天空晴朗蔚蓝。灰色的塔楼矗立在通往国家的大门处，既守卫又欢迎。撞击、大火、浓烟不知从哪里冒出来，然后塔楼消失了。当尘埃和火焰最终散去，一个新的世界出现了。
死亡和毁灭定义了那个夏末的日子，并在那些经历了2001年9月11日的人的脑海中留下了烙印。从灰烬和废墟中崛起了一个新的美国:一个被伤疤重新定义、以新的战时现实为标志的社会——最近几天，原教旨主义伊斯兰统治在酝酿袭击的遥远土地上死灰复燃，这一阴影变得更加黑暗。
20年后，7000多万美国人自恐怖袭击的严峻考验后出生九一一事件遗骸。从机场安全到平民治安，再到日常生活中最不经意的部分，我们几乎不可能找到不受2001年那些恐怖时刻影响的事物。
本周，美国广播公司新闻回顾了9/11袭击并展开他们的余波，深入审视在毁灭后诞生的美国。《9/11二十年后:最长的阴影》是由乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯讲述的五集系列纪录片。9月6日至10日，美国广播公司新闻直播将在袭击20周年纪念日之前的每晚播出剧集。该系列将在9月11日星期六的纪念仪式后全面重播。
第一部分:留守
尽管9/11事件给美国生活带来了明显的变化，但对袭击的问责和正义仍然难以捉摸。受害者和英雄的家人都被这些没有答案的基本问题折磨着，这些问题是如何发生的，谁该对此负责?
“怎么会是19个人...他们是如何完成人类历史上最伟大的攻击的?”布雷特·伊格尔森问道，他的父亲布鲁斯在纽约监督世贸中心地下零售走廊的开发时，在袭击中丧生。
责任问题不是唯一悬而未决的问题。对包括伊格尔森在内的数百个家庭来说，他们亲人的遗骸从未被找到——这给已经巨大的损失增加了一层创伤。
时任总统乔治·w·布什的幕僚长安迪·卡德说，这些袭击似乎不可思议。
“没有人想到一架商用喷气式飞机会被劫持，然后被一名自杀飞行员用作大规模杀伤性武器，这名自杀飞行员愿意牺牲自己的生命来夺取成千上万的其他生命，”卡德说。
情节既简单又险恶:2001年9月11日上午，劫机者登上了四架飞往加州的航班，战略目标是海岸对海岸的飞机，因为它们将满载燃料。恐怖分子预定了头等舱机票，因为他们离驾驶舱很近。不到两个小时，飞机撞上了纽约世贸大厦和华盛顿特区外的五角大楼。在乘客试图从劫机者手中夺回飞机后，第四架也是最后一架飞机冲进了宾夕法尼亚州的一个机场。据信，劫机者将最后一架飞机推上了撞向白宫或美国国会大厦的轨道。
在白宫，由于大多数工作人员在关键时刻被疏散，出现了混乱和混乱国家安全官员们疯狂地试图评估正在发生的事情，以及是否可以采取任何措施来阻止它。
“当时，我们认为可能有多达11架飞机被劫持，”当时白宫国家安全委员会的高级成员罗杰·克雷西说。
在纽约市，当人们从世贸中心的巨塔中跑出来时，人们感到恐惧和绝望。其他人，在那些被劫持的飞机撞上的人上面的楼层里，从大楼里跳了出来，徒劳地试图逃离火焰和烟雾。
看着电视上发生的事件，美国人起初希望双子塔的恐怖只是一场可怕的事故——也许是一名误入歧途的飞行员遭遇某种灾难性医疗紧急情况的结果。然而，很快，现实变得清晰起来。
“这是一次袭击，”9月11日担任宾夕法尼亚州州长的汤姆·里奇(Tom Ridge)说，他很快就会成为宾夕法尼亚州州长被布什总统窃听领导新的美国“国土安全”基础设施。“你不必是反恐专家就能知道邪恶正在酝酿。”
那天早上的英雄们是第一批响应者。双子塔倒塌时，惊人的441名急救人员遇难，其中包括莫伊拉·史密斯，她是当天遇难的23名NYPD警官中唯一的女性。
莫伊拉的女儿帕特里夏·史密斯(Patricia Smith)在911事件中两岁，她说:“很多人告诉我的家人，她显然是他们那天成功的很大一部分原因。帕特丽夏不记得她妈妈了，但她精心制作了一个她脑海中的详细画面从她家人的回忆中。
是莫伊拉·史密斯打来了世贸中心事件的第一份报告，目击者称，在世贸中心大楼燃烧时，她带领数百人前往安全地带。袭击发生六个月后，她的徽章和遗体从世贸中心废墟中被找到。
但是许多家庭没有收到这样的关闭。截至2019年，超过1100个家庭的亲人仍被官方列为失踪人员，没有发现任何遗骸——包括布鲁斯·伊格尔森的家人。
