25 years ago, with a clear blue sky as the backdrop, the United States witnessed a day that would never be forgotten.
On Sept. 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked. Two of the planes were deliberately flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the third plane was flown into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.. The final plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after a counter attack from the passengers and crew members diverted the plane from its intended target in Washington.
Nearly 3,000 lives were lost that day. For many, the world was never the same.
On Sept. 11, 2026, on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Eastern Michigan University hosted a Day of Remembrance at Pease Park that community members and elected officials attended.
U.S. Debbie Dingell, D-District 6, spoke during the service saying, “9/11 is a day that I will never forget.”
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell speaks to attendees at Eastern Michigan University's Day of Remembrance honoring the 25th anniversary of 9/11 at Pease Park on Sept. 11, 2026.
Dingell mentioned the fear that she felt in friends and loved ones, but said she also observed how Americans came together across lines of race, faith and backgrounds.
“We had been attacked but we pulled together. ... We comforted strangers. We checked on our neighbors," Dingell said.
EMU houses a portion of a steel beam from the South Tower of the World Trade Center, displayed on a memorial on campus honoring 9/11 victims and first responders.
EMU President Brendan Kelly spoke at the Day of Remembrance, explaining the memorial’s significance.
On Sep. 11, 2026, Eastern Michigan University President Brendan Kelly speaks during the 9/11 Day of Remembrance at Pease Park.
“It is more than a piece of steel. It is a physical reminder of what happened that morning and how it changed America,” Kelly said.
Kelly encouraged the community to remember the lives that were lost on 9/11, including the passengers and crew on airplanes, the workers in the North and South Towers, and the first responders who rushed to the scene to offer aid.
Ypsilanti Mayor Nicole Brown told The Echo she was in 8th grade on Sept. 11, 2001. A Native New Yorker, Brown said she had family in the city during the attacks, including her father and her aunt. She learned later that her father was stuck in Brooklyn and her aunt was stuck in Manhattan, where they worked.
As part of the Day of Remembrance for the 25th anniversary of 9/11 in Pease Park on Sept. 11, 2026, the Eastern Michigan University Police Department and active and retired law enforcement members in Washtenaw County leave flowers of remembrance to honor the lives lost during the 9/11 attack and aftermath.
“My aunt had walked holes into her shoes because the subways were shut down,” Brown said. “She had to walk from Manhattan to Queens.”
Brown described 9/11 as one of the worst moments in her own life, as well as collectively across the nation.
“At that point as a child, [we] didn’t know the massive destruction that had occurred and all the lives that had been lost — we just knew fear,” she said.
EMU Chief of Police Matthew Lige said he learned of the attacks as he was watching “Toy Story” on television with his young son. He said the news was sombering, bringing forth the realization that the world and the country had then changed.
Eastern Michigan University Chief of Police, Matthew Lige, kneels in front of the campus 9/11 memorial at the Day of Remembrance on Sep. 11, 2026.
“It was unnerving; it was uncertain. The nation was in shock,” Lige said. “Law enforcement — we had a high level of motivation to protect and serve in ways that I had never experienced before.”
Read more community recollections of 9/11 on The Eastern Echo website.
