The United States is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks this Friday, with a ceremony held in New York at the site of the former World Trade Center. Relatives of the victims are reading the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks, in the presence of four former U.S. presidents. Donald Trump, who is not attending the New York ceremony, is participating in a commemoration at the Pentagon.
At “Ground Zero” in lower Manhattan, families of the victims are taking turns reading the names of those who died in the 2001 attacks. The area is cordoned off for this annual ceremony. “Every year is a very difficult time for us, and this year even more so because we have reached the 25-year milestone,” John Fila, a firefighter who participated in the rescue operations, told AFP.
President Donald Trump chose to commemorate the attacks from the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, which was also targeted on September 11, 2001, by one of the planes hijacked by Al-Qaeda members. “We will never forget,” declared Donald Trump, adding that this memory explains “why we are fighting today.” The United States is currently engaged in a new war in the Middle East against Iran, a conflict that is sparking strong opposition among the American public.
Vice President JD Vance is among the officials present at the New York ceremony. The four living former U.S. presidents are also in attendance: Democrats Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton, as well as Republican George W. Bush, who was president at the time of the attacks. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is also participating in the commemorations.
The September 11, 2001 attacks left 2,977 people dead in the United States on that day, primarily in New York. More than 9,400 others have since died from illnesses linked to their exposure to the aftermath of the attacks, according to the federal medical monitoring program.
Twenty-five years after the attacks, the direct memory of the event is also fading. About 100 million Americans “were not yet born or were too young to have a memory” of the attacks, notes Beth Hillman, president of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
The institution is now placing greater emphasis on transmission and education. Witnesses are being trained to speak to generations who have primarily learned about the attacks through their parents or school education.
Captured & Published at: 2026-09-11 18:38:35 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.2424.mg/anniversaire-les-etats-unis-commemorent-les-25-ans-des-attentats-du-11-septembre-2001-quatre-anciens-presidents-presents-a-new-york/