15 Years After 9/11, America Remembers

Fifteen years ago on a clear autumn morning, Americans watched as planes turned into weapons, buildings came crashing down, and a national innocence was shattered. A look around the landscape as America pays tribute to the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks:

• Speaking at the Pentagon ceremony, President Obama paid tribute Sunday morning to the "3,000 beautiful lives" lost that Tuesday morning. ABC News reports.
• When the planes hit, White House aides decided the safest place for President Bush was the sky and hustled him to Air Force One, where he spent the next chaotic eight hours. Politico tells the story in a piece headlined "We're the Only Plane in the Sky."

• With a fourth plane missing, Vice President Dick Cheney authorized the Air Force to shoot down United Flight 93. USA Today explores that, and other forgotten tidbits from the tragedy.
• "I’m not drawn to want to figure out who he is," AP photographer Richard Drew says of his iconic "Falling Man" photo. He gives the Daily Beast the backstory on one of the most haunting images of 9/11.
• The Washington Post explores ground zero, and "the tension between remembering and moving on."
• The AP tells the story of 9/11 victims' relative who say they were moved by their loss to do good.
• Over at the New York Daily News, Gersh Luntzman laments the loss of the twin towers, and says the city's skyline hasn't recovered its swagger.

(More 9/11 anniversary stories.)