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A quarter of a century after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Christopher Landau recalled on his X account where he was when the first news about the attacks began to arrive and how uncertainty took hold of Washington.
The commemoration of this 2026 marks 25 years since 9/11, when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers and the Pentagon, while a fourth plane went down in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks.
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Christopher Landau tells how he experienced the 9/11 attacks
Landau recalled that that morning the Washington sky was completely blue. He had a business meeting in the suburbs and had just dropped off his wife at a Metro station when they both heard the first report on the radio about a plane that had struck the World Trade Center.
Initially, according to his account, they thought it was a strange accident involving a small aircraft.
The perception changed radically when the second plane was reported. Landau said he arrived at his meeting in time to watch the collapse of the Twin Towers on television.
In Washington, however, uncertainty still reigned. Landau recalled that no one knew how many more planes could be involved and rumors began to circulate about other possible targets.
The situation also had a deeply personal dimension: his father was at a meeting at the State Department, his wife had gone to work, and his baby was near home. With the problems telephone communications were presenting, Landau stated that he did not know if his family and friends were safe.
Christopher Landau remembers seeing the Pentagon in flames
One of the most personal passages of his message corresponds to his return home.
Landau described as “surreal” driving on side roads while the main thoroughfares remained closed. Everything seemed normal around him, he recalled, but that same normality contrasted with the tragedy that was taking place.
Once reunited with his wife, he stated that from their home's balcony they could see the Pentagon in flames and smoke rising, while they both bathed their young son.
The attack on the Pentagon left 184 victims, remembered this Friday during a 25th-anniversary ceremony led by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
“We mourn the loss of the country we were before”
For Landau, 9/11 destroyed more than buildings and lives: it also ended a sense of security that, from his perspective, existed among Americans.
The official reflected that from that moment, scenarios that previously seemed unimaginable began to be perceived as possible, and the United States entered a new era marked by constant concern for security.
His message concluded by remembering both the victims and those who acted as heroes during the attacks, but he added a reflection on the consequences that remain 25 years later: “we also mourn the loss of the country we were before”.
The reflection coincides with a day of tributes in New York, Washington, and Shanksville. At Ground Zero, moments of silence were held to remember the plane impacts and the collapse of the Twin Towers; this year, special recognition was also given to the thousands of people who subsequently died from 9/11-related illnesses.
[Publicidad]