Book Review: ‘Justice for the Forgotten Families of 9/11’ by Tom McMillan

In Justice for the Forgotten Families of 9/11, historian Tom McMillan examines the long and frustrating struggle of the families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks to find, at least, acknowledgment of their search, if not the justice they’ve long hoped for.

A brief definition of justice is “the process or result of using laws to fairly judge cases, redress wrongs, and punish crimes.” Those few words carry enormous weight for victims of wrongdoing and their families. They also raise an uncomfortable question: What happens when justice itself becomes elusive?

For the families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, that question has persisted for a quarter century. Courts move slowly, sometimes for understandable reasons; facts must be gathered, evidence established, legal arguments prepared. But 25 years is a remarkably long time to wait for some measure of accountability.

The first 13 chapters provide a concise overview of the principal players and the basic events as they are currently understood. McMillan then follows the complicated legal aftermath, including the detention of the alleged 9/11 conspirators at Guantánamo Bay and the extraordinary circumstances surrounding their interrogations and confessions. Those circumstances have contributed to years of legal complications and delays. The result is a case that seems perpetually close to moving forward, only to encounter another obstacle.

McMillan devotes considerable attention to Operation Encore, an FBI investigation into possible Saudi connections to the 9/11 attacks. The question of Saudi involvement remains unresolved, and McMillan is careful to distinguish between established facts and circumstantial evidence. One FBI assessment described reports concerning possible Saudi involvement as “sloppily written” and “endlessly provocative,” yet the investigation also opened new avenues of inquiry. The families’ civil lawsuit against Saudi Arabia has consequently become another important component of their search for answers.

And then there are the plea deals.

The families have experienced what they describe as a kind of legal whiplash: progress followed by delay, renewed hope followed by another setback. McMillan makes that cycle one of the most frustrating aspects of the story. The fact that successive presidential administrations have encountered the same seemingly intractable problem only underscores its extraordinary complexity.

What struck me most about this book is not simply the amount of time that has passed, but what that passage of time means to the families. Twenty-five years is an entire generation. Children who lost parents are now adults; parents who lost children have spent decades waiting. The phrase “never forget” takes on another meaning here. Remembering the victims is important, but so is remembering the unresolved search for accountability that followed their deaths.

Justice for the Forgotten Families of 9/11 is ultimately less about providing easy answers than documenting the difficult pursuit of them. McMillan presents a complicated story involving national security, international relationships, criminal law, civil litigation, and the extraordinary difficulties created by evidence gathered under questionable circumstances. Through it all, the families remain at the center.

Justice may sometimes require patience. But patience has limits. McMillan’s book reminds us that for the families of 9/11, the waiting continues—and that their pursuit of answers deserves to be remembered alongside the tragedy itself.