Politics & Government

PHOTOS: 20 Years After 9/11, U.S. Honors, Mourns Those Lost

Memorial services were held beneath the shadow of a pandemic and just days after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

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Melinda Moran and Haydee Lillo embrace after finding out they lost people who knew each other, next to the North Reflecting Pool during a ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
Melinda Moran and Haydee Lillo embrace after finding out they lost people who knew each other, next to the North Reflecting Pool during a ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. (Photo by Mike Segar-Pool/Getty Images)

ACROSS AMERICA — Americans from all walks of life paused Saturday morning to remember the 20th anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

On Sept. 11, 2001, planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.

Memorial services were held in all three places beneath the shadow of a pandemic and just days after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which is now ruled by the same militants who gave safe haven to terrorists behind 9/11.

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“It’s hard because you hoped that this would just be a different time and a different world. But sometimes history starts to repeat itself and not in the best of ways,” Thea Trinidad, who lost her father in the attacks, told The Associated Press before the ceremony in New York.

The following are several photos capturing moments from the memorial services in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

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The American flag is draped over the site of impact at the Pentagon. In the foreground, the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, opened in 2008 adjacent to the site, commemorates the lives lost at the Pentagon and onboard American Airlines Flight 77. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

People attend the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on September 11 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
A person reacts as they attend a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A jogger holds an American flag as he runs past the Washington Monument on September 11 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

A bell is rung during a moment of silence during the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
A couple gathers with others outside the National September 11 Memorial and Museum as they view on their smartphone a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A National Park Service ranger stands in front of the Wall of Names at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

A rose lays on a bench at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial on September 11 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Former President Bill Clinton, former First Lady Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, President Joe Bien, First Lady Jill Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg's partner Diana Taylor, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) stand for the national anthem during the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP)
People react as they attend a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
People attend the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on September 11 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
A flight attendant reads a card with flowers at the Wall of Names at the Flight 93 National Monument during the Luminaria Ceremony on September 10. Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
People gather in lower Manhattan near Ground Zero as the city commemorates the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A member of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) stands by the north reflecting pool during a ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. (Photo by Mike Segar-Pool/Getty Images)

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