09/10/2026
25 YEARS — NEVER FORGET
September 11, 2001 – September 11, 2026
Twenty-five years ago, on a clear Tuesday morning, the United States was forever changed.
At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
At 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
At 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
At 10:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers.
The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. The North Tower followed at 10:28 a.m.
2,977 innocent people were killed that day.
Of those, 2,753 were killed in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 aboard Flight 93. They represented more than 90 nations—men, women and children whose lives, families and communities were forever changed.
For the fire service and the entire first-responder community, September 11 carries an additional weight.
Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, EMTs, dispatchers, emergency managers, military personnel and countless others ran toward scenes from which thousands of people were desperately trying to escape.
Among the principal responding organizations were the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), New York City Police Department (NYPD), Port Authority Police Department (PAPD), New York City emergency medical services and emergency management personnel; Arlington County Fire Department and Police Department; neighboring Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., fire, EMS and law-enforcement agencies; Pennsylvania State Police, Somerset County emergency services and local volunteer fire and EMS departments; along with the FBI, FEMA, U.S. military, National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard and numerous other local, state and federal agencies.
No short list can truthfully name every organization that answered the call. Hundreds of departments, agencies, volunteer organizations and individual responders took part in the immediate response and the months-long rescue and recovery effort that followed.
The FDNY lost 343 members. The Port Authority Police Department lost 37 officers, the largest loss of life suffered by any police department in a single event in American history. Twenty-three NYPD officers were also killed. Many other emergency responders from other services made the ultimate sacrifice that day, and still more responders have died in the years since from illnesses associated with their service at the World Trade Center site.
But September 11 is not remembered only for destruction.
It is remembered for courage.
For strangers helping strangers.
For passengers aboard Flight 93 who fought back.
For firefighters climbing stairs while others descended.
For police officers directing people toward safety.
For EMS crews treating the injured amid unimaginable chaos.
For dispatchers continuing to answer the radio.
For thousands of responders who simply did their jobs when doing their jobs meant putting someone else’s life ahead of their own.
Twenty-five years later, their example still matters.
We will always remember the 2,977 lives taken on September 11, 2001, the responders who gave everything trying to save others, the families who carried their loss forward, and everyone whose life was forever changed that morning.
We remember.
We honor.
We will never forget.
9.11.2001 — 9.11.2026
🇺🇸 25 Years — Never Forget 🇺🇸
