America marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 today with solemn ceremonies given added poignancy by the recent chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and return to power of the Taliban.
At the 9/11 memorial in New York, relatives wiped away tears, their voices breaking as they read out the names of the almost 3,000 people killed in the Al-Qaeda attacks.
"We love you and we miss you," many of them said as somber violin music played at the official ceremony, attended by dignitaries including President Joe Biden and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Other former presidents also made public remarks today and, while former president George W Bush spoke of the need for unity, Donald Trump criticised Mr Biden's "horrible" withdrawal from Afghanistan and accused his successor of incompetence.
At the Ground Zero site where 2,753 people died - some of whom jumped to their deaths from the collapsing towers - the service started shortly after 8.30 am (1.30pm Irish time) under tight security, with Lower Manhattan effectively locked down.
The first of six moments of silence were marked at 8.46 am, with a bell ringing to symbolise the time the first hijacked plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
At 9.03 am, attendees stood still again to mark the moment the South Tower was struck. At 9.37 am, it was the Pentagon, where the hijacked airliner killed 184 people in the plane and on the ground.
At 9.59, the moment the South Tower fell. At 10.03 am, they remembered the fourth plane to crash in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought the hijackers. At 10:28 am, the North Tower falling.
Mourners clutched photos of their loved ones, their pain still raw despite a whole generation having grown up since the morning of 11 September.
"As we carry these 20 years forward, I find continuing appreciation for all of those who rose to be more than ordinary people," said Mike Low, whose daughter was a flight attendant on the first plane.
Bruce Springsteen sang his song "I'll See You in My Dreams," and after nightfall twin light beams will be projected into the New York sky.
Smaller ceremonies took place across the country, including outside fire stations throughout New York in remembrance of the 343 firefighters who lost their lives to save others, while a brief moment of contemplation took place in Times Square.
Heart-wrenching commemorations also took place at the Pentagon and Shanksville.
'Unity'
In the last 20 years, Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden has been hunted down and killed and towering new sky scraper has risen over Manhattan, replacing the Twin Towers, dubbed the "Freedom Tower."
But 9/11 is never far away.
In Guantanamo Bay, accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men continue to await trial, nine years after charges were filed.
And even the full story of how the attack came to happen remains secret. Only last week did Mr Biden order the release of classified documents from the FBI investigation over the next six months.
The memorials come with US troops finally gone from Afghanistan, but national discord over the exit has overshadowed what was supposed to be a pivotal day in Mr Biden's nearly eight-month-old presidency.
Less than two weeks ago, the last US soldiers flew from Kabul airport, ending the so-called "forever war."
20 years after September 11, 2001, we commemorate the 2,977 lives we lost and honor those who risked and gave their lives. As we saw in the days that followed, unity is our greatest strength. It's what makes us who we are — and we can’t forget that. pic.twitter.com/WysK8m3LAb
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 10, 2021
But the Taliban who once sheltered bin Laden are back ruling Afghanistan, the mighty US military humiliated.
In a video posted on the eve of the anniversary, Biden urged Americans to show unity, "our greatest strength."
"To me, that's the central lesson of September 11th. It's that at our most vulnerable, in the push and pull of all that makes us human, in the battle for the soul of America, unity is our greatest strength," Mr Biden said in a six-minute message from the White House.
Former US President George W Bush said at a service today marking the anniversary that disunity today made him "worried" about the future of the United States.
"In the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks, I was proud to lead an amazing, resilient, united people," Bush said in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the fourth hijacked plane came down.
"When it comes to the unity of America, those days seem distant from our own," he continued.
"So much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear, and resentment. That leaves us worried about our nation and our future together."
Forty people, plus four hijackers, were killed when United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 traveling from Newark to San Francisco, crashed in Shanksville.
Passengers fought with the hijackers, stopping them from flying the plane into their intended target, believed to be the Congress building in Washington DC.
US Vice President Kamala Harris also alluded to the polarisation of America in her speech at Shanksville, in which she extolled how "in a matter of minutes, in the most dire of circumstances" the passengers of Flight 93 came together "and responded as one" to try to retake the plane.
"After today, it is my hope and prayer... that we honor their unity by strengthening our common bonds," she said.
Read more:
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Twenty years on, pandemic gives 9/11 conspiracists fresh impetus
'Freedom Tower' - the skyscraper symbolising New York's resilience
The New York landfill site home to 9/11 debris, human remains
'I still recall the silence on the streets in the hours and days after'
But former president Donald Trump shattered that unity, releasing a video message slamming the "inept administration" of Mr Biden for its "incompetence" over the Afghan withdrawal.
"It's a horrible thing that took place, a horrible, horrible thing," Mr Trump later said in televised comments during a visit to the New York Police Department's 17th precinct.
"It looked like we retreated, it looked like we gave up. Like, they use the word surrender," he told officers at the precinct, referring to the final withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan last month following the Taliban takeover of the country.
"And we didn't surrender, our people didn't surrender and our soldiers sure as hell didn't surrender," he said.
World leaders struck a more cordial tone, sending messages of solidarity to the United States, and saying that the attackers had failed to destroy Western values.
Marking the anniversary here, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ireland and the US are bound by family and friendship.
"We honour the Irish citizens, and all those lost, 20 years ago," he said on social media.
Today, we remember the almost 3000 lives lost on #September11
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) September 11, 2021
Ireland and America are nations bound by family and friendship. On that day there was no ocean between us.
We shared the loss, and sense of shock.
We honour the Irish citizens, and all those lost, 20 years ago.
