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US commemorates 9/11 victims and heroes 23 years after tragic day

Family members, survivors and military members are reading the names of victims.
Flags and flowers are placed by the names of those killed during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the reflecting pools at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
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The U.S. is remembering the victims and heroes of 9/11, 23 years after terror attacks on the nation left nearly 3,000 dead on Sept. 11, 2001.

Ceremonies were taking place at the tragic sites of the attacks, including in New York City, the Pentagon, and at the site of a plane crash in Pennsylvania.

Family members read names of lost loved ones at a commemoration ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, the site of the World Trade Center towers.

Fresh off a presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump put politics aside and shook hands at the ceremony. Also among them were President Joe Biden, vice presidential candidate JD Vance and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

From left, Sen. Chuck Schumer, R-NY, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, await the start of the 9/11 Memorial ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York.
From left, Sen. Chuck Schumer, R-NY, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, await the start of the 9/11 Memorial ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York.

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President Biden, Harris and Trump also participated in wreath-laying ceremonies in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to honor the 40 plane passengers and crew members who died when Flight 93 crashed.

President Joe Biden, second from right, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, third from left, place a wreath at the Flight 93 National Memorial Wall of Names.
President Joe Biden, second from right, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, third from left, place a wreath at the Flight 93 National Memorial Wall of Names accompanied by family members of Flight 93 passengers Patrick White, cousin of Louis Nache, second from left, and Calvin Wilson, cousin of first officer Leroy Homer, right, in Shanksville, Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump visits the Flight 93 National Memorial alongside Eric Trump.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump visits the Flight 93 National Memorial alongside Eric Trump on the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in Shanksville, Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024.

The passengers are widely regarded as heroes for fighting off the terrorists, preventing them from flying the plane into the U.S. Capitol.

During the ceremonies, six moments of silence were observed, acknowledging when each of the Twin Towers was struck and fell, the time of the attack on the Pentagon, and the crash of Flight 93.

The tragic events of 9/11 were the worst terror attacks in history on American soil.

Out of the 2,753 people who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 attacks, approximately 40%, or 1,103 victims, still remain unidentified.

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