“我们从未找到他，甚至连一点痕迹都没有，”布雷特·伊格尔森说，他父亲去世时他15岁。“但在某种程度上，你必须做出决定，接受他输了的事实。”
这个开放性伤口促使纽约法医办公室不断努力辨认遗体。袭击发生20年后，一个坚定的法医科学家团队继续使用不断改进的技术回收脱氧核糖核酸样本。
在袭击发生后的几年里，伊格尔森将他的注意力转向了9/11事件中一个伟大而持久的谜团:谁帮助和教唆了基地组织的袭击者。伊格尔森和其他成千上万在911事件中遇难的家庭成员正在寻求一个集体诉讼反对沙特阿拉伯王国，沙特阿拉伯是美国在中东的重要盟友，但却制造了奥萨马·本·拉登和大部分19名劫机者。
他们在2017年提起的诉讼试图让沙特王国为其涉嫌参与袭击负责。这场旷日持久的法律纠纷给联邦法院系统带来了一系列麻烦，但根据法庭记录，受害者家属的律师最近与沙特官员进行了一系列宣誓作证。
2004年，两党组成的9/11委员会得出结论，“没有证据表明沙特政府作为一个机构或作为个别高级官员有意支持或支持基地组织”——沙特政府在过去17年里一直依靠这一发现来为自己开脱。
但许多人仍对这一结论持怀疑态度。9/11委员会的高级律师约翰·法尔默警告说，调查人员当时可能对沙特的角色没有一个完整的了解，并暗示沙特政府内部的流氓分子很可能比联邦调查局和其他机构在袭击后的最初几个月里所理解的更加活跃。
法默说:“如果有沙特官员在业余时间与基地组织成员合作，我一点也不会感到惊讶。
9月3日，美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)发布了一项行政命令，指示司法部、联邦调查局(FBI)和其他政府机构确定哪些(如果有的话)与9/11有关的机密记录可以公布。该命令指示司法部长在未来六个月内公布解密记录。
伊格尔森认为，9/11委员会的结论是错误的，美国政府知道的比它与美国公众分享的要多。
“知道911委员会于2004年结束，对这个国家的人民，对美国人民来说，真的很重要，”伊格尔森说。“联邦调查局继续调查沙特在911事件中的角色，直到2016年在名为“安可行动”的秘密行动下。”
然而，美国政府不愿意分享与“安可行动”和其他调查相关的关键文件——可以追溯到几届政府时期——已经成为诉讼当事人的主要障碍。
前国防部长利昂·帕内塔(Leon Panetta)说:“由于情报上的分类，我不得不告诉你，美国人民可能并不知道所涉及的一切，”他在2011年担任中央情报局局长时，监督了导致这次袭击的任务击毙本拉登在巴基斯坦。“不是说有什么超级秘密，而是……我们认为有人知道本·拉登在做什么，知道其中的危险。”
肯尼斯·威廉姆斯是一名退休的联邦调查局特工，他在袭击前几个月写了一份警告基地组织能力的备忘录，现在正与起诉沙特人的家庭合作，这违背了联邦调查局的意愿，联邦调查局指示他不要直接参与诉讼。
“这是一起谋杀调查，”威廉姆斯说。“这个案子需要解决。”
今年8月，拜登司法部承诺将发布一系列相关文件，其家人表示，这将是向问责迈出的重要一步。但是已经造成的损害以及已经过去的时间仍然是受害者亲属感到沮丧的一个原因。
帕特里夏·史密斯说:“拖延正义就是否认正义。“现在我们已经20年没有正义了。”
'The Longest Shadow': 20 years later, 9/11 families seek justice -- and peace
The sky was clear and blue. The gray towers stood, both guarding and welcoming, at the gateway to the nation. Out of nowhere came the impact, the blaze, the smoke -- and then the towers were gone. When the dust and flames finally cleared, a new world had emerged.
The death and destruction defined that late summer day and remain seared in the minds of those who lived through Sept. 11, 2001. From the ashes and wreckage rose a new America: a society redefined by its scars and marked by a new wartime reality -- a shadow darkened even more in recent days by the resurgence of fundamentalist Islamist rule in the far-off land that hatched the attacks.
Twenty years later -- with more than 70 million Americans born since the crucible of the attacks -- the legacy of9/11remains. From airport security to civilian policing to the most casual parts of daily life, it would be nearly impossible to identify something that remains untouched and unaffected by those terrifying hours in 2001.
This week, ABC News revisits the9/11 attacksand unwinds their aftermath, taking a deep look at the America born in the wake of destruction. "9/11 Twenty Years Later: The Longest Shadow" is a five-part documentary series narrated by George Stephanopoulos. Episodes will air on ABC News Live each night leading up to the 20th anniversary of the attacks, from Sept. 6-10. The series will be rebroadcast in full following the commemoration ceremonies on Saturday, Sept. 11.
Part 1: Left behind
For all the palpable change 9/11 imposed on American life, accountability and justice for the attacks remain elusive. Families of both victims and heroes are tortured by the unanswered, fundamental questions of how this could happen -- and who was responsible?
"How is it that 19 individuals ... how was it that they were able to pull off the greatest attack in human history?" asks Brett Eagleson, whose father, Bruce, was killed in the attack while on assignment in New York overseeing the development of a retail corridor beneath the World Trade Center.
The issue of responsibility is not the only lingering question. For hundreds of families, including Eagleson's, the remains of their loved ones were never recovered -- adding an additional layer of trauma to the already enormous loss.
The attacks seemed inconceivable, said Andy Card, chief of staff to then-President George W. Bush.
"Nobody thought that a commercial jetliner would be hijacked and then used as a weapon of mass destruction with a suicide pilot who was willing to sacrifice his life to take thousands of other lives," Card said.
The plot was equal parts simple and sinister: On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers boarded four separate California-bound flights, strategically targeting coast-to-coast planes because they would be heavily loaded with fuel. The terrorists booked first-class tickets due to their proximity to the cockpit. Within two hours, aircrafts struck both World Trade Towers in New York and the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C. A fourth and final plane careened into a Pennsylvania field after passengers tried to retake the aircraft from hijackers. It is believed that the hijackers had put that final jet on a trajectory to crash into either the White House or the U.S. Capitol.
At the White House, there was confusion and chaos as most staffers were evacuated while keynational securityofficials frantically tried to assess what was happening and whether anything could be done to stop it.
"At the time, we thought there might've been as many as 11 planes hijacked," said Roger Cressey, a senior member of the White House National Security Council at the time.
In New York City, there was horror and desperation as people ran from the World Trade Center's gigantic towers. Others, doomed on the floors above those struck by the hijacked jets, leapt from the buildings in a futile attempt to escape the flames and smoke.
Watching the events unfold on TV, Americans at first hoped that the horror at the Twin Towers was just a terrible accident -- the result, perhaps, of an errant pilot who suffered some sort of catastrophic medical emergency. Soon, though, reality became clear.
"It was an attack," said Tom Ridge, who was governor of Pennsylvania on Sept. 11 and would soon after betapped by President Bushto lead the new American "homeland security" infrastructure. "You didn't have to be a counterterrorism expert to know that evil was afoot."
