North Carolina communities will mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Friday with memorial services, stair climbs, and tributes to the nearly 3,000 people killed.
From Asheville to Jacksonville and Wilmington, many of the ceremonies will recognize the first responders who rushed into danger on Sept. 11, 2001, as well as members of the military who served during the ensuing War on Terror. President Donald Trump is scheduled to join a remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon.
On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger planes, flying two into the World Trade Center towers and one into the Pentagon. Passengers fought back aboard United Airlines Flight 93 before it crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attacks killed 2,977 people, excluding the hijackers, including 343 New York City firefighters, 23 New York City police officers, and 37 Port Authority police officers.
Trump is expected to attend the anniversary ceremony at the Pentagon while Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend the New York City ceremony. Friday’s ceremonies follow Trump’s Sept. 8 observance on the Ellipse, where he appeared with first responders, Gold Star families and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The ceremony featured a 21-foot steel beam recovered from the South Tower as part of the foundation’s Steel Across America tour, serving as a reminder of the courage exhibited that day.
At Tuesday’s event, Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, the 24-year-old victim remembered as the “Man in the Red Bandana.” Trump also announced that the Coast Guard will name a Fast Response Cutter for Jeffrey Palazzo, an FDNY firefighter and Coast Guard reservist killed at the World Trade Center.
“On 9/11, nearly 3,000 precious souls were stolen from us — killed by evil terrorists at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on Flight 93,” Trump said Tuesday. “All of these years later, we gather on another Tuesday morning in September to reaffirm the sacred vow we made a quarter of a century ago: We will never forget.”
Earlier this week, Trump formally proclaimed Sept. 11, 2026, as Patriot Day and directed federal departments and agencies to lower US flags to half-staff in honor of the 2,977 victims. Congress designated Sept. 11 as Patriot Day in December 2001. Trump also invited governors, organizations and individuals to participate in the observance.
On Thursday, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein ordered flags to be lowered in honor of Patriot Day. He is scheduled to attend the North Carolina National Guard’s memorial ceremony Friday morning at Joint Force Headquarters in Raleigh. He will later join the City of Raleigh and the nonprofit Activate Good for a 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance.
“This year, during America’s 250th year, we cherish what it means to be an American: to love freedom, justice, security, democracy, and peace,” Stein said in a statement Thursday. “Let us honor the memories of our heroes: the brave passengers of Flight 93, the firefighters who rushed toward danger as people ran for their lives, and the neighbors who helped their neighbors through unthinkable tragedy. And let us remember that there is more that unites than divides us. America is strongest when we stand together.”
North Carolina ceremonies on Friday, Sept. 11
Fort Bragg hosted a 9/11 Stair Challenge Thursday at Hedrick Stadium. A Tunnel to Towers climb is scheduled for 8am Saturday at 150 Fayetteville St. in downtown Raleigh, while the Charlotte 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb will be held Saturday at the Bank of America Corporate Center in uptown Charlotte.
Ceremonies will be held across North Carolina Friday in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks.
Western North Carolina
- Asheville: A 25th-anniversary ceremony is scheduled for 8:45am outside the Asheville Municipal Building at 100 Court Plaza. The reported program includes the Asheville Fire Department honor guard, a moment of silence, ceremonial bell ringing, and remarks from local leaders.
Triangle
- Chapel Hill: UNC Army ROTC will host a public memorial stair climb at 6am at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Participants will climb 2,071 stairs in tribute to the 2,977 victims and the first responders who served that day.
- Fuquay-Varina: The town’s remembrance ceremony begins at 8:30am at the Fuquay-Varina Arts Center, 123 E. Vance St.
- Clayton: A public ceremony begins at 9am at Municipal Park, 325 McCullers Drive. The program includes an honor guard, bell tolling and 423 small flags representing 343 firefighters, 72 law-enforcement officers, and eight emergency medical personnel killed in the attacks.
Triad
- Greensboro: Gates at First National Bank Field open at 5pm, followed by a commemorative program at 5:30pm and a memorial stair climb at 6pm. First responders and members of the public will climb in remembrance of the 343 FDNY firefighters killed at the World Trade Center.
Eastern North Carolina
- Castle Hayne: Cape Fear Community College will hold a ceremony at 8:30am at its North Campus Safety Training Center, 4500 Blue Clay Road. The program will include retired New York City police officers, a wreath laying and the firefighter tradition known as the “Striking of the Four Fives.”
- Jacksonville: The city, Onslow County and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune will hold a Patriot Day observance at 8:15am at the 9/11 Memorial Beam in Lejeune Memorial Gardens. The ceremony will feature honor guards, the 2d Marine Division Band and student musicians. Organizers say this year’s program will focus on victims and members of the post-9/11 military generation from North Carolina.
- Havelock: A ceremony is scheduled from 8:40 to 9:30am at the city’s 9/11 Memorial at US 70 and Cunningham Boulevard.
- New Bern: A remembrance program begins at 8:42am at New Bern Firemen’s Museum Memorial Park on Broad Street. It will include a color guard, bagpipes and the Last Alarm bell ceremony. A silent first-responder parade is also scheduled for 7:30pm.
- Morehead City: Carteret Community College will hold a public ceremony at 8:45am behind the McGee Building, 3505 Arendell St.
- Kinston: A remembrance service is scheduled for 9am at Grainger Stadium.
- Goldsboro: Wayne Community College will hold its annual tribute stair climb at 9am at the Magnolia Building, 3000 Wayne Memorial Drive. Public-safety students and first responders will climb the equivalent of 78 flights.
Americans born after the attacks are now adults, making the 25th anniversary not only a commemoration but also an effort to preserve firsthand accounts for people with no living memory of Sept. 11.