America marks 25 years since 9/11 with memorial ceremonies

Ceremonies were held Friday at each of the sites involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which killed more than 2,970 people. President Donald Trump attended a ceremony Friday morning at the Pentagon, where 184 victims died. The ceremony included a reading of the victims’ names, each accompanied by the tolling of a bell.

Military officials also spoke, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth said that 9/11 reminded America that eternal vigilance against evil was the price of freedom. The fight against Islamist terrorism continued in the present-day war with Iran, he said.

Trump also alluded to the war in his remarks, but mainly focused on highlighting examples of heroism during the 9/11 attacks. The United States learned how strong hate was on that day, but the goodness of the American people prevailed, he said. He quoted John 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Today, America was stronger than ever, he said.

A private ceremony for families of victims began Friday morning at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan, where the Twin Towers once stood. Relatives of the dead took turns reading aloud the names of those killed that day, along with the names of the six killed in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Relatives also read tributes offered to their loved ones.

The ceremony included six moments of silence, marking the times when planes crashed and buildings fell, according to its website. The ceremony also included a final moment of silence to honor those lost to health effects from the attack, according to the site. The memorial was scheduled to remain open to the public on Friday afternoon following the ceremony. About 100 million Americans are too young to remember the events of 9/11, according to the site.

One of two ceremonies at the Flight 93 memorial site near Shanksville, Penn., concluded mid-morning on Friday and the second was still scheduled to take place at the time of publication. The first ceremony included a reading of the names of 40 passengers and crew members who died when the plane crashed into a field. A second ceremony with keynote speakers and a public wreath laying at the memorial was scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Dig deeper: In WORLD Magazine, read Grace Snell’s report on one woman’s mission to honor her brother 25 years after the attacks.