NEW YORK — For the 20th time, America is pausing to read the names of and remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in the Sept. 11 attacks that stunned and forever changed the nation.
In New York City, at the Pentagon and outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, ceremonies to remember the attacks that occurred there 20 years ago are being held Saturday, and President Joe Biden plans to visit each site.
“I think it’s appropriate that we remember, we remember the people that we lost, we remember the families,” said Barbara Lee, who was working at the Pentagon the day of the attack.
She was one of the survivors attending a private ceremony Saturday morning at the Pentagon.
“It’s just kind of sad day.”
At the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, a solemn crowd of hundreds gathered as a bell tolled and a moment of silence was held at 8:46 a.m., the moment the north tower of the World Trade Center was hit 20 years ago.
On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaida hijackers took control of four U.S. commercial airplanes in a plot to attack major U.S. landmarks. Two of the planes toppled the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York. One crashed into the Pentagon in northern Virginia. Another, headed toward Washington, D.C., careened into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers and crew fought back to take control.
The attacks prompted the war in Afghanistan weeks later, followed by the war in Iraq in 2003. They changed America’s domestic security and surveillance infrastructure. Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry intensified across America in the years that followed.
USA TODAY Network reporters and photographers are covering the ceremonies in New York City, Shanksville and at the Pentagon. Refresh this page for the latest updates.
Here’s a look at what’s happening Saturday:
- In New York City, the annual reading of the names and Tribute in Light will occur at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
- A private ceremony at the Pentagon will be held, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, taking part.
- In Shanksville, the names of the passengers and crew members will be read as the Bells of Remembrance the National Memorial site are rung.
Hundreds gather for reading of names at 9/11 Memorial in NYC
A solemn crowd of hundreds of first responders, families of victims and politicians lined the 9/11 Memorial in New York City to mark the 20th anniversary. Families held photos of loved ones who died in the attack as flowers and flags were placed near their names on the Memorial.
Among the attendees were former police detective Madeline Lawrence, 60. She said she wasn’t surprised when she heard her coworker Sgt. Rodney C. Gillis ran into the south tower on Sept. 11.
“That was what Rodney would do,” she said of Gillis, who died in the attack.
Lawrence said Gillis was goal oriented. He wanted to help others. He drove to the World Trade Center from where he was stationed in Brooklyn and ran in on his own.
“He…
Read More: NYC, Pentagon events honor victims 20 years later