11th, 2001. Very famous date, unfortunately. And it started out as such a beautiful day. We will honor their lives. We will cherish their beautiful memories. And we will protect this country and its freedoms for every future generation. We will protect it like never before,” the president added. 

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Friday on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 that the attacks “changed America,” but “not as the cowards had hoped.” 

Hegseth said, “All told, Islamist terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 of our fellow Americans that day, 25 years ago.” 

“You see, their attacks inspired millions to step forward instead and say, ‘send me.’ In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah said, ‘here I am Lord, send me.’ And in the days that weeks that followed, millions of Americans said, ‘here we are, send us,’” Hegseth said. 

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

“September 11, 2001 was one of the darkest days in American history. But evil did not get the last word. It never has, and it never will. Twenty-five years later, America is stronger than ever before. Tall and proud,” Hegseth also said.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said at the Pentagon on Friday that “today is not just a story of loss, it is also a story of great American courage, selfless service, and those who have made the choice to carry those memories forward.” 

“Today and every day here at the Pentagon and around the nation, we remember the 184 lives taken here at the Pentagon and aboard American Airlines Flight 77,” Caine said on the 25th anniversary of 9/11. “The thousands we lost in New York and the 40 heroes aboard United Airlines Flight 93.”  

“Twenty-five years ago, in the moment of greatest danger, Americans moved towards one another. Here at the Pentagon, service members and civilians alike entered the smoke and fire to bring their teammates home to safety. First responders in New York City ran towards danger and climbed thousands of stairs to selflessly help their fellow American citizens,” he continued. 

“And north of here, the 40 passengers and crew of United Flight 93… when they learned what was at stake, they chose to act. For strangers they would never meet. In the skies over Shanksville, Pennsylvania. That very morning, America began to fight back,” Caine also said. “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 the fires went out, because survivors and families have carried it forward through service, through sacrifice and through remembrance.” 

A moment of silence was observed at 9:37 a.m. Friday at the Pentagon, when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the building.

Earlier, moments of silence were held at 9:03 a.m., when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, and at 8:46 a.m., when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower.

Terry Strada, the widow of 9/11 victim Tom Strada, drew cheers at Ground Zero in New York City on Friday morning as she said “and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder.” 

“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 Islamist hijackers so they could attack you and all of our loved ones,” she said. “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 broke promises both public and private. It has been one betrayal after another. President Trump can still change that,” she added. “Tell the Saudis to stop lying. Tell them that if they want to be friends with the USA, they cannot continue to deny all of this, all of the pain, all of the destruction that we have all been suffering through. Vice President Vance, thank you for being here today. Please carry that message back. Stand with the families. Stand with the survivors. Stand with Americans. As my husband Tom would have said, that is always the right thing to do. God bless all of us. God bless America.” 

Jen Nilsen’s husband left for work on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and never came home.

Nilsen said her husband, who worked as a network engineer with Cantor Fitzgerald, had just entered World Trade Center before the attacks. “I don’t even think he made it up to the 103rd floor where he worked.” She was taking their youngest son to preschool when a friend ran to her, asking which building her husband worked in.

“When I got home, I saw it on the news,” Nilsen recalled to Fox News Digital.

Her husband’s death left her to raise their two young children, who are now adults. She said the family has continued to face challenges, including caring for her oldest son, who has special needs.

Twenty-five years later, Nilsen said the grief remains just as painful.

“It doesn’t change at the 25th year,” she said. “The pain is still there.”

Nilsen returned to the 9/11 Memorial ceremony Thursday because, she said, “this is where he is.”

Her message to younger generations was simple: “Never forget.”

A ceremony is now underway at the Pentagon to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth will be in attendance.

The names of the 2,977 lives lost in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are being read Friday at Ground Zero in New York City.

Vice President JD Vance, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden are in attendance.

A moment of silence is being observed in New York City and in Pennsylvania at 8:46 a.m., the time American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center 25 years ago.

Ceremonies are now beginning in New York City at Ground Zero and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to remember the lives lost 25 years ago during the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks.

