NEW YORK (Kyodo) — The United States marked 24 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on Thursday, with the families of thousands of American and foreign victims, including two dozen from Japan, remembering their loved ones.
The anniversary came at a time of rising domestic political violence as the United States remains on guard against foreign terror threats. The 2001 attacks were perpetrated by members of the Muslim militant group al-Qaida.
President Donald Trump attended a ceremony at the Pentagon, outside Washington, to mark the anniversary. One of the four commercial jets hijacked by terrorists in the attacks hit the Pentagon building after two others smashed into skyscrapers in New York.
The fourth plane crashed in a field in eastern Pennsylvania as passengers and crew members fought back against hijackers in an attempt to regain control of the aircraft.
“If you attack the United States of America, we will hunt you down and we will find you…We will crush you without mercy and we will triumph without question,” Trump said in his remarks.
To underscore his point, the president noted that his administration recently changed the name of the Defense Department to the Department of War, adding, “It will be different.”
Taken together, 2,977 people were killed on that day 24 years ago, including 24 Japanese. Most of the Japanese victims were in the World Trade Center complex, where both of the twin towers collapsed with people still inside.
At ground zero in Manhattan, where the towers once stood, data engineer John O’Keefe remembered his uncle William O’Keefe, a 48-year-old firefighter from a Brookyln division who died in the South Tower.
“I think it’s important that nobody ever forgets what happened here,” the 34-year-old said, adding that he makes it a rule to show up every year to pay his respects.
The day before the anniversary, a charismatic right-wing political activist and Trump ally was fatally shot during an event in Utah in an apparent assassination.
The United States is increasingly facing threats of violence from so-called “lone wolf” terrorists who act alone, according to antiterrorism experts, who note that the radicalization of such individuals often takes place domestically and their attacks are hard to thwart.
Families remember victims of 9/11 terror attacks on US after 24 years
