Twenty-five years after hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Americans gathered to read the names of the dead, observe moments of silence, and pass memory of the day to a generation born after it.

At Ground Zero in New York, relatives once again recited the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed. Among them was a boy who addressed a grandfather he never met, telling him about the Knicks. The reading of names carried the ceremony through the morning, as it has each year. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama attended, along with Vice President JD Vance, who stood with them during a moment of silence.

Some families used the occasion to press a longstanding grievance. A number of relatives confronted current and former officials over documents they say relate to Saudi Arabia's role in the attacks, and one widow spoke from the ceremony to fault previous administrations for not, in her words, "bringing Saudi Arabia to justice."

The day coincided with the release of newly declassified material. The C.I.A. made public intelligence provided to Presidents Clinton and Bush about al-Qaeda before September 11, 2001. The disclosure was part of a broader effort to declassify what presidents knew in the lead-up to the attacks.

President Trump spoke at the Pentagon, where he honored those killed there. In his remarks, delivered alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump also addressed U.S. policy toward Iran. Several outlets characterized portions of the speech as a defense of recent military action; the full text was published for readers to review.

Commemorations extended well beyond the three attack sites. Hundreds gathered in Uptown Charlotte. Services were held in Kitchener, Ontario, and other Canadian cities. In London, families of British victims marked the anniversary, with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham saying that "those who seek to destroy our way of life will never win." A charity trading day in London drew figures from film and television to raise money in the victims' memory.

The anniversary also prompted reflection on the attacks' long aftermath. News organizations examined how September 11 reshaped American immigration and air travel, with the government beginning to roll back some security measures adopted after 2001. Others reported on the experiences of Muslim Americans, some of whom said they face greater hostility now than in the years immediately following the attacks. Survivors and the children of the fallen shared their accounts, and educators described the challenge of teaching the events to students with no memory of them.

References

1. 1.Associated Press — Ground Zero ceremony, name reading, and attendance by Bush, Obama, and Vance
2. 2.The New York Times — release of declassified C.I.A. intelligence and families' concerns over Saudi Arabia documents
3. 3.Reuters — President Trump's Pentagon remarks and references to Iran policy
4. 4.BBC News — London commemorations and Andy Burnham's remarks
5. 5.Local and international outlets — commemorations in Charlotte, Kitherner, and other cities, and coverage of the attacks' aftermath