9/11’s Many Griefs Span America 25 Years Later

As the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks approaches, the deaths of 2,977 people at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, remain a defining national trauma. Al-Qaida hijacked four passenger planes, and passengers on the flight that crashed near Shanksville fought back. The attacks reshaped U.S. aviation security, foreign policy and government, leading to stricter screening, expanded surveillance, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration. Survivors, families, responders, residents and other workers exposed to toxic dust continue to face illness and seek healthcare, compensation, job protections and government accountability, while Muslim Americans report ongoing Islamophobic harassment and discrimination and concerns about antisemitism and polarization persist. Museums, performances, firsthand testimony and local ceremonies are preserving the history for younger Americans with no personal memory of the attacks, even as families and survivors continue to experience lasting emotional and health effects.