25 years on, America seeks to keep 911 memories alive

Firefighters and engineers examine the damaged side of the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 12, 2001. [AFP]

A quarter century after the era-defining attacks of September 11, the United States is eager to keep alive the memory of a 2001 trauma that is fading as the proportion of Americans who did not experience it firsthand grows.

President Donald Trump will pay his respects at the Pentagon rather than in New York, where the attacks by hijacked passenger planes on the World Trade Center towers claimed the largest number of the 2,977 total victims recorded on that day.

But Vice President JD Vance and Trump's four living predecessors -- Democrats Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as Republican George Bush, who was president at the time of the attacks -- are all expected at the "Ground Zero" site in lower Manhattan next Friday.

The anniversary commemorates a watershed moment for the US and the world.

"Many in my generation remember exactly where we were on that horrific day" in 2001, said Beth Hillman, 59, president of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and a US Air Force veteran.

Yet today, "100 million Americans were not even born or are too young to remember" the tragic events.

After placing major emphasis on the duty to remember, her institution is now focusing on outreach, education and engaging younger generations. Trained volunteers, including first responders, connect with audiences who have learned of the disaster solely through their parents or school.

"Even if you were alive but not here or have a connection, it's a lot easier to understand the magnitude of what took place," Logan Miller, a 32-year-old who lost an uncle and a grandfather as a result of the attacks, told AFP.

Making sense of 9/11 is "a little tougher for that next generation," he added.

Miller is one of many volunteers sharing their experiences at the museum, which gets 2.4 million unique visitors per year, or through video clips.

Young people are "more inquisitive" and ask more questions than their elders, who Miller said sometimes hesitate to challenge him for fear of causing offense.

"I wasn't born at the time and yet it was important for me to be here, to do this trip," said 22-year-old Ignacio Gaete, a Chilean visiting the museum and memorial featuring two large recessed pools within the footprints of the Twin Towers.

Gaete said that while young people don't have visceral memories of 9/11 like his father does, "I think it can transcend generations."

But that transcendence requires preservation and education, according to Holly Kafka, visiting Manhattan from Chicago with her husband.

"Our younger generation... they're always in this little rat race, keeping up with social media," the 61-year-old said. "We have to stop them and say, 'Come here and experience it.'"

As they do every year at Ground Zero starting at 8:40 am (1240 GMT), the time shortly before hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower, relatives will read the long list of their loved ones' names.

In the evening, two beams of light will project skyward from lower Manhattan, symbolic of the towers.

Nineteen Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four planes on that nearly cloudless day in 2001. Two jets slammed into the World Trade Center, causing the iconic 110-story buildings to collapse.

A third plane struck the Pentagon, while a fourth -- which apparently had targeted the US Capitol or the White House -- crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back.

Beyond those killed on September 11, more than 9,400 other people have died from 9/11-related illnesses, according to the federal program established to provide medical care to those affected.

The trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the attacks and a top lieutenant of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, was recently scheduled for June 2028 at the US Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He has been detained there for 20 years.

Trump, 80, has confirmed he will skip the Ground Zero event and instead speak at the Pentagon on 9/11.

The New York Times reported it was because Trump would not be allowed to deliver remarks at the site, which has strictly banned speeches so commemorations there could remain nonpartisan. The president dismissed the reporting as "made up."