President Donald Trump is set to speak at the Pentagon in an observance ceremony that will begin at 9 a.m. ET in Arlington, Virginia.

There were 2,977 lives lost during the attacks: 2,753 in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon and 40 in Pennsylvania.

Fox News’ Steve Doocy recounted to ‘Fox & Friends” on Friday how his daughter initially thought he had died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, while also paying tribute to the victims from his town of Wyckoff, New Jersey. 

Doocy, speaking outside of Ground Zero in New York City, said it was his son Peter Doocy’s first day of high school “and he watched it on TV and so did my daughter Sally, who was in first grade.” 

“And because the worry was from the federal government that there was going to be a follow-up attack, they were worried that the bridges and tunnels were vulnerable. And so they closed the bridges and tunnels, and I could not get across the bridge, back home to New Jersey. And so I wound up staying in New York City for two days,” Doocy said. “My daughter Sally… she saw, in New Jersey they turned all the TVs on and every kid, regardless of age, saw what happened. And she saw the plane fly into a skyscraper. And my daughter Sally thought, ‘you know my dad works at a skyscraper.’” 

“And that night, when she went home, my wife Kathy said, ‘you know, dad’s not coming home tonight because he can’t get home.’ Sally thought — and I didn’t come home the next night — Sally thought I was dead,” Doocy told “Fox & Friends.” 

“In my town of Wyckoff, New Jersey, 25 miles from where I’m standing right now. You know who never came home? Twelve of my neighbors and my friends and my parishioners at St. Elizabeth’s Church in Wyckoff,” he added. “And you know how they knew that it was 12? Because that night, after 9/11, the local police went into the commuter lot and 12 people never came and got their cars, and they never came home.” 

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Friday on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 that the “American spirit endured and rose to the challenge” on 9/11, as “on this day 25 years ago, our world changed forever.” 

“9/11 remains one of the darkest days in history. Evil came to our shores and stole the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans in a vicious attempt to bring our great nation to its knees,” he said. “But by the end of that day, even as smoke still filled the skies over New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the American spirit endured and rose to the challenge.” 

“From the unrivaled bravery of first responders who ran into burning buildings and risked it all to save their fellow Americans, to the civilians aboard Flight 93 who fought back against their captors knowing that it would be their last acts on this earth, the best of America stood up and refused to let the worst of humanity win that day,” Mullin also said. “Those Americans have all earned their place in history as some of the bravest people to have ever lived, and we should consider it an honor that we once shared a nation with them.” 

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by unveiling a new exhibition exploring the legacy of service inspired by that day and preserving its history for the next generation.

In Their Honor: 25 Years of 9/11 Inspired Service highlights how 9/11 inspired thousands of Americans to serve their communities and country in the years that followed.

“So many people who visit the museum or who are interested in learning about 9/11 are too young to remember themselves, and one of the stories that they don’t necessarily realize when they start to encounter the history of 9/11 is how much it changed the arc of people’s lives,” 9/11 Memorial and Museum President and CEO Elizabeth L. Hillman told Fox News Digital.

The exhibition features artifacts, interactive displays, and firsthand accounts from those who turned the tragedy into a lifetime of service, including military members, first responders, volunteers, educators and victims’ families.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this post.

Pastor Jesse Bradley of Grace Community Church told Fox News Digital that “God is our refuge, strength, and ever present help in trouble” as he remembered the 9/11 attacks.

“September 11th, I think, was the most horrific scene that we’ve had as a nation in this generation. It was brutal. I felt stunned. I watched it with friends. It felt surreal. I can’t imagine being in New York City. But God also restores, and he brings comfort, and Jesus is our peace,” Bradley said.

“The Bible says he’s the Prince of Peace, and when we pray, we can receive his peace. We bring our burdens. We give him thanks, and we continue to thank God for our nation, for those who protect us, for the first responders who laid down their lives. And then today we pray for the families of those who lost loved ones, that God would bring them peace and comfort through his presence,” Bradley added.

