Share your own message of gratitude and appreciation for those on the frontlines, both in the aftermath of 9/11 and now, by participating in our “Dear Hero” campaign. In the days after 9/11, children from around the world wrote letters and created heartfelt drawings and other tokens of gratitude to recognize the efforts and sacrifice of first responders. Download the template, write a “Dear Hero” message, and share it on your social media to help honor our heroes today. 

Unprecedented rescue, relief, and recovery efforts began immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, at the Pentagon, and the Flight 93 crash site in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. At all three attack sites, days, weeks, and months were spent extinguishing fires, clearing debris, and searching for survivors. It took nine months to remove about 1.8 million tons of material from the World Trade Center site.

In the aftermath of 9/11, donations of money and supplies poured in, and thousands of people volunteered to help. Public and private partnerships supported lower Manhattan’s recovery, growth, and revitalization, balancing the need to remember and honor victims with the goal of rebuilding a strong and vibrant community.

During the nine-month recovery and cleanup operation at the World Trade Center, many thousands of individuals transformed what some called “the pile”—a scene of mass destruction dominated by a vast mountain of tangled steel—into an excavated pit reaching 70 feet belowground.

In recent years, individuals with 9/11-related illnesses, health care advocates, and lawmakers on Capitol Hill united in that same spirit to ensure the passage of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The law, first introduced in 2006, was named for a New York City homicide detective who died that year and had worked at Ground Zero. Finally enacted in 2011, then reauthorized in 2015, the Zadroga Act provides financial compensation to people with 9/11-related illnesses. It also established the World Trade Center Health Program, which monitors or treats more than 95,000 people living in all 50 states. In 2019, following an intense lobbying effort by 9/11 health advocates and their supporters, the Never Forget the Heroes Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, extending the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund through 2092.

This component of the 9/11 Memorial was formally dedicated on May 30, 2019. Known as the 9/11 Memorial Glade, this pathway, flanked by large stone monoliths, honors in perpetuity the ongoing sacrifice of rescue, recovery, and relief workers, survivors, and members of the broader lower Manhattan community who are suffering and dying from illnesses and injuries caused by exposure to hazards and toxins in the aftermath of the attacks. The Glade also recognizes the tremendous capacity of the human spirit exemplified during rescue and recovery efforts at all three attack sites in the selflessness, resolve, perseverance, and courage of those who came to help and to heal.

Stay informed with links to resources, services, and scientific research about the ongoing health impacts related to the 2001 attacks.

Registries is a digital archive of stories from witnesses, survivors, rescue and recovery workers, and other communities impacted by the 9/11 attacks, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and the ongoing repercussions of both events. The Rescue & Recovery Workers Registry documents the rescue, recovery, and relief efforts after 9/11 in New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Somerset County, Pennsylvania.