North Texas is marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with morning ceremonies Friday, including an 8:30 a.m. moment of remembrance at the George W. Bush Presidential Center at SMU. The Bush Center said the museum is free all day and is working with campus and Park Cities police and fire departments.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum says 2,977 people were killed when al-Qaida hijackers flew airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and crashed United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. Anyone under 25 has no firsthand memory of that morning. For them, the security lines, locked cockpit doors and “see something, say something” habits are simply how life works.
Before the attacks, commercial flying looked different. USA TODAY and the Associated Press report that airport screening was largely handled by private contractors hired by airlines. Passengers often kept their shoes on. Friends and relatives could walk to the gate without a boarding pass. Carry-on liquids were not limited the way they are now.
In four months, we’ll gather at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum to read aloud the names of those killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. It remains our solemn privilege to ensure our city, the nation, and the world never forget the 2,983 men,… pic.twitter.com/AWky8FU8OY
— 9/11 Memorial & Museum (@Sept11Memorial) May 12, 2026
Congress created the Transportation Security Administration in November 2001 under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, NPR and TSA histories say. Cockpit doors were reinforced. Federal air marshals expanded. Full screening of checked bags became the standard. Other rules people now treat as 9/11 leftovers came later: the shoe-removal requirement and the 3-1-1 liquids limit followed plots in 2001 and 2006, USA TODAY reported. Homeland Security ended the nationwide shoe-removal rule in 2025.
On the ground, everyday travel and sports events added bag checks and ID stops that were rare in 2000. DFW International Airport sits a few miles from Grapevine’s 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial, where a 7:30 a.m. ceremony and march were planned Friday. Fort Worth City Hall scheduled a 7:15 a.m. service. Frisco, Addison, North Richland Hills and Plano firefighters also planned remembrances, FOX 4 reported.
The Bush Museum’s permanent exhibit includes World Trade Center steel and the bullhorn President George W. Bush used at Ground Zero. His new “Remembering 9/11” paintings are on view through Sept. 30.
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