Lights illuminate memorial benches at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Aug. 22, 2016

Lights illuminate memorial benches at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Aug. 22, 2016 EJ Hersom/Defense Department

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Photos: The 9/11 Attacks

Fifteen photos mark the 15th anniversary.

Ross Gianfortune

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Ross Gianfortune
Ross Gianfortune
Engagement Editor

Sunday marks the fifteenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Nearly 3,000 people died, including 125 at the Pentagon. As Kellie Lunney writes, the attacks taught Americans "painful but valuable lessons about survival, leadership and community."

The whole of the federal government was involved in the response to the attacks and Congress minted a new agency -- the Department of Homeland Security -- in their wake.

Coast Guard crew members patrol the harbor after the collapse of the World Trade Center. (Tom Sperduto/Coast Guard)

Smokes billows out of the Pentagon on Sept. 11. (Telfair H. Brown/Coast Guard)

Wreckage from the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 sits on the west lawn of the Pentagon after terrorists crashed the aircraft into southwest corner of the building. (Mark D. Faram/Defense Department)

Accompanied by Secretary of State Colin Powell (far left), Vice President Dick Cheney and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Hugh Shelton (far right), President George W. Bush speaks with the media on Sept. 12, 2001. (George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum)

Fire fighters and military personnel on the roof of the Pentagon unfurl a large American Flag during the Sept. 12, 2001, visit of President George W. Bush to the site. As the flag was draped over the wall, disaster workers gathered around the President began to sing "God Bless America." (R. D. Ward/Defense Department) 

President Bush looks over a briefing paper with Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on Sept.12, 2001. (George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum)

Employees from FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers watch as the USS Comfort, a Navy hospital ship, pulls into port in New York City Sept. 14, 2001, after the ship was activated in response to the attacks. (Army Corps of Engineers)

National Guard troops and ATF agents confer near the World Trade Center site on Sept. 14, 2001. (Thomas R. Roberts/ NGB-PASE)

Standing on a crumpled fire truck with retired New York City fireman Bob Beckwith, Bush rallies rescue workers on Sept. 14, 2001, at Ground Zero, saying, "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." (George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum)

Emergency Operations personnel from the Army Corps of Engineers work alongside federal, state and local agencies on Sept. 14, 2001. (Army Corps of Engineers)

Rescue workers work with dogs to search for victims of the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 27, 2001 (Bri Rodriguez/FEMA)
A Navy videographer documents the crime scene on Sept. 16, 2001. (Aaron Peterson/Navy)
A FEMA worker watches news on the attacks on Sept. 27, 2001, in a New York office. (Bri Rodriguez/ FEMA)
The terrorist attack caused extensive damage to the Pentagon. American Airlines Flight 77 was bound for Los Angeles from Washington Dulles with 58 passengers and 6 crew. Cedric H. Rudisill/Defense Department) 

The Pentagon released a minimalist illustration by Chris Desrocher of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the treeline of the Pennsylvania field where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the attacks. 

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