“Twenty-five years later, we continue to look to God. Right after September 11, there was a spike in our nation, people attending church, people praying, people literally walking into the house of God, needing comfort, connection, and prayer was happening everywhere,” he also said. “And 25 years later, we need God in the same way. We need to remember that God is our refuge, strength, and ever present help in trouble.”

Former President Barack Obama said Friday that he and former first lady Michelle Obama “hope Americans everywhere remember the true lesson of 9/11: that we can survive even our darkest days as long as we move forward as one nation and one people.”

“If you were young in 2001, or weren’t even born yet, it can be hard to imagine what 9/11 felt like. The shock of that beautiful, cloudless morning. The heartbreak of the families whose loved ones were taken with such swiftness and cruelty. The realization that the forces of malevolence and violence were closer, and the future less certain, than we knew,” the Obamas said in a statement.

“But in the days that followed, we felt something else, too: pride in the rescue workers who rushed to the scene, and the passengers who stormed the cockpit. Admiration for the men and women who left behind lives of comfort to serve their country. A deep resolve that nothing would break the will of a truly United States of America,” the statement continued.

“Today Michelle and I are remembering those we lost that day, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the wars that followed. We pray for their families,” Obama added.

Ceremonies at the 9/11 Memorial in New York, the Pentagon and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania will take place Friday as the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when 19 Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and attacked the United States.

Officials and others with memories of that day reflected on what they witnessed and what they lost in some cases as the nation mourns anew.

Retired Maj. Gen. Bert Mizusawa, who served in senior Army positions at the Pentagon before 9/11, worked as a senior Pentagon official in the time leading up to 9/11 and knew several colleagues who perished that day.

On that Tuesday, Mizusawa said he was watching coverage of the attack on the Twin Towers from his office when reporters broke in to say the Pentagon had been targeted.

“I looked out my window and was able to observe the plume of smoke rising from the attack on the Pentagon,” Mizusawa said. “My normal commute took me directly past the section that was destroyed, and the smoke lingered for days.”

Mizusawa, the GOP nominee for Senate against Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said he also played a role in hiring Army Lt. Gen. Timothy Maude, the highest-ranking military officer killed in the Pentagon attack.

He added he just recently met with the lone survivor of the Pentagon’s staff section that took a direct hit from American Airlines Flight 77 that day.

“I reflected that, as tragic as the attack on the Pentagon was, the low-rise multi-ringed structure saved many lives as it was the virtual opposite form of structure compared to the World Trade Center buildings,” he said.

An American flag was unfurled Friday morning at the Pentagon to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The flag was draped over the side of the building as “The Star-Spangled Banner” was being sung.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was among the officials in attendance.

On September 11, 2001, while thousands of people were trying to get away from the danger in lower Manhattan, my brother Stephen was heading straight toward it. His shift as a New York City firefighter was over and he was supposed to meet his brothers for a round of golf, but the moment he heard that a plane had hit the World Trade Center, he turned his truck around. For Stephen, there was never really a choice—people needed help, and he was going to help them.

My brother Stephen barely had time to think when news of a plane hitting the World Trade Center’s North Tower came across the scanner inside his black 1990 GMC Sierra 1500 pickup truck just after 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001.

Perhaps that was fitting. In the few seconds that Stephen had to consider whether to keep driving from Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood—where his shift at FDNY Squad 1 had ended just sixteen minutes prior—toward Staten Island, where he was supposed to meet up with the rest of us Siller brothers and head down to central New Jersey and play golf, there was no decision to make. A major accident or attack had just occurred—and countless innocent people needed help. The only direction for Stephen to drive was not away from the fire, but straight toward it.

As golf balls rattled and his clubs whipped to the other side of the truck, Stephen quickly turned around on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, put his foot on the gas, and began racing in the direction of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, where he could drive under the river to lower Manhattan. He could see the thick smoke emanating from lower Manhattan as he tore down the BQE, wondering exactly what had happened and how fast he could get there. Having known Stephen his entire life, I am certain that one question dominated his mind in those frantic yet simultaneously measured few minutes: How many lives can I help save?

