On Sept. 12, 2001, the United States staggered to its feet amid the devastation of the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks the day before.
For some Americans and millions of others around the globe, the harshest impacts were just beginning. wapo.st/3yYJKDQ
On Sept. 12, Genelle Guzman woke in a terrible darkness, unable to move.
She was the last person pulled alive from the rubble. To the 30-year-old immigrant, living through the collapse was only the first of many miracles in her life. wapo.st/3yYJKDQ
Ronie Huddleston, a veteran of the first Iraq war, repacked his gear the day after 9/11, after receiving orders for a new combat mission.
He later watched his stepson enlist and serve at the same Iraqi outpost where Huddleston had served 14 years earlier. wapo.st/3yYJKDQ
Lawyer Hina Shamsi watched the collapse in disbelief from a crowded sidewalk.
Years later, she took on U.S. officials in court over tactics used against suspected terrorists, such as torture and detention without trial. wapo.st/3yYJKDQ
For months after 9/11, firefighter Raymond Pfeifer scoured the ruins, exposing himself to toxic chemicals.
He eventually became the face of the lobbying effort to secure government compensation for rescue workers who became ill from 9/11. wapo.st/3yYJKDQ
In Hamburg, Germany, Mariam el Fazazi discovered a horrifying connection to the hijackers: Several were former neighbors who attended a mosque where her father sometimes preached.
The discovery jarred her into a years-long struggle to reclaim her faith. wapo.st/3yYJKDQ
The cataclysm of 9/11 was not contained to a single day, or to a handful of locations.
Over the next two decades, destinies were reshaped for Pfeifer, Huddleston, Guzman, Shamsi, Fazazi and millions of others who had no inkling about what was to come. wapo.st/3yYJKDQ
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