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The nation will pause Thursday to mark 24 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and launched America into two decades of war that would claim millions more lives across the Middle East and South Asia.
Memorial ceremonies are scheduled at all three attack sites: the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. As in previous years, the names of those killed will be read aloud at the National September 11 Memorial in lower Manhattan, with moments of silence marking when each hijacked plane struck and when the towers fell.
On that clear Tuesday morning in 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. Two planes crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, causing both 110-story buildings to collapse. A third plane struck the Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense. Passengers and crew members on the fourth plane, United Flight 93, fought back against the hijackers, causing the aircraft to crash in a Pennsylvania field instead of reaching its intended target in Washington, D.C.
The destruction at the World Trade Center complex continued throughout the day. World Trade Center Building 7, a 47-story office building, collapsed at 5:20 p.m. after burning for hours from debris that hit it when the North Tower fell. It was the first known instance of a tall building collapsing primarily due to uncontrolled fires.
The attacks killed 2,977 people from 93 nations, including more than 400 first responders. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in world history and the single deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in U.S. history.
The horror of that day led directly to America’s longest war. Less than a month after the attacks, U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, beginning a conflict that would span four presidential administrations and cost the nation dearly in both lives and treasure.
The total cost of America’s post-9/11 wars has reached $8 trillion, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project, with spending continuing even after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan alone cost more than $2.3 trillion over 20 years, while operations in Iraq and Syria totaled $2.9 trillion. These figures include not only direct military spending, but also veteran care, interest on borrowed funds, and homeland security expenses.
The human toll has been staggering. More than 940,000 people died as a direct result of war violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan, including over 432,000 civilians, according to the Costs of War project. When accounting for indirect deaths from destroyed infrastructure, collapsed health systems, and other war-related causes, researchers estimate the total death toll reaches 4.5 to 4.7 million people.
The war in Afghanistan officially ended with the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops in August 2021, leaving the Taliban back in power. During those 20 years, more than 2,400 U.S. service members and 1,100 allied troops died in Afghanistan.
The 9/11 attacks also precipitated the 2003 invasion of Iraq, though no direct connection between Saddam Hussein and the attacks was ever established. That conflict claimed more than 4,400 American lives. The post-9/11 wars also displaced an estimated 38 million people, creating the largest refugee crisis since World War II.
The War at Home
For many veterans, the battle didn’t end when they returned home. The phrase “22 a day” became a rallying cry after a 2013 VA study found that 22 veterans died by suicide daily, though current VA data puts the figure at about 17 veterans per day. Some researchers believe the actual number could be more than double that when accounting for overdoses and other forms of self-harm.
Veterans are at 72% higher risk of suicide than those who haven’t served, according to Stop Soldier Suicide. The rate has risen faster for veterans than for non-veterans since 2005, with veterans ages 18-34 seeing their suicide rate more than double. Among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, those who didn’t deploy have a 48% higher suicide rate than those who saw combat, suggesting the transition to civilian life itself poses significant challenges.
The VA estimates that 30% of Vietnam veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, compared with 11-20% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Yet only one in five veterans who die by suicide were enrolled in VA health care, highlighting gaps in the system meant to support them.
Beyond the immediate military response, Sept. 11 fundamentally changed American society. Airport security was revolutionized with the creation of the Transportation Security Administration. The Department of Homeland Security was established. The Patriot Act expanded government surveillance powers in ways that continue to spark debate about the balance between security and civil liberties.
For those who lived through that day, the memories remain vivid. The images of the burning towers, the Pentagon in flames, and the crater in Pennsylvania became seared into the national consciousness. The phrase “Never Forget” became a rallying cry, though its meaning has evolved over nearly a quarter-century.
Today’s commemoration comes as many young Americans have no memory of the attacks. An entire generation has been born and reached adulthood in the post-9/11 world, knowing only the security measures, foreign policy debates and cultural changes that followed.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, which sits on the footprint of the original Twin Towers, has welcomed more than 50 million visitors since opening in 2011. The memorial’s twin reflecting pools, each nearly an acre in size, mark where the towers once stood.
As bells toll Thursday morning at 8:46 a.m. Eastern time, marking when the first plane hit the North Tower, Americans will once again grapple with the legacy of a day that changed everything.
