Americans mark the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with emotional ceremonies

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NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly a quarter century has passed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but for many, the emotions of the day remain raw as ever.

On Thursday, America marked the 24th anniversary of the deadly attacks with solemn ceremonies at commemorations in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, punctuated by moments of silence, the tolling of bells and the reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 killed.

Jennifer Nilsen, whose husband, Troy Nilsen, perished in the World Trade Center, was among those wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with an image of a lost loved one as she attended the commemoration at ground zero in lower Manhattan.

“Even 24 years later, it’s heart wrenching. It feels the same way every year,” she said.

Michelle Pizzo, who also wore a shirt bearing the image of her late husband, Jason DeFazio, who died in the trade center attack, hoped more people could just take one minute to reflect on the day.

“Younger kids don’t realize that you have to remember,” she said.

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.

Kirk’s killing prompted additional security measures around the 9/11 anniversary ceremony at the World Trade Center site in New York.

FBI Director Kash Patel was among the dignitaries in attendance. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, had planned to attend but instead are set to visit with Kirk’s family on Thursday in Salt Lake City, according to a person familiar with Vance’s plans, but not authorized to speak about them publicly.

Many in the ground zero crowd held up photos of lost loved ones as a moment of silence marked the exact time when the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center’s iconic twin towers.

Family members then read aloud the names of the victims, with many giving short remembrances, well wishes and even updates on their lives to their lost loved ones.

Zoe Doyle, daughter of equity trader Frank Joseph Doyle, said her family created a nonprofit in his honor that has built 16 schools in South Africa and feeds and educates thousands of children there each day.

Melissa Pullis, whose husband Edward Pullis died in the towers, said this year is more difficult than others because two of the couple’s three children are getting married.

“You can’t walk your princess down the aisle,” she said through tears. “You are missed everyday. We will always say your name, and we will always fight for justice.”

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 were honored in a ceremony attended by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.

The president, in his remarks, recounted moments from that day, including snippets of conversations from passengers who were aboard the hijacked airplanes.

“Today, as one nation, we renew our sacred vow that we will never forget Sept. 11, 2001,” Trump said during the observance, which took place in an internal courtyard of the building rather than its traditional location outside its walls near the building’s 9/11 memorial.

“The enemy will always fail,” he added. “We defy the fear, endure the flames.”

The president, who was expected to attend a New York Yankees game in the Bronx on Thursday evening, also announced Kirk would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling him a “giant of his generation” and a "champion of liberty.”

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, honored the victims of Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit. Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins was among those in attendance.

People across the country are also marking the 9/11 anniversary with service projects and charitable works as part of a national day of service. Volunteers will be taking part in food and clothing drives, park and neighborhood cleanups, blood banks and other community events.

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 U.S. policy, both domestically and overseas. It led to the “ Global War on Terrorism ” and the U.S.-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 U.S. 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 U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but has never received a trial.

The anniversary ceremony in New York was taking place at the National Sept. 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.

In the years since the attacks, the U.S. government has also 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.

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Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz and Liseberth Guillaume in New York City, Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, New Jersey, Michael Hill in Albany, New York, and Michelle L. Price and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this story.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo