Twenty-five years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, evangelist Franklin Graham is urging Americans not simply to remember the nearly 3,000 people who died that day, but to remember something else that happened in the aftermath: millions of Americans turned toward God.
Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, issued the call as the nation observed the 25th anniversary of the attacks on New York City, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93.
“September 11 is a day I’ll never forget,” Graham told Fox News Digital. He recalled the devastation he witnessed at Ground Zero and the shock and grief that followed the attacks. He also pointed to the extraordinary spiritual response that swept across the country as Americans searched for answers, comfort and hope.
In the days after September 11, 2001, churches across the United States filled with people. Public prayer gatherings were held. Americans who might rarely have discussed God openly prayed with neighbors, coworkers and strangers.
“As we observe the 25th anniversary of this day when our world changed forever, my prayer is that America will recognize our need for God like we did after 9/11,” Graham said. “Churches were full. People gathered to pray in public places.”
Graham also recalled his father, evangelist Billy Graham, speaking to the nation from Washington National Cathedral during the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance held just three days after the attacks.
Billy Graham told the grieving country that America had always needed God and needed Him especially in that moment.
A quarter century later, Franklin Graham believes the spiritual lesson remains relevant.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association marked the anniversary by releasing a television documentary, “A Day That Changed Our Lives Forever,” featuring firsthand accounts from four people who survived the World Trade Center attack. The special focuses not only on terror and destruction but also on survival, faith and what the ministry describes as hope emerging from the rubble.
One of the accounts highlighted by Fox News is that of Genelle Guzman-McMillan, who survived beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center for approximately 27 hours. Fox reported that Guzman-McMillan prayed to God while trapped and later described an encounter with a rescuer as she waited to be freed.
The anniversary comes at a dramatically different cultural moment than the one Americans experienced immediately after the attacks.
In 2001, public expressions of faith following the attacks were common. Churches organized vigils. Politicians publicly invoked God. Clergy appeared prominently during national memorials. Americans displayed flags outside homes, businesses and churches while volunteers rushed to assist victims and first responders.
Today, the United States remains deeply divided politically and culturally, and public attitudes toward institutional religion have changed considerably.
Graham’s message is that America’s need for God has not changed merely because the national conversation has.
The attacks themselves remain among the most consequential events in modern American history. Terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners on September 11, 2001. Two were flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York. Another struck the Pentagon. Passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 fought back against the hijackers before the plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and resulted in profound changes to American foreign policy, aviation security and national defense.
But for Graham, September 11 also remains a spiritual marker.
The tragedy demonstrated how quickly the routines and assumptions of
