Official commemorations rarely carry the raw power of ordinary people's stories - a point demonstrated by the many articles marking the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
President Bush's solemn ceremony at Ground Zero certainly didn't lack emotional symbolism. But far more moving and dramatic are Time's tales of Michael Otten, a former investment banker who escaped from the World Trade Centre but has struggled with the guilt of being a survivor; or Anthony La Femina, a drugs cop who went into therapy to deal with the memory of raking through the rubble of the twin towers for body parts.
The human angle has been a common note in the anniversary coverage, with the Nation reflecting on the way disaster movies have mediated our response to real-life tragedies, and the Washington Post examining the way our best social instincts may imperil us in a dangerous situation.
Other American publications reflect on how the past five years have changed us. Newsweek gives an alternative history of what might have been had president Bush been a more nuanced and consensual leader.
The Los Angeles Times surveys the alarming extent of the domestic surveillance network built up under the aegis of the US vice-president, Dick Cheney, since the attacks, while the New York Times analyses Cheney's waning influence.
The Chicago Tribune takes a look at how school classes are understanding this pivotal moment in recent history, while the LA Times studies the ways in which conspiracy theorists are misunderstanding it.
Hearteningly, in the wake of an attack that some characterised as the first blow in a war between Islam and the west, separate reports have shown how Muslim immigrants are flocking to the US, and how the country could soon see its first Muslim Congressman.
The New Yorker sounds a more worrying note, describing the striking sophistication and prescience of the jihadi theorists, who it says are already planning the next stage in what they, like the US government, regard as a global war.
We may have an inkling of al-Qaida's strategy but we are no closer to finding its spiritual leader, Osama Bin Laden, as a detailed account in the Washington Post and another in the Guardian make clear.
