It was a perfect late-summer morning, clear and mild, with barely a cloud in the sky. For those who witnessed the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center, it seemed unlikely to be an accident. When the second tower was struck, it became immediately apparent: This was a morning like no other. America was under attack.
From there, things began to unfold quickly. There was a third attack—on the Pentagon. United Flight 93 went down in Pennsylvania. The skies above America were closed to air traffic. The towers fell. Fighter jets buzzed over the Hudson. Shock and grief gripped Manhattan and rippled out to New Jersey and the entire metropolitan area as the dimensions of the tragedy became clear. By evening, towns throughout New Jersey were haunted by the lonely cars left at commuter rail stations, their owners lost in the ashes.
Among the 2,752 individuals who lost their lives in the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center were some 700 residents of New Jersey. In the years that followed, memorials—from simple plaques to ornate monuments—were erected throughout the state. As the nation commemorates the 10th anniversary of that infamous day, New Jersey Monthly offers a glimpse some of those memorials and shares the stories of a handful of individuals touched by the tragedy.
Photos by Colin Archer and Marc Steiner/Agency New Jersey.