25th Anniversary 9/11 Ceremony In Toms River Set

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Ocean County officials and Toms River Volunteer Fire Company 1 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with a ceremony in Toms River on Friday.

The ceremony will honor the 2,977 people who died in the attacks when 19 al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four airplanes, flying two into New York City's World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Passengers fought back on the fourth, United Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

That number includes 343 first responders — firefighters, police officers and EMTs — who went to the Twin Towers after the planes hit to rescue people from the burning buildings.

It also includes 19 people from Ocean County who died that day in the attacks.

The county's Day of Remembrance ceremony is set for 9 a.m. at the Sept. 11 Memorial in the courtyard by 129 Hooper Ave., Toms River.

"Countless others have died as a result of Sept. 11 illnesses," the county's ceremony announcement said. "We also remember the men and women of the military that were lost during the War on Terror and continue to fight to keep us safe."

The county's ceremony is one of several locally and nationally. Manchester Township has its service set for 10 a.m. and Brick Township will hold its commemoration at 6 p.m.

World Trade Center Ceremony

As is traditional, the names of the 2,977 people killed in the 9/11 attacks and six others who died in the 1993 World Trade Center attack will be read at a ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Manhattan.

Four former presidents — Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — are expected to attend the 25th-anniversary ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial in New York City.

President Donald Trump is not expected at Ground Zero. Vice President JD Vance will represent the administration in New York.

The ceremony will be livestreamed. On Friday evening, the annual Tribute in Light will send twin beams into the sky, accompanied this year by a one-hour national broadcast beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC, Disney+, Hulu, National Geographic and ABC News Live.

Pentagon Observance

Trump will attend the 9/11 observance at the Pentagon, where 184 people were killed when American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and flown into the structure

Defense and military leaders traditionally gather for a ceremony centered on the memorial’s 184 illuminated benches, one for each victim. Details about public access to the Pentagon ceremony and a possible livestream had not yet been posted on the Pentagon Memorial’s official webpage on Tuesday.

Pennsylvania Memorial Details

The Flight 93 National Memorial, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, begins with an 8:30 a.m. ceremony that includes the reading of the 40 passengers’ and crew members’ names, the Bells of Remembrance, and wreath-layings timed to the four attacks.

A second ceremony begins at 1 p.m., and both will be livestreamed. A luminaria ceremony is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12.

Stephen M. Clark, the superintendent of the Flight 93 National Memorial, will lead the morning remembrance events. Confirmed speakers at the afternoon ceremony include Gordie Felt, the brother of Flight 93 passenger Edward P. Felt, and Capt. Morrie Wiener (Ret.), the pilot who flew Flight 93 prior to September 2001.

Trump administration officials are expected to attend and lay wreaths on behalf of the federal government, though top executive leaders are split across other national sites.

‘Steel Across America’

A 16,900-pound steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center’s South Tower is being carried across the country by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit created in memory of FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller, who was killed responding to the attacks.

The foundation provides mortgage-free and specially adapted homes to families of fallen or severely injured first responders and military members, assists homeless veterans and supports 9/11 education and remembrance programs. Its 10,500-mile “Steel Across America” tour has taken the beam to more than 35 cities in at least 21 states and will conclude Friday at Ground Zero.