By Motorcycle Rider News | September 11, 2026
Twenty-five years.
For those of us who lived through September 11, 2001, it is almost impossible to believe that a quarter of a century has passed.
And yet, many of us can still remember exactly where we were when we heard the news.
We remember watching the television in disbelief. We remember calling our families. We remember parents rushing to get their children. We remember wondering what was happening to our country—and what might happen next.
We remember the fear. But we also remember what happened afterward.
America came together.
On this 25th anniversary of September 11, perhaps that is something our country needs to remember almost as much as the tragedy itself.
2,977 Lives — And Millions Forever Changed
On the morning of September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes. Two struck the World Trade Center towers in New York City. A third struck the Pentagon. The passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93 fought back against their hijackers before the aircraft crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
By the end of that terrible day, 2,977 innocent people had been killed.
They were mothers and fathers. Husbands and wives. Sons and daughters. Friends, coworkers, and neighbors.
They were firefighters, police officers, and first responders who ran toward danger while everyone else was trying to escape it.
Among those killed were 343 FDNY firefighters, 37 Port Authority Police Department officers, and 23 NYPD officers.
Behind every statistic is a name. Behind every name is a family. 25 years later, those families still carry September 11 with them.
A Generation That Doesn’t Remember
Another reason the 25th anniversary matters so much is this: We now have an entire generation of Americans who were either not alive on September 11, 2001, or were too young to remember it.
We cannot allow 9/11 to become just another chapter in a history book.
As parents and grandparents, we have a responsibility to help younger generations understand what happened. Don’t leave it solely to the educational system. Sit down with them and watch one of the many powerful documentaries available on YouTube, the History Channel, Discovery, and other platforms. Explain where you were, what you remember, and why that day changed America.
Teach them that the World Trade Center had been targeted before. In 1993, terrorists detonated a truck bomb beneath the North Tower, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000. Eight years later, terrorists returned and brought the towers down.
Remember How America Came Together?
Remember when our country was unified
Something happened after September 11 that can sometimes feel almost unimaginable today.
For a while, we stopped asking whether someone was Republican or Democrat.
We didn’t care what neighborhood someone came from, what church they attended, what they did for a living or how much money they had.
We were Americans.
Flags appeared everywhere.
They flew from homes, businesses, overpasses, pickup trucks—and motorcycles.
People donated blood.
Restaurants fed first responders.
Construction workers, firefighters, police officers, medical personnel and volunteers traveled to New York from across the country because they wanted to help.
Strangers hugged one another.
Neighbors checked on neighbors.
There was tremendous grief, anger and uncertainty.
But there was also unity.
Twenty-five years later, perhaps one of the greatest ways we can honor those we lost is to remember that part of September 11 too.
The Heroes Who Kept Paying the Price
The death toll of September 11 did not end at 2,977.
In the days, weeks and months after the attacks, thousands of firefighters, police officers, construction workers, volunteers and recovery personnel worked at Ground Zero—searching through debris, recovering remains and clearing nearly two million tons of wreckage while breathing toxic dust, smoke and chemicals.
More than 400,000 people were exposed to the toxic environment surrounding Ground Zero and the recovery effort. Today, more than 80,000 people are suffering from 9/11-related illnesses, including respiratory diseases and numerous forms of cancer. Thousands have since died from illnesses associated with 9/11 and its aftermath.
The continuing loss has become so significant that for the 25th anniversary in 2026, a seventh moment of silence was added to the official 9/11 commemoration to honor those who have died from 9/11-related health effects.
Twenty-five years later, we are still losing people because of what happened that day.
Their names may not be among the original 2,977, but their sacrifice is forever part of the story of September 11.
For thousands of American families, September 11 never really ended.
America’s Motorcycle Community Remembers
Motorcyclists understand remembrance. We ride for people we have lost. We organize memorial rides. We put names on patches, vests, and motorcycles. We escort fallen heroes.
We raise money when families are hurting. And when one of our own goes down, riders who may have never met that person often show up anyway.
That’s what community does.
Maybe that’s one reason September 11 has always resonated so deeply within the motorcycle community. Every September, motorcycles across America roll out carrying American flags in remembrance of those who never came home. Sometimes hundreds of bikes participate. Sometimes it’s one rider on an empty highway.
Go to the end of this article for a list of memorial rides going on throughout the country.
Today, Ride for Them
On this 25th anniversary, Motorcycle Rider News asks our readers to do something simple.
Remember.
If you ride today, make the miles mean something. Fly an American flag. Wear red, white and blue. Stop at a firehouse and thank a firefighter. Thank a police officer, EMT, paramedic or veteran.
Talk to your children or grandchildren about September 11. Tell them where you were. Tell them what you remember.
Tell them about the people who ran into burning buildings to save strangers.
But also tell them about September 12th. Tell them about the flags. Tell them about the volunteers. Tell them about neighbors helping neighbors. Tell them about an America that, during one of its darkest moments, remembered how to stand together.
Twenty-Five Years Later — We Still Remember
A quarter century has passed.
The New York skyline has changed.
Children who weren’t even born on September 11, 2001, are adults now.
Life moved forward—as it always does.
But moving forward should never mean forgetting what came before us.
Today, 2,977 lives deserve our remembrance.
- The first responders deserve our gratitude.
- The survivors deserve our respect.
- The families deserve to know that America has not forgotten their loved ones.
- And the generations that come after us deserve to know the story.
- So today, wherever the road takes you, take a moment.
- Remember where you were.
- Remember who we lost.
- Remember the heroes.
- Remember how this country came together.
- Then fire up that motorcycle, raise the flag, and ride with purpose.
Because freedom should never be taken for granted. Because remembrance should never have an expiration date. And because as long as we ride, we remember.
NEVER FORGET.
ALWAYS RIDE FREE.
— Motorcycle Rider News
