New Delhi: Twenty-five years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the day still remains a vivid memory for most Americans who experienced it.
A new Pew Research Center survey found that 83 per cent of US adults born before 2001 remember exactly where they were or what they were doing when they first heard about the attacks that killed 2,977 people. Among those who were at least 10 years old on 11 September 2001, the Pew survey figure rises to 93 per cent.
At the same time, 9/11 is gradually becoming a historical event rather than a lived memory for a growing number of Americans. The Pew survey noted that the American demographic today comprises a group where one in 10 adults was born after the September 11 attacks. These people know about the terrorist attack only through what they have learned from others.
For Americans aged 18 to 24, school becomes the main source of their memory of the attack, with 60 per cent saying they first learned about 9/11 in class or through schoolwork. Another 16 per cent first heard about the attacks from family or friends, while 8 per cent learned about it through something they read or watched on their own. Another 14 per cent are not sure how they first learned about the attacks.
“The attacks had profound effects on the country. Polls conducted in their wake found widespread fear, anger and sadness, along with overwhelming public support for military action against those responsible,” the survey noted.
The Pew primarily conducted the survey online between 24 and 30 August 2026, with some interviews conducted over phone. Pew said a total of 5,166 US adults responded out of 5,602 who were sampled.
The morning of 11 September 2001, remembered as 9/11, saw four commercial airplanes being hijacked one after another. While two planes (American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175) crashed into the North Tower and South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, another airplane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the western side of the Pentagon near Washington DC. A fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, which was reportedly meant to hit either the US Capitol or the White House, crashed in a field near Pennsylvania after a fight-back from the passengers.
The US government, led by President Geroge Bush launched what came to be known as the ‘war on terror’.