9/11 anniversary

The September 11 Digital Archive was one of the first digital archives of its kind, and it went on to become the Library of Congress's first digital acquisition in 2003. Launched in January 2002, the digital archive gave people a collective way to upload their stories online.

We put out a call on social media for George Mason University faculty, staff, and students to share their memories of Sept. 11, 2001. This is what they shared.

To mark the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, we reached out to our colleagues at the Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security and the Schar School of Policy and Government for their remembrances. Many of them have worked in the intelligence and policy communities and each has a unique perspective on a day that changed our world.

Distinguished Visiting Professor Michael Morell is the only person who was with President George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, when the 9/11 attacks occurred, and with President Barack Obama on May 2, 2011, when Osama bin Laden was killed.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America left an indelible mark on An Nguyen with the death of his father at the Pentagon, but the George Mason University graduate student has overcome considerable hurdles to ensure that he honors his father every day by becoming the kind of young man his beloved father would have wanted.