![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/sacramento_bee_mcclatchy_569\/abd70c17d3c0e40748ec88c3f1e2fb98.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\nThey gathered solemnly at Cal Expo on this clear Friday morning, so reminiscent of that morning 25 years ago \u2014 before the horror that changed a nation.<\/p>\n
More than 100 people at the state fairgrounds in Sacramento commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 9\/11 terror attacks.<\/p>\n
Four airliners filled with people beginning their day, laden with jet fuel, became guided missiles. Two crashed into the World Trade Center’s twin towers. Another slammed into the Pentagon. A fourth plowed into a Pennsylvania field, its passengers rising up to stop its hijackers from their intended target and yet more destruction.<\/p>\n
Nearly 3,000 people died.<\/p>\n
In Sacramento a quarter-century later, speakers mourned the dead, honored the sacrifices of so many that day and sought to remind a new generation of the nation’s resolve.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A wreath-laying ceremony during the 9\/11 25th anniversary memorial event at Cal Expo in Sacramento on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n
“Twenty-five years and the world changed in one moment,” said master of ceremonies Matthew Ceccato, a U.S. Army veteran.<\/p>\n
A long, weathered beam from the fallen towers at the Cal Expo memorial sat as backdrop.<\/p>\n
“For those without a clear memory of 9\/11, it’s up to us,” he said. “That’s why this memorial is important. We can tell them what happened on Sept. 11. We can show them what we did on Sept. 12.”<\/p>\n
Friday’s ceremony was a quiet but powerful call to never forget \u2014 and to remember the unity, courage and common purpose ordinary Americans showed in the days and months after the carnage.<\/p>\n
“When darkness comes, we continue to carry the light,” said Ronald Washington, a chaplain in the Law Enforcement Chaplaincy Sacramento. “We remember what 9\/11 taught us. We are strongest together when we stand together.”<\/p>\n
![\"Event](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/sacramento_bee_mcclatchy_569\/975029664e9481caa81f1c96a58eb2cd.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Event participant Paul looks at the names of those killed during the 9\/11 attacks during the 25th anniversary memorial event at Cal Expo in Sacramento on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/sacramento_bee_mcclatchy_569\/b05b763e73e4e73f9e4f20938c09b3ea.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
A person lays a flower on the World Trade Center beam during the 9\/11 25th anniversary memorial event at Cal Expo in Sacramento on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They gathered solemnly at Cal Expo on this clear Friday morning, so reminiscent of that morning 25 years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2691,31336,121,123,122,181798],"class_list":["post-461083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-cal-expo","tag-friday-morning","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-state-fairgrounds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}