The images of that warm, sunlit morning remain sharp. I was in the backyard walking towards the vegetable garden. A neighbor called out to me. “Did you hear the news?” There was panic in his voice.

“No,” I replied. “What happened?”

“We’re at war. Terrorists slammed jets into the Twin Towers in New York City.”

Returning to the house, I turned on the television. The news anchors’ voices were strained. Their words were tinged with disbelief, shock, and fear.

 8:46 AM – American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles crashes into the World Trade Center’s North Tower.

 9:03 AM – United Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles collides into the World Trade Center’s South Tower. 

9:37 AM – Flight 77 from Dulles, outside of Washington, DC, to Los Angeles rams into the Pentagon.

10:02 AM – Flight 93 from Newark, New Jersey to San Francisco, California plows into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

There were 2,977 victims on September 11, 2001.

In 76 minutes, the world changed. There were more minutes to come.

Between September 11, 2001, and September 11, 2026, 13,148,640 minutes passed. And within those minutes, more victims.

The World Trade Center Health Program says more than 9,000 people have died from illnesses related to the attack. The FDNY (Fire Department New York) World Trade Center Health Program reports that:

 “600 FDNY members have died from illnesses related to their work at the World Trade Center site over the past 25 years 6,000 FDNY members have enrolled. More than 12,000 have been certified as having at least one condition linked to their work at the World Trade Center, according to the program.  

Nearly 5,000 FDNY members in the program have had some form of cancer, and about 26% of those members have been certified as having more than one type of cancer.” https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2026/09/02/new-fdny-report-details-25-years-of-9-11-health-impacts

There are approximately 10,464,480 minutes between October 7, 2001 (when the United States began conducting air strikes against Iraq) and August 30, 2021 (when the last U.S, military aircraft raised its wheels from an Afghanistan runway in Kabul).

The Department of Defense reports that during those minutes following the first 76 minutes, there were 7,053 killed and more than 52,000 wounded U.S. military personnel. An article in EL PAÍS US Edition bulletin reports that the NATO coalition, and other nations, totaling 44 countries, sent military personnel to engage in the war on terrorism, 1,144 of whom died in Afghanistan. https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-28/one-in-three-soldiers-who-died-in-the-afghanistan-war-were-non-us-military.html

The Washington School of International and Public Affairs reports: “An estimated over 940,000 people were killed by direct post-9/11 war violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan between 2001-2023. An estimated 3.6-3.8 million people died indirectly in post-9/11 war zones, bringing the total death toll to at least 4.5-4.7 million and counting.” https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/costs/human

These are the statistics of those whose eyes we do not gaze into, whose smiles we no longer see, whose words and laughter we do not hear, whose hands and embraces we do not feel, whose kisses we do not taste.

76 minutes.

A knock on the door. A flag-draped coffin. Bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace.” The Honor Guard. The three volley salutes. A folded flag placed in trembling hands. Taps.

The funerals for those who were neither first responders nor military personnel follow a different course. But there is the same hollowed-out feeling, that emptiness of grief carves into the heart.

For a period of the 13,148,640 minutes that followed the 76 minutes, the United States was united within itself and stood with its allies in the international community. A shared purpose that transcended the war on terror. Mistakes—poor judgments, miscalculations, and overreach— were made as they always are in the fog of war. The “United” lost its meaning in the States.

76 minutes

Today, those who died in those 76 minutes stand before us. Their voices rise in a question: What will your mission be from loss?

How will we honor those who died in the 76 minutes and the following 13,148,640 minutes? Will it only be with monuments and words? Or will it be with deeds of the heart?  

Image: National Archives: The Unwritten Record

Original Caption: Firemen and rescue workers conduct search and rescue attempts, descending deep into the rubble and debris of the World Trade Centers in New York City in the area known as Ground Zero, after the 9/11 terrorists attacks, Local Identifier: 330-CFD-DN-SD-04-12749.jpeg, NAID: 6640971.

 Note: The DOD figures are from the Casualty Status as of 10 a.m. EST January 30, 2025 issued by the Department.

 76 Minutes: The Aftermath and Trying to Find Some Good ©2026 Charles van Heck