At some point while driving as fast as he safely could on the BQE, Stephen called his wife, Sally. He told her that some sort of aircraft had hit the World Trade Center and that even though he’d already finished his overnight shift at the elite Squad 1 in Brooklyn, he was now driving toward lower Manhattan instead of home. Right after he said “I love you” and started getting ready to put down his Nextel phone, Stephen also asked Sally to please let his brothers know that he wouldn’t be able to play golf that day.

Other than saving lives and the well-being of his wife and kids, I believe that there was an additional prominent thought going through Stephen’s mind as he got closer to the tunnel. This is no accident. This is a terrorist attack.

This is an excerpt of an opinion article by Frank Siller, the chairman & CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

A father’s legacy is living on through a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that helps others navigate grief and trauma — two-and-a-half decades after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Launched on the 25th anniversary of the horrific attacks on U.S. soil, Doora is a new AI grief companion from Hold the Door, a nonprofit founded in memory of Ronald Fazio Sr., who was killed after helping his coworkers evacuate the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

“We designed Doora to be a bridge for people in the moment when they’re going through a very difficult time so they can have a moment… where they say, ‘Maybe I can get through this. Maybe I can grow from this experience,’” Rob Fazio, Fazio Sr.’s son and founder of Hold the Door, told Fox News Digital.

“The foundation of Doora is built upon our 24 years of experience and research on post-traumatic growth and growth through loss and adversity.”

The 24/7 chatbot, which Fazio described as a “growth guide,” offers voice and text support to help people navigate grief when therapy or support from counselors, friends or family isn’t an option.

On September 11, 2001, shortly after the terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, I walked across the street to the Capitol, swimming against a sea of pandemonium.

Later, I joined other members in the basement of the Capitol Hill Police headquarters for a briefing on what we knew — and what might happen next.

Former Governor Tom Ridge, then serving as President George W. Bush’s homeland security adviser, told us, “The only thing we know for sure is that they want to hit us again, and they want to hit us worse.”

Long before 2001, radical Islamic terrorism was at war with America’s way of life and had already established a terrible rhythm in our national life.

The 1983 Beirut barracks bombing killed 241 American servicemen. Pan Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, killing 270 people, including 190 Americans. The first World Trade Center bombing came in 1993: six dead, more than 1,000 injured, with the terrorists hoping to topple one tower into the other. In 1998, al-Qaeda bombed our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people and injuring thousands. Two years later, al-Qaeda struck again, bombing the USS Cole in Yemen and killing 17 American sailors.

Our government’s response had fallen into a near slumber of its own. Terrorists attacked. Americans mourned. Investigators pursued those responsible. Security was tightened and warnings were issued. Then life moved on — until the terrorists struck again. For all the courage and skill of those fighting terrorism in those years, America remained largely reactive, responding to attacks rather than preventing them and ensuring that they could never happen again.

September 11 broke that rhythm forever. From the firefighters and police who rushed into the Twin Towers without regard to their personal safety, to those who charged the cockpit in the skies over Pennsylvania, America’s defenders surged forward with what felt like all new resolve to take the fight directly to our terrorist enemies.

America resolved that we would no longer simply bring terrorists to justice after they attacked us. We would find them before they could strike, take the fight to them abroad, and build new defenses here at home.

Twenty-five years later, we should remember the heroes forged that day and we should acknowledge the generation of selfless Americans who have delivered on that promise every day since.

This is an excerpt of an opinion article by Mike Pence, who served as the 48th Vice President of the United States.

United Airlines has abandoned a planned flyover of a passenger plane escorted by a squadron of F-16 fighter jets for a 9/11 memorial event, a report said. 

The Denver Post reported that city emergency management officials issued a notice earlier this week saying that the flyover, which was set to begin at 8:15 a.m. local time, may be “highly visible from parts of Denver, noticeable by sounds, more noticeable than a typical aircraft event, (and) brief, but surprising if you aren’t aware it’s planned.” 

“There is no emergency. This is a planned memorial event,” the notice reportedly added. “The flyover is intended to honor and remember the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.” 

The flyover was supposed to involve a United Boeing 777 jet leaving Denver International Airport, where it would be joined by a 20th Fighter Squadron from Buckley Space Force Base, according to the newspaper. The planes would then fly over United’s flight training center in Denver. 

