Heartfelt tributes to the victims of 9/11, in 6 moving photos

September 11, 2015, marks the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that left nearly 3,000 dead and a nation roiled by fear and grief. On that clear, blue morning in 2001, two hijacked passenger planes crashed into New York City's World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon in Washington. A fourth was diverted and crash-landed in a field in Pennsylvania.

While the memory of that fear and grief lingers, The New York Times aptly points out that there is certainly some light in the darkness. "But there is joy, too," reporter David W. Dunlap writes. "New York City did not merely bounce back. It roared back, seemingly more vital than ever." The nation proved its resilience, and Americans united.

Here's how Americans across the country — and the world — remembered.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

In California:

(Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

In Washington, D.C.:

(Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

In New Jersey:

(Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

In NYC:

(Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

In Afghanistan:

(Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

In Pennsylvania:

(Mark Makela/Reuters)