President Obama addresses family members and friends who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.

Mike Mount
CNN Senior Pentagon Producer

The day stood in stark contrast to the sunny, brisk morning eight years ago. Chaos surrounded this patch of land at the Pentagon that day. But now a steady rain bathed it in a calm silence as the memorial service began.

Holding umbrellas, President Obama, Defense Secretary Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen stood at the entrance of the Pentagon memorial. It is marked by a stone embedded in the ground with the September 11th date and time, 9:37a.m., reminding people of the exact moment when hijacked American Airlines flight 77 was flown into the building killing 184 people.

The three stood silently listening to a military band play the National Anthem, each than spoke about the day.

President Obama was observing his first September 11th as the commander in chief.

"Eight Septembers have come and gone. Nearly 3,000 days have passed; almost one for each of those taken from us," the president said, now standing uncovered in the rain. "But no turning of the season can diminish the pain and the loss of that day, no passage of time and no dark skies can ever dull the meaning of this moment."

Keep reading

This plot of land is scheduled to house the permanent Flight 93 memorial.

David Mattingly | BIO
AC360° Correspondent

To me, the most powerful image of 9/11 will always be the large, blackened pit outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

I was vacationing in Altoona, Pa. at my mother-in-law's house when the attacks happened. When the reports first came in of a plane crash in Shanksville, I remember the immediate confusion I felt and the questions that came to mind: Was the crash a coincidence? How could it be part of the attack? Why Shanksville?

Details came in slowly that day but it soon became clear that the passengers of Flight 93 fought back against their hijackers. Their bravery prevented the jet from reaching it's apparent destination to a target in Washington, DC.

Knowing this, it was almost overwhelming to see the crash site for the first time. All I could see were some small pieces of debris scattered around the impact crater. The destruction was so complete there was nothing I could identify as a piece of an aircraft.

Like many frequent flyers, the Flight 93 passengers' actions touched me deeply. The thought of how easily that could have happened to me still resonates. I've never stopped wondering if I have what it takes to rise up in the face of death they way they did. I still think about them every time I board a plane.

David Puente
AC360° Producer

New Yorkers woke up this morning to harsh winds and rain, only adding to the feeling of gloom that comes with every 9/11 anniversary. The pain of that day comes back and hits deeper when you see the pictures of the victims and heroes on TV and hear their names read aloud by family and volunteers at the World Trade Center memorial services.

I was comforted this morning by recalling the feeling of unity that New Yorkers felt in the days after the attacks and how much of the world joined with us. I remembered how some of that international unity came from countries that some Americans might not have expected, like from Fidel Castro in Communist Cuba.

Today in New York, Cuban artists present an exhibit called “Date with the Angels.” It features 41 Cuban artists who express their reactions to the 9/11 disaster at the World Trade Center. They derived inspiration from two photographs taken in the aftermath of the attack. The exhibition was originally presented in Cuba in 2004 where Ricardo Alarcon, President of the National Assembly in Cuba, again expressed the government’s unity with New York.

Keep reading

New York came to a halt Friday as people held a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m.

CNN/Opinon Research Corporation

Concern about a terrorist attack in the United States is roughly half of what it was immediately after the September 11 attacks, according to a new national poll.

Thirty-four percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national survey released on the eve of the eighth anniversary of 9/11 say they think an act of terrorism in the U.S. over the next few weeks is likely, with 64 percent indicating such an attack is not likely. The 34 percent figure is down 20 points from three years ago and is nearly half the 66 percent who in late 2001 felt a terrorist attack was likely.

The poll also indicates that only one in 10 say that a terrorist attack is likely in the community where they live. More than six in 10 say they have confidence in the Obama administration's ability to protect the country from terrorism, although only one in four say they have a great deal of confidence.

Find full results to the poll here...

Friday marks the eighth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks that killed 2.752 people.

Gene Bloch
Managing Editor
CNN New York

On this eighth anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks, as we remember the 2,976 people who died, we have the story of a trading firm that donates 100 percent of its profits on this day to charity. For the last five years, BGC, a firm spun off from Cantor Fitzgerald which lost 658 employees at the World Trade Center, has made the 9/11 anniversary a day of service. Susan Lisovicz is reporting on Newsroom and from the NYSE later today.

We’re looking ahead to another anniversary, marked next week – the collapse of Lehman Brothers. CNNMoney’s sister publication, Fortune Magazine, got special access to some of the people in the highest offices on Wall Street at the time of the collapse. We’ll share some of what they remember, what they say has changed, and what they’ve learned.

On the economic front, Monday will be a big day – as we mark the one year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers (note, the actual anniversary is Sept 15), President Obama will deliver what the White House is billing as a major speech on the financial crisis at Federal Hall in New York. He’s expected to discuss the steps that the Administration has taken to boost the economy, and steps that need to be taken to prevent such a crisis from reoccurring.

