Published: September 14, 2026
MONROVIA — The U.S. Embassy in Monrovia on the weekend commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with a solemn 2,977-step memorial walk through central Monrovia, honoring each person killed in the attacks, including at least one Liberian.
The memorial began at the U.S. Embassy, with participants moving from the embassy along Benson Street toward UN Drive, passing through the Johanson area and continuing to the Masonic Craft building before returning to the embassy.
Each of the 2,977 steps represented a life lost on Sept. 11, 2001.
The walk, held despite a heavy downpour, followed a ceremony at the embassy where the U.S. flag was lowered and participants observed a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., the time American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York.
U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Joe Zadrozny described the moment 25 years ago as a turning point in American history. “At 8:46 AM, the world shifted in an instant,” Zadrozny said. “What began as a bright September morning transformed into a day of unprecedented tragedy.”
Zadrozny paid tribute to the firefighters, police officers and paramedics who responded to the attacks, as well as passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 who resisted the hijackers before the plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
“We remember the courage of the firefighters, police officers, and paramedics who ran toward danger so that others might live,” he said. “We remember the ordinary citizens on Flight 93, who performed extraordinary acts of bravery.”
The attacks killed 2,977 people after 19 al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four commercial aircraft. Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York, another struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, while Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Among the victims was at least one Liberian.
Zadrozny recalled Liberia’s response to the attacks, saying the Liberian government organized an intercessory service and declared three days of national mourning. “Our Liberian hosts and international partners stood together with the United States in our grief, reminding us that we do not stand alone,” Zadrozny said. “That solidarity remains a cornerstone of our work together today.”
The 25th anniversary observance in Monrovia therefore carried a particular connection for Liberia, where the memory of the attacks includes the loss of one of its own citizens.
“As our flag flies at half-staff, we carry a duty not only to remember the past, but to live out the values of resilience, public service, and unity that defined the days after 9/11,” Zadrozny said.
The commemoration concluded at the U.S. Embassy after participants completed the symbolic walk, returning to the grounds where the day’s remembrance had begun.
Twenty-five years later, the number remains unchanged: 2,977 lives lost, remembered one step at a time.
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