September 11th: A 25-year history of honoring the tragic day
A look back into previous years’ ways of remembering and honoring 9/11 victims
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons- DHSgov
This month marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum plans to mark the anniversary with a Commemoration Ceremony, as per their official website, where “the families of victims will gather for a ceremony on the 9/11 Memorial plaza to read aloud the names of the 2,983 men, women, and children killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks and February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.” Throughout this ceremony, six moments of silence will be observed by attendees, to “mark the times when each of the World Trade Center towers was struck, when each tower fell, and the times corresponding to the attack at the Pentagon, and the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.” Finally, a seventh moment of silence will be observed in honor of those victims who lost their lives after the 9/11 attacks as a result of health effects caused by the attacks.
Further, as per The National September 11 Memorial & Museum's schedule, the public will be able to join in on honoring the victims and remembering the attacks on the afternoon of Sept. 11, after the memorial reopens, as it will be closed for the memorial service for families of 9/11 victims.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) website names the 9/11 terrorist attacks as “the most lethal terrorist attacks in history” and the “attack and crash sites [as] … the largest crime scenes in FBI history.”
George W. Bush was President of the United States in 2001 when the World Trade Center became the site of the deadly terrorist attack. In an address to the nation after the attacks, as published by White House archives, the former president told the nation, “our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts … A great people has been moved to defend a great nation … America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world ... Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened … This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day.”
Since then, various U.S. presidents have paid tribute to the lives lost during the attacks. While in attendance of a 15th anniversary 9/11 memorial service at the Pentagon, during his time as President, former president Barack Obama addressed family members of victims, members of the United States armed forces, and the entire nation, as he opened a speech with “We remember, and we will never forget, the nearly 3,000 beautiful lives taken from us so cruelly—including 184 men, women and children here, the youngest just three years old. We honor the courage of those who put themselves in harm’s way to save people they never knew. We come together in prayer and in gratitude for the strength that has fortified us across these 15 years. And we renew the love and the faith that binds us together as one American family,” as cited in the National Archives.
Serving as president after Barack Obama, Joe Biden honored the memory of 9/11 on the 20th anniversary of the attacks during his time in office. As was reported by NBC News, former president Biden visited New York City to attend a 9/11 memorial service at ground zero; he then traveled to Pennsylvania to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony commemorating Flight 93, in which passengers crashed a plane that was suspected to be headed towards the White House, as per Britannica. Biden ended the day of remembrance at the Pentagon in attendance of another wreath-laying ceremony.
Last year, PBS News reported President Trump’s and First Lady Melania Trump’s attendance at a 9/11 memorial service at the Pentagon. The president remarked at the ceremony, “Today, as one nation, we renew our sacred vow that we will never forget Sept. 11, 2001… The enemy will always fail… We defy the fear, endure the flames.”
This year, on Tuesday, Sept. 8, as announced by The White House via its official Facebook page, President Trump paid “tribute to the heroes and victims of 9/11 with remarks and a ceremony at the White House.” ABC7 News added to the report, via a post on X, that President Trump invited the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) members and other first responders to attend his White House-held ceremony.
President Trump’s decision to host a remembrance ceremony at the White House for the 25th anniversary of 9/11 comes after The New York Times reported that he originally intended to make remarks at ground zero’s ceremony, however, “The National September 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, has worked rigorously to keep the venue nonpartisan and focused on the solemnity of the day.” In this pursuit, museum officials have not allowed speeches to be given at the site by political officials since 2012. As per The New York Times, Vice President J.D. Vance will reportedly be in attendance at ground zero in New York City on Sept. 11 for their ceremony.