Keep reading

Reporter's Note: More than a dozen Cabinet Secretaries and the like will help commemorate this anniversary of 9/11. President Obama has called for prayer and remembrance.

Tom Foreman | Bio
AC360° Correspondent

Dear Mr. President,

I suppose one of the sadder duties of your new office is commemorating this day; all those innocent people killed, all that fear and chaos, and the sense that the security we lost that morning will likely never fully return, at least not in our lifetimes. I know that you and your Cabinet will be doing things to mark the moment, but I thought you might be interested to know what I do every year at this time: I count up some good things that have happened since 2001.

In the past eight years, commercial passenger jets have taken off and landed safely in this country more than 87-million times.

2-billion times, people went hiking, camping or fishing in our nation’s parks and wild places.

About 4-million patent applications were filed.

More than 1-million new books were published.

Close to 2-billion cartons of apples were grown.

Almost 18-million weddings took place.

More than 32-million babies were born, who will grow up saying 9/11 happened before they were even alive.

Keep reading

Last year, New Yorkers paused for a moment of silence to remember terror victims.

Jay S. Winuk
Special to CNN

The eighth anniversary of the attacks of September 11 raises a compelling question for millions of Americans: How should we best observe this uniquely tragic day in our nation's history?

Surely, it should not be a holiday. This is no time for days off from work and three-day weekends to enjoy barbeques and white sales.

No, September 11 is a day for reflection, and its historical and emotional significance should not lessen with time or be diminished in any way. It is a day to focus on the substantial lessons learned.

I'm a 9/11 family member. My brave brother, Glenn J. Winuk, was a partner at a large law firm, Holland & Knight, located two blocks from the World Trade Center.

Keep Reading...

U.S. Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan after a ceremony marking the 7th anniverisary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Peter Bergen & Katherine Tiedemann Peter Bergen is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, and Katherine Tiedemann is a program associate there. Peter Bergen is also an AC360° Contributor and CNN National Security Analyst

Editor's Note:

This week, as we remember the nearly 3,000 American citizens who died in the rubble of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or in a remote field in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, we also should think about the civilians who are still dying in Afghanistan.

Consider, for instance, the recent American airstrikes on Azizabad, a village in western Afghanistan, on Aug. 22. The United Nations, Afghan government officials and independent witnesses all say that the United States killed about 90 civilians in these strikes, most of them women and children. Cellphone videos of the scene show motionless children lying under checkered shawls and veiled women shrieking alongside them.

According to a report by Carlotta Gall of the New York Times, dozens of freshly dug graves are scattered in the village's cemeteries, some so small they could fit only children. The U.S. initially said that many fewer civilians had died, but it has now promised a thorough investigation.

It's a grisly story but hardly an isolated one. The month before the Azizabad incident, Afghan officials say that American airstrikes near Kabul killed 27 civilians at a wedding party - including the bride. In another incident, on March 4, 2007, nine civilians died when their mud home north of Kabul was hit by two 2,000-pound bombs dropped by U.S. aircraft. American officials said they were aiming for two insurgents seen entering the house after firing a rocket at a U.S. military outpost, according to Human Rights Watch.

Keep reading

Editor's Note:
We are devoting many posts today to the anniversary of 9/11, with first-hand accounts, insight, and commentary dedicated to that day seven years ago that changed our world.
_____________________________________________________

New Yorkers gather to hold a vigil to remember the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

Gary Tuchman | Bio
AC360° Correspondent

For seven years, I have marveled at the utter cowardice of the 9/11 hijackers. Could there be anything lower than knowing you're going to die, and deciding that you want to take as many innocent human beings who have families, hopes and dreams with you? It also astounds me so many people did and still do consider Osama Bin Laden a hero.

Certainly, it's a terrible disappointment the guy hasn't been brought to justice. But really; if he is still alive, he's too afraid to stick his face out in public. It's all part of the cowardly terrorist tradition.

Now, let's talk about the courageous. . I started meeting them seven years ago, when I watched rescuers search for survivors at the World Trade Center site as fires raged and tons of metal from the ruined complex hung precariously.

Keep reading

Editor's Note:
We are devoting many posts today to the anniversary of 9/11, with first-hand accounts, insight, and commentary dedicated to that day seven years ago that changed our world.
_____________________________________________________

Memorial today at the World Trade Center towers site.

Jonathan Wald
CNN Producer

I was about to go to bed after pulling an all-nighter. I had just put the finishing touches to my project – the final requirement of a postgraduate journalism degree – when my brother called me from London and told me to turn on the television. I sat in front of the television with my grandmother, both of us transfixed by the unfolding events.

I struggled to comprehend what I had just seen. Any tiredness was replaced by agitation. Struck by an overpowering sense of helplessness I left the apartment block. I tried to give blood but hospitals turned me away, as they were afraid I might be incubating mad cows disease, having lived in the United Kingdom during the late 80's. I tried to act as a volunteer but volunteer groups turned me away, as they already had enough people to fulfill their needs.

Keep reading