US set to mark 24th anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks
Official commemorations are scheduled to be held in New York, Pentagon and Shanksville
Twenty-four years on from the devastating September 11, 2001, attacks, Americans are marking the anniversary with solemn ceremonies, dedicated volunteer work, and heartfelt tributes honouring the nearly 3,000 victims.
Across the nation, official commemorations are scheduled for Thursday in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Among those reflecting on the enduring impact is James Lynch, who lost his father, Robert Lynch, during the World Trade Center attack.
Mr Lynch shared that his family plans to attend a ceremony near their New Jersey hometown before spending the day at the beach, a personal way to navigate the anniversary.
The day before the anniversary, Mr Lynch, alongside his partner and mother, joined thousands of volunteers preparing meals for the needy at a 9/11 charity event in Manhattan.
Reflecting on his experience, he stated: "It’s one of those things where any kind of grief, I don’t think it ever goes away." He added, "Finding the joy in that grief, I think, has been a huge part of my growth with this."
The remembrances are being held during a time of increased political tensions. The 9/11 anniversary, often promoted as a day of national unity, comes a day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at a college in Utah.
The reading of names and moments of silence
Charlie Kirk’s killing is expected to prompt additional security measures around the 9/11 anniversary ceremony at the World Trade Center site in New York, authorities said.
At ground zero in lower Manhattan, the names of the attack victims will be read aloud by family and loved ones in a ceremony attended by Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance.
At the Pentagon in Virginia, the 184 service members and civilians killed when hijackers steered a jetliner into the headquarters of the U.S. military will be honoured.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will attend the service before heading to the Bronx for a baseball game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers Thursday evening.
And in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a similar ceremony marked by moments of silence, the reading of names and the laying of wreaths, will honor the victims of Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit.
That service will be attended by Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins.
Like Lynch, people across the country are also marking the 9/11 anniversary with service projects and charity works as part of a national day of service.
Reverberations from attacks persist
In all, the attacks by al-Qaida militants killed 2,977 people, including many financial workers at the World Trade Center and firefighters and police officers who had rushed to the burning buildings trying to save lives.
The attacks reverberated globally and altered the course of US policy, both domestically and overseas.
It led to the “Global War on Terrorism” and the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and related conflicts that killed hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians.
While the hijackers died in the attacks, the US government has struggled to conclude its long-running legal case against the man accused of masterminding the plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The former al-Qaida leader was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and later taken to a US military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but has never received a trial.
The anniversary ceremony in New York was taking place at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, where two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets inscribed with the names of the dead mark the spots where the twin towers once stood.
The Trump administration has been contemplating ways that the federal government might take control of the memorial plaza and its underground museum, which are now run by a public charity currently chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent Trump critic.
Trump has spoken of possibly making the site a national monument.
In the years since the attacks, the US government has spent billions of dollars providing health care and compensation to tens of thousands of people who were exposed to the toxic dust that billowed over parts of Manhattan when the twin towers collapsed.
More than 140,000 people are still enrolled in monitoring programs intended to identify those with health conditions that could potentially be linked to hazardous materials in the soot.