09/11/2026
25 years later, another moment of silence
It has been 25 years since the September 11, 2001 attacks changed the United States forever.
On Friday, September 11, people across the country will pause to remember the 2,977 people killed that day and the lives forever changed by the attacks.
But this year's 25th anniversary will include something new.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is adding a seventh moment of silence to the annual commemoration ceremony, honoring the people who died in the years since 9/11 from illnesses connected to their exposure at or near the World Trade Center site.
For the past 24 years, the ceremony has included six moments of silence. They mark the times the two World Trade Center towers were struck, the Pentagon was attacked, Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania, and each tower collapsed.
The new moment will come after the reading of the names and will recognize first responders, rescue and recovery workers, survivors and Lower Manhattan community members who later lost their lives to 9/11-related health effects. It will remain part of the ceremony in future years.
The attacks lasted only hours.
Their consequences have lasted a quarter century.
Tomorrow, the silence will remember not only those who were lost on September 11, 2001, but also those whose lives were taken in the years that followed.
