Twenty-five years later, September 11, 2001 remains one of those days divided into a before and an after.
For those of us who watched the terrorist attacks unfold in real time, the memories can still feel immediate. I was sitting in my U.S. History class when the world we knew changed. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet survivors and first responders whose experiences gave me an even deeper understanding of what that day meant—and why I believe those stories must continue to be told.
At the 2026 Tribeca Festival, I spoke with 9/11 survivor Debbie St. John and producer Louis Lee Ray about National Geographic’s 9/11: Reunited, a documentary series centered on people whose lives became connected amid the tragedy of September 11.
For St. John, the story could not be more personal.
On September 11, St. John was on her way to work when the second plane struck the South Tower. Falling debris gravely injured her. Amid the chaos, a bystander named Stefan stayed with her in the street, keeping her conscious and protecting her as people fled around them.
Stefan desperately tried to get an ambulance to stop.
One did.
Twenty-five years later, 9/11: Reunited brings Debbie and Stefan together for the first time since that day, giving Debbie an opportunity to show him the life she has lived and tell him what his actions meant to her.
When I spoke with Debbie at Tribeca, however, she wasn’t only thinking about what happened to her.
“There was a before and an after,” St. John told me.
She reflected on how the attacks fundamentally altered Americans’ sense of security, particularly for those old enough to remember experiencing September 11 firsthand.
But our conversation also turned toward something else she believes deserves to remain part of the memory of that day: the people who helped complete strangers.
“There were these amazing individuals who put their lives at risk for people they didn’t know,” St. John said. “And that is a sentiment that I feel that people really need to remember.”
Knowing what Stefan did for her gives those words even greater meaning.
Producer Louis Lee Ray described witnessing the reunions captured for the series as a privilege. Despite extensive preparation, he said there was no way for the filmmakers to know exactly what would happen when people connected by such extraordinary circumstances finally stood together again.
“It was emotional, it was nerve-racking, it was intense, but ultimately it was incredible,” Ray said.
The series also follows three men who were traveling up the North Tower in an elevator when the first plane struck. Trapped alongside one of the World Trade Center’s window cleaners, they escaped after the window cleaner took the lead and hacked a way out. Twenty-five years later, they reunite with the man whose actions helped save their lives.
For me, these conversations also brought back my own memories of September 11.
I remember watching what was happening from a classroom. But as the years have passed, I’ve met people who were actually there—including a firefighter whose health was permanently affected by his experience.
Hearing those stories changed something for me.
“It hits different,” I told Ray. “It hits different because now I’m getting to hear their story.”
It’s one reason I continue to believe we should talk about September 11.
A quarter century can turn lived experience into something younger generations encounter primarily through textbooks, documentaries and archival footage. But behind every image we’ve seen countless times are individual lives that changed within seconds.
Ray put that into perspective during our conversation.
Everybody understands what it means to leave home and go to work on an ordinary morning, he explained. What nobody could have anticipated on September 11 was how quickly an ordinary day could become something unimaginable.
People’s lives, he said, “were changed forever in seconds that day.”
9/11: Reunited allows some of those people to tell their stories—and, through reunion, reconnect with people who became part of their lives under circumstances none of them could have anticipated.
Twenty-five years later, remembrance isn’t simply about looking backward.
It’s about preserving the experiences of those who were there. It’s about honoring those we lost. It’s about remembering the first responders, survivors and ordinary people who stepped forward to help strangers.
And it’s about making sure that as September 11 moves further into history, the humanity within those stories doesn’t disappear with it.
There was a before.
There was an after.
And twenty-five years later, we remember.
Listen to my interviews with Debbie St. John and Louis Lee Ray above.
9/11: Reunited is available to stream on Disney+.