However, United Airlines later said despite planning the “meaningful gesture to honor the memory of those lost within the pilot community,” it will “suspend those plans due to concerns in the community and instead carry on with the other events of the day,” The Denver Post reported. 

Scores of New Yorkers, including some families victimized by the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, are asking New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to skip the annual memorial service at Ground Zero — a call he is not heeding.

Mamdani is set to attend the annual remembrance ceremony on Friday at Ground Zero, which is an invitation-only event attended by victims’ families, dignitaries and other invited guests. Hosted by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the event begins at 8:30 a.m. Vice President JD Vance and former presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are also expected to attend.

A petition launched by relatives of 9/11 victims, which has since garnered roughly 110,000 signatures, asks Mamdani to stay home on Friday, citing his appointment of Ramzi Kassem as the city’s chief legal counsel. Kassem previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, an al Qaeda operative who pleaded guilty to war-crimes charges.

“For 9/11 families, this is not simply a public ceremony—it is a deeply personal day of mourning. The presence of individuals whose words or associations are perceived as conflicting with the solemn purpose of the event risks detracting from that focus and causing additional pain,” the petition reads.

“The 25th anniversary should remain centered on remembrance, unity, and an unambiguous rejection of the violence and extremism that defined that day. Ensuring that all participants reflect these principles is essential to preserving the integrity of the commemoration.”

The controversy intensified after Mamdani handed a ceremonial pen used to sign 9/11-related executive orders to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and asked her to pass it to Kassem. Critics on social media characterized the hand-off as a slap in the face to relatives of those who died in the attacks.

The mayor has defended his decision to attend the 9/11 memorial despite the criticisms levied against him.

“I’m proud to be the mayor of this city. I love this city. I love this country. And what I want this week to be a focus on is on the families whose loved ones were stolen from them 25 years ago in the horrific act of terror of September 11th, and a focus also on the first responders who gave everything they could to this city and to the people who came together to try and help their fellow New Yorkers,” Mamdani said in response to the criticisms.

“I’m getting out. I’m coming home.”

Those were the final words of William Lawrence Fallon Jr. before he was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center 25 years ago.

He worked as an IT manager for Cantor Fitzgerald and was just 38 years old when he was killed.

His daughter Kayla Fallon Smith was 8 years old when she learned her father would not be coming home.

Before the attacks, Smith, now 33, said her father – who always commuted into work early – would call the house phone in the morning to wish her and her sister well before they would head to school.

He went in early so he could leave earlier in the afternoons to take her to dancing school after her school day.

“That was the kind of man he was. I remember he would get up and work out in the morning before even going to work, so you’d hear the weights dropping in the house. I do remember that as a kid,” Smith said.

Those quick and light-hearted morning phone calls to his daughters set the tone for the day.

“He would tell us what the skyline looked like. Sometimes it would be cloudy below him and he couldn’t even see the street, but it’d be sunny up there,” she said.

Smith remembers hearing her father’s voice for the last time on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.

“I spoke to him on the house phone that day, as I always did,” she said, to which he said on the phone, “Have a good morning,” she said.

“I’m sure I said something like, ‘I love you, have a great day’,” Smith said.

President Donald Trump will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the Pentagon on Friday, honoring the victims and first responders who lost their lives that day.

“As a proud New Yorker, President Trump has spoken about his own experiences watching the horrific events of September 11, 2001,” White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital.

“On the 25th anniversary of this tragic day, the President will remember those who were killed at the hands of evil terrorists, honor their loved ones, and pay tribute to the brave first responders who put their lives on the line to rescue their fellow Americans,” Kelly added.

Trump will attend a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon, while Vice President JD Vance will commemorate the attacks at the World Trade Center site in New York. Other administration officials will gather in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, ensuring the White House has a presence at all three sites tied to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Vance will join former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in New York for a remembrance ceremony.

Last year, Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended a 9/11 commemoration at the Pentagon and issued a Patriot Day proclamation calling for flags to be flown at half-staff.