The United States marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on Thursday, a day that fundamentally reshaped national security policy and military engagement abroad. As noted by sandpointreader.com, the nation paused to reflect on the events that claimed 2,977 lives and triggered two decades of conflict.
The morning began with American Airlines Flight 11 striking the north face of the World Trade Center’s North Tower between floors 93 and 99 at 8:46 a.m. The aircraft carried approximately 20,000 gallons of jet fuel. Just 17 minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 slammed into the south face of the South Tower between floors 77 and 85.
The devastation continued as American Airlines Flight 77 hit the western side of the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. The impact killed 58 passengers and crew aboard the plane, along with 125 people on the ground and 55 military personnel stationed inside the building. The final hijacked aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m. after passengers fought back against the hijackers, killing one U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer in the field.
The structural collapse of the Twin Towers followed quickly. The North Tower fell approximately 12 seconds after standing for 1 hour and 42 minutes post-impact. The South Tower collapsed just 56 minutes after being struck, also taking roughly 12 seconds to fall. Only 18 people were rescued alive from the rubble.
The human toll on first responders was severe. Among the dead were 344 New York Fire Department and New York Fire Patrol members, as well as 71 law enforcement officers. The 19 terrorists who carried out the attacks also perished in the crashes.
In the immediate aftermath, the economic shockwave was palpable. The New York Stock Exchange remained closed for six days. When trading resumed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 684.81 points. Fires raged in New York City for 99 days, and cleanup crews spent approximately nine months removing 1.8 million tons of wreckage, a task requiring 3.1 million hours of labor. During the crisis, an estimated 36,000 units of blood were donated to the New York Blood Center.
The attacks catalyzed a major shift in U.S. foreign policy. Twenty-six days after September 11, the United States began bombing Afghanistan. Operation Enduring Freedom officially ran from October 7, 2001, through December 31, 2014. The Iraq War followed, lasting from 2003 to 2011.
Public awareness of the full scope of the attacks evolved over time. Video footage of the Pentagon strike was not released to the public until 2006. In 2019, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to ensure the victim compensation fund would remain solvent indefinitely.
On any typical workday prior to the attacks, up to 50,000 people were employed in the Twin Towers, with an additional 40,000 passing through the complex. The loss of that infrastructure represented a significant blow to New York City’s commercial core.