The heroes that morning were the first responders. A staggering 441 emergency workers were killed when the twin towers collapsed -- including Moira Smith, who was the only woman among the 23 NYPD officers who were killed that day.
"A lot of people have told my family that she was obviously a really big part of why they made it out that day," said Patricia Smith, Moira's daughter, who was two years old on 9/11. Patricia has no memory of her mom, but has crafted adetailed picture in her mindfrom the recollections of her family.
It was Moira Smith who called in the first reports of an incident at the World Trade Center, and witnesses said she guided hundreds of people to safety as the towers burned. Her badge and remains were recovered from the rubble of Ground Zero six months after the attack.
But scores of families received no such closure. As of 2019, over 1,100 families had loved ones still officially listed as missing, without any remains identified -- including the family of Bruce Eagleson.
"We've never recovered him, not even a trace," said Brett Eagleson, who was 15 when his father died. "But at some point, you sort of just have to make a decision to accept the fact that he's lost."
That open wound has driven the New York medical examiner's office in its ongoing effort to identify remains. Twenty years after the attacks, a committed team of forensic scientists continues to recover DNA samples using ever-improving technology.
In the years since the attacks, Eagleson has turned his focus toward one of the great enduring mysteries of 9/11: who aided and abetted the al-Qaeda attackers. Eagleson and thousands of other family members of those killed on 9/11 are pursuing aclass-action lawsuitagainst the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia -- a key American ally in the Middle East that nonetheless produced Osama bin Laden and most of the 19 hijackers.
Their 2017 lawsuit seeks to hold the kingdom accountable for its alleged complicity in the attacks. The protracted legal dispute has hit a series of snags in the federal court system, but attorneys for the victims' families recently conducted a series of depositions with Saudi officials, according to court records.
In 2004, the bipartisan 9/11 Commission concluded there was "no evidence the Saudi government as an institution or as individual senior officials knowingly support or supported al Qaeda" -- a finding the Saudi government has relied on to absolve itself for the last 17 years.
But many remain skeptical of that conclusion. John Farmer, a senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission, cautioned that investigators at the time may not have had a complete picture of the Saudi role -- and suggested that rogue elements within the Saudi government could well have been more active than the FBI and other agencies understood in the first months after the attacks.
"If there were Saudi officials who, in their spare time, were working with elements of al-Qaeda, that would not surprise me at all," Farmer said.
On Sept. 3, President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing the Department of Justice, the FBI and other government agencies to determine what -- if any -- classified records connected to 9/11 can be released. The order instructs the attorney general to release the declassified records within the next six months.
Eagleson believes that the 9/11 Commission's conclusions were erroneous and that the U.S. government knows more than it is sharing with the American public.
"It's really important for the people of this country, for the people of America, to know that the 9/11 Commission ended in 2004," Eagleson said. "The FBI continued to investigate the Saudi role in 9/11 until 2016 under the secret operation called Operation Encore."
Yet the U.S. government's unwillingness to share key documents tied to Operation Encore and other probes -- dating back several administrations -- has become a major roadblock for litigants.
"Because of the classification on intelligence, I'd have to tell you that the American people probably aren't aware of everything that is involved," said Leon Panetta, the former defense secretary who, as CIA director in 2011, oversaw the mission that led to thekilling of bin Ladenin Pakistan. "Not to say that there's something super-secret, but … we think there were those that knew what bin Laden was up to, and that knew the dangers that were involved."
Kenneth Williams, a retired FBI agent who wrote a now-famous memo warning of al-Qaeda's capabilities just months before the attacks, is now working with the families suing the Saudis -- against the wishes of the FBI, which instructed him to refrain from directly contributing to the suit.
"This is a murder investigation," Williams said. "This case needs to be solved."
In August, the Biden Justice Department promised it would release a bevy of relevant documents, which family members say will be a major step toward accountability. But the damage that's already been done -- and the amount of time that's passed -- remains a source of frustration for relatives of the victims.
"Justice delayed is justice denied," said Patricia Smith. "And now we're 20 years later with no justice."
