A woman leaves flowers at the North Pool during a ceremony marking the 17th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the commemoration of the Sept. 11 terror attacks:
11:45 a.m.
The man who informed President George W. Bush that America was under attack says 9/11 was a defining event for the nation and those who lived through it.
Former chief of staff Andrew Card told 9/11 families at the Massachusetts Statehouse on Tuesday that he whispered into the president’s ear: “A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.”
Bush nodded slowly. At the time, he was speaking to schoolchildren in Sarasota, Florida.
It originally was thought that the first World Trade Center strike was a small-plane accident.
Days later, Card traveled with Bush to the trade center site.
After a meeting with relatives of missing firefighters and police officers, a woman handed the president her son’s police badge.
Bush promised he would never forget. He carried the badge with him for the rest of his presidency.
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11:30 a.m.
President Donald Trump has been viewing the Pennsylvania field that became a memorial after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Trump and first lady Melania walked to an overlook in Shanksville to look at the field where a commercial airliner crashed on Sept. 11, 2001. All 40 passengers and crew members aboard the plane were killed.
Trump addressed several hundred dignitaries and family members during a remembrance ceremony Tuesday.
It was his first visit as president to the Pennsylvania memorial site.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11.
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11 a.m.
President Donald Trump says the nation is recalling “the moment when America fought back” during a Pennsylvania ceremony marking the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Trump said Tuesday during a somber remembrance at the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, that the fallen “joined the immortal ranks of American heroes.”
The president is honoring those killed 17 years ago at the site where the fourth airliner crashed after 40 passengers and crew members realized what was happening and tried to storm the cockpit. He says the fallen “took control of their destiny and changed the course of history.”
Trump listened as the names of the victims were read aloud, followed by the tolling of bells.
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10:50 a.m.
Vice President Mike Pence has told family members of the 184 people killed at the Pentagon on 9/11 that the nation still grieves with them.
Pence spoke Tuesday at the Pentagon Memorial.
He said it’s important that each new generation know what happened.
Pence recalled the heroism of service members and civilians working in the Pentagon that day.
They evacuated and went back into the building again and again to rescue survivors.
He says the terrorists “hoped to break our spirit and they failed.”
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10:10 a.m.
The outpouring of emotion on the 9/11 anniversary includes a poignant message from New York’s Finest.
A tweet on Tuesday by the New York Police Department’s Midtown North Precinct talks about the day Americans’ world changed “forever.”
It urges: “Never miss a chance to let those held dearest know your love for them.”
Victims’ relatives, survivors, rescuers and dignitaries are gathered on New York’s World Trade Center memorial plaza to remember the deadliest terror attack on American soil.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are at the 9/11 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Vice President Mike Pence is at the Pentagon.
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9:25 a.m.
President Donald Trump has arrived in Pennsylvania to remember those killed 17 years ago in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Trump and his wife, Melania, arrived at the airport in Johnstown on Tuesday shortly after the time that hijackers flew an airplane into New York’s World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and the Pentagon.
Trump is delivering remarks at the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It’s where the fourth airliner crashed after the 40 passengers and crew members realized what was happening and tried to storm the cockpit.
In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
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9:15 a.m.
The names of those lost in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are being solemnly recited at the World Trade Center in New York.
The ceremony on Tuesday to commemorate the 17th anniversary included moments of silence and tolling bells. Some tearful readers mentioned how much they miss their loved ones.
Victims’ relatives, survivors, rescuers and dignitaries are gathered on the memorial plaza to remember the deadliest terror attack on American soil.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are at the 9/11 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Vice President Mike Pence is at the Pentagon.
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8:50 a.m.
The commemoration of the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks has begun at the World Trade Center in New York with a moment of silence and tolling bells.
Victims’ relatives, survivors, rescuers and dignitaries were gathered on the memorial plaza where the twin towers once stood as the ceremony started at 8:46 a.m. That is the time when a hijacked plane slammed into the World Trade Center’s north tower.
Then victims’ loved ones began reading the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed when four hijacked planes crashed into the trade center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are at the 9/11 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Vice President Mike Pence is attending a ceremony at the Pentagon.
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8:20 a.m.
Families of people who died during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are gathering at New York’s World Trade Center site.
Thousands of victims’ relatives, survivors, rescuers and others are expected at Tuesday’s ceremony in Lower Manhattan.
Debra Sinodinos (sih-noh-DEE’-nohs) was there to honor her cousin Peter Carroll, a New York City firefighter.
Their extended family gathered for the ceremony, including two of Peter’s sons — one who’s a firefighter and another who’s in training.
Sinodinos says it’s better to commemorate the day there than to sit around “being depressed.”
She’s pleased with the construction of the memorial and buildings at the World Trade Center. She calls the progress “amazing.”
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12 a.m.
Americans are commemorating the Sept. 11 terror attacks with somber tributes, volunteer projects and a new monument to victims.
Thousands of victims’ relatives, survivors, rescuers and others are expected at Tuesday’s ceremony at the World Trade Center.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump plan to join an observance at the 9/11 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A new tower honoring victims was dedicated there Saturday.
Vice President Mike Pence is attending a ceremony at the Pentagon.
Nearly 3,000 people died when hijacked planes slammed into the trade center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001.
Since the last anniversary, a truck attack on a nearby bike that killed eight people. Months later, there was a botched pipe bombing in a subway passageway near Times Square.
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