Twenty-five years ago, on September 11, 2001, the United States suffered the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, killing nearly 3,000 people and forever changing the nation.

Four hijacked commercial airplanes were used in the attacks. Two crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, a third struck the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and a fourth, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back against the hijackers.

The tragedy reached Indiana in deeply personal ways.

The Indiana War Memorials Foundation says nine Hoosiers lost their lives in the attacks. They included military personnel, airline passengers and people working in the World Trade Center.

Among them was Lieutenant General Timothy J. Maude, a former Indianapolis resident who was serving as the U.S. Army’s deputy chief of staff for personnel at the Pentagon. Maude was the highest-ranking military officer killed on September 11.

Also killed at the Pentagon were Army Lieutenant Colonel Canfield “Buddy” Boone, a Milan native, and Army Major Stephen V. Long, a Hendricks County native. Brenda Gibson, a former Indianapolis resident, also died at the Pentagon.

In New York, the victims included Gary Bright, a Muncie Southside High School graduate; Katie McCloskey, a South Bend native and Indiana University graduate; and Stacey Peak, who grew up in Tell City and worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of the World Trade Center.

Other victims with Indiana connections included Gary native Eddie Dillard and Barbara G. Edwards, a former Bloomington resident. Both were passengers aboard hijacked aircraft.

The Indiana connection extended beyond those who died.

Indiana Task Force One, a federal search-and-rescue team based in the state, was among the emergency personnel sent to New York following the attacks. The 62-member team arrived to assist with the massive search and recovery operation at Ground Zero. Indiana search-and-rescue dogs also took part in the response.

Indiana’s connection to the attacks is also permanently represented in downtown Indianapolis. The Indiana 9/11 Memorial includes two massive steel beams recovered from the World Trade Center. The memorial was dedicated on September 11, 2011, and was later expanded to include a piece of the Pentagon wall damaged in the attack. That Pentagon stone was made from Indiana limestone.

The memorial’s Military Monument honors the nine Hoosiers who died on September 11.

The attacks prompted profound changes in American security, foreign policy and military strategy. But for Indiana families, communities and first responders, September 11 also remains a day remembered through the lives of individual Hoosiers who never came home.

Twenty-five years later, their names remain part of the larger story of September 11 — and Indiana continues to honor their memory.