Remembering 9/11: 12 people with Wisconsin ties killed in terrorist attacks

MADISON, Wis. (WSAW) - Americans are marking 24 years Thursday since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks .

On Sept. 11, 2001, the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil claimed the lives of 2,977 victims after two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City- one into The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and one into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The 19 men who hijacked the commercial planes received their orders from al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden.

On Dec. 18, 2001, Congress approved the president to designate Sept. 11 as “Patriot Day” on each anniversary of the attack.

The National September 11 Memorial was dedicated on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks and opened to the public the following day. The National September 11 Museum opened in May 2014.