Nation marks 25 years since 9/11 with Pentagon tributes and rare artifacts

The United States marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with ceremonies in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed, including victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, as well as the first responders, rescue workers and service members who followed. At the Pentagon, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump paid tribute to victims and heard the names of those killed there, while Trump said the attacks strengthened American resolve and pledged that the country would never forget. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also used the anniversary to warn that Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons and linked the confrontation with Tehran to a broader history of terrorism against Americans. In New York, Vice President J.D. Vance, former presidents, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and victims’ families attended a memorial with moments of silence marking key moments of the attacks, while families and survivors reflected on enduring grief, the passage of a generation and the responsibility to teach younger Americans about those who died and the national unity that followed. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History displayed rarely seen, fragile artifacts recovered from the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93, including a damaged flag, personal belongings, seat belts, a flight-attendant call button, a beeper and a telephone linked to a call from Barbara Olson aboard a hijacked plane. The open-table exhibition, which may not be shown again, was intended to help younger visitors connect with an event increasingly viewed as history, amid political debate and scrutiny from Trump and congressional Republicans over the Smithsonian’s presentation of American history.