Remembering Sept. 11 Seven years ago, terrorists wreaked havoc in America. NPR covered the story from the time the first plane struck the World Trade Center, and is still covering the story today. Here, we reflect on how the world — and individual lives — were transformed by Sept. 11.

Special Series

Remembering Sept. 11

Subscribe to Daily News Email

Opinion

Reflections On Shanksville And Sept. 11

September 13, 2008 • Sometimes when journalists start out working on a story they're expecting one thing and then they find something entirely different. That's what happened to NPR's Libby Lewis at the Sept. 11 crash site in Shanksville, Pa., this week.

Opinion

Seven Years Later, Listeners Reflect On Sept. 11

September 11, 2008 • Do you remember where you were when the planes hit the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon? On the seventh anniversary of the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, listeners discuss the significance of the day.

Seven Years After Attacks, No Memorial In NYC

September 11, 2008 • For all the scenes of cranes at work at ground zero in New York City, the site is still a giant, lifeless crater seven years after two hijacked airplanes destroyed the twin towers. Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker, offers his insight.

Marking Sept. 11, Seven Years Later

September 11, 2008 • Ceremonies marking the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are held near the site of the former World Trade Center and at the Pentagon. The military dedicated a new memorial to the victims in Arlington, Va. We hear a montage of voices from the ceremonies.

N.Y. Marks Day That 'Ended As None Ever Has'

September 11, 2008 • In New York City, a somber ceremony marked the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. "We come each year to stand alongside those who loved and lost the most, to bear witness to the day which began like any other, and ended as none ever has," Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the crowd that gathered Thursday near ground zero.

Firetruck Restorer Used Skills To Honor FDNY Fallen

September 11, 2008 • In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, former firefighter Andy Swift says he spent many restless nights thinking of what he could do to help. He finally decided to volunteer his fire engine restoration services, and the 1880s-era hose wagon he restored became a funeral caisson for fallen FDNY firefighters.

'Morning Edition' Coverage of Sept. 11 memorial services

Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/94477006/94509148" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Memories Of Sept. 11, Preserved And Bright

September 11, 2008 • The StoryCorps oral history project hopes to collect at least one recording from the families of each of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Boston Memorial Marks Ill-Fated Planes' Departure

September 11, 2008 • A Sept. 11 memorial was dedicated Tuesday at Logan International Airport in Boston. That is where two planes took off before hijackers on board brought down New York's twin towers at the World Trade Center.

A Mother Brings Perspective To Flight 93 Crash Site

September 11, 2008 • Deborah Borza, mother of United Flight 93 passenger Deora Bodley, is one of the thousands of people to visit the field where the plane crashed on Sept. 11, 2001. But Borza has become a regular at the Shanksville, Pa., site.

Opinion

Against The Grain

Sept. 11 And The Non-Crisis Of Values

September 11, 2008 • While we Americans think our divisions over "moral values" or "traditional values" are great, they aren't in comparison with other countries. There may be a crisis of community, manners and culture, but not of values.

Pentagon's 'Contemplative' Memorial Opens

September 11, 2008 • A permanent memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11 attack at the Pentagon was dedicated Thursday morning and opens to the public in the evening. The memorial's designer, Julie Beckman, says the benches, reflecting pools and paper-bark maple trees make it a "contemplative, beautiful place."

New York's Sept. 11 Memorial Slow To Rise

September 11, 2008 • A memorial service will be held Thursday in New York City for those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks. But the ceremony won't take place at ground zero. That site is in the midst of construction, and after seven years, the lack of progress is frustrating to many.

Sound And Silence: 'Remembering Sept. 11' At The Temple Of Dendur

A view from across the reflecting pool of the "Remembering September 11" concert by the Wordless Music Orchestra — conducted by Ryan McAdams, presented at The Temple of Dendur in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2011. Melanie Burford for NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Melanie Burford for NPR

Deceptive Cadence

Sound And Silence: 'Remembering Sept. 11' At The Temple Of Dendur

Q2

September 10, 2011 • Hear (and download) profoundly moving performances of music by Basinski, Marshall, Golijov and Schnittke — met by a deeply reflective and attentive audience.

Sound And Silence: 'Remembering Sept. 11' At The Temple Of Dendur

Listen · 1:32:48 1:32:48

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/140265002/140385119" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Fighter Pilots Were Prepared To Die On Sept. 11

An F-16 fighter jet. Michael Williams/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Michael Williams/Getty Images

The Two-Way

Fighter Pilots Were Prepared To Die On Sept. 11

September 9, 2011 • As they flew to intercept United Flight 93, two American pilots had no weapons to fire. They were ready to fly their jets into the passenger plane to keep it from hitting Washington. Before that was necessary, passengers took action.

Ned Rorem's 'Aftermath': Mingling Sept. 11 With Personal Sorrow

William Blake's 'Los,' from the poet and artist's mythological work. Ned Rorem sets words from Blake's 'Proverbs of Hell' within his song cycle 'Aftermath.' Wikimedia hide caption

toggle caption

Wikimedia

Deceptive Cadence

Ned Rorem's 'Aftermath': Mingling Sept. 11 With Personal Sorrow

September 8, 2011 • A song cycle pleading for peace and mourning lost love — and the one piece Rorem claims he would like to be remembered by.

Hear Ned Rorem Discuss 'Aftermath'

2:21

Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/140288251/140267852" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">