Nine years after 9/11, America’s mourning and remembering still takes many forms. As scarring and transformative as the terrorist attacks of 2001 have proven to be, great art has emerged from the rubble of the Twin Towers, the wreckage of the Pentagon and the crash near Shanksville, Pennsyvania.
Film, music, literature and TV can’t bring back the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives that terrible day -- nor the seemingly more innocent time beforehand. But it can, as all mourning should, help to heal and to never forget.
1. "UNITED 93" 
Initial screenings of director Peter Greengrass’ 2006 film ended with the words “America's War on Terror had begun.” Upon wide release, during some of the worst days of the war in Iraq, that was changed to “Dedicated to the memory of all those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.”
The real truth of this powerful Oscar-nominated film -- which focuses on the brave souls on hijacked United Airlines flight 93 and the calls they made to family and friends on the ground -- is somewhere in between.
Former journalist Greengrass, best known for directing the second two "Bourne" films, melded professional actors, real-life participants and airline employees together to detail how passengers and United staff saved thousands and lost their lives bringing down the D.C.-bound plane in a field in Pennsylvania. At the time, passenger Todd Beamer’s words of “Let’s roll,” as he and others moved down the aisle to overwhelm the terrorists in the cockpit, became a national rallying cry.
As time has passed, “United 93” itself has become a testament to individual patriotism, sacrifice and bravery.
2. "THE RISING"
Tragedy doesn’t get a soundtrack like celebrations do, but rebuilding and redemption should – and in the case of 9/11, it was New Jersey’s best who rose to the musical challenge.
Released on July 30, 2002, “The Rising,” whose title track told the story of a NYC firefighter trying to get out of the World Trade Center before it fell down, was Bruce Springsteen’s 12th studio album; its songs and sentiments made it one of the first of the realities of the new century.
“Springsteen is a rare performer who can really get down to the feelings of that day,” says Gary Calamar, KCRW DJ and the Grammy-nominated music supervisor for HBO's "True Blood" and TNT's "Men of a Certain Age," among others. “On songs like "The Rising," he really inspires people, he digs down deep.”
Like a gospel choir would tell you, Amen.
3. "RESCUE ME"
Nothing on television has reached into the heart and the wound of 9/11 like FX’s FDNY drama “Rescue Me.” It has become history in motion.
Sure, “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City” addressed 9/11 head-on and “The West Wing” even rewrote its third-season opener to give viewers a healing historical civics lesson on Oct.
