America today marks 25 years since the attacks of September 11, 2001 and remembers the nearly 3,000 people who never came home. For the last 24 years, six moments of silence have been held on this day to commemorate moments from the attacks in New York and Virginia and the crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Today, a seventh moment of silence will be held to honor the lives lost in later years from 9/11-related illnesses. More than 9,000 people, including 453 New York City firefighters -- a toll that now exceeds the number killed on the day itself -- some dying from cancers related to toxic air at Ground Zero. Four former presidents will stand on the 9/11 memorial plaza this morning -- Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton -- together and silent. The memorial hasn't allowed political speeches in 14 years. Only the families speak, reading 2,983 names.
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