New York/Shanksville, Pennsylavania/Washington DC, US
AP
The 9/11 anniversary commemoration at ground zero began with a tolling bell and a moment of silence, exactly 20 years after the start of the deadliest terror attack on US soil.
President Joe Biden, former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, members of Congress, and other dignitaries joined a crowd of victims’ relatives Saturday on the September 11 memorial plaza in New York. The memorial stands where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were rammed and felled by hijacked planes.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lay a wreath at the Wall of Names during a visit to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, 11th September, 2021. PICTURE: AP Photo/Evan Vucci.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed, including more than 2,600 at the World Trade Center in New York, after hijackers seized control of airplanes and used them to attack the World Trade Center’s twin towers and the Pentagon just outside Washington.
Observances were also held at the two other sites where the 9/11 conspirators crashed their hijacked jets: the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
At Shanksville, former President George W Bush told people at the Flight 93 National Memorial that Americans learned much about themselves on September 11.
WHAT THEY SAID
Former presidents, world leaders and US lawmakers reflect on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States:
BILL CLINTON, 42nd US PRESIDENT
“America will never forget those who lost their lives, those who risked or gave their own lives to save others, and those whose lives were forever changed 20 years ago. We owe it to all of them to come together again with unity, hope, compassion, and resolve.”
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH US PRESIDENT
“Today we honor the nearly 3,000 men, women, and children who died on September 11, 2001, and even more who lost their lives in service to our country in the two decades since. We reaffirm our commitment to keep a sacred trust with their families – including the children who lost parents, and who have demonstrated such extraordinary resilience. But this anniversary is also about reflecting on what we’ve learned in the 20 years since that awful morning.”
US SENATOR JAMES RISCH
“Twenty years later, it is still hard to comprehend these acts of pure evil…I have always supported efforts to responsibly end the war in Afghanistan in a way that would keep Americans safe, but I have grave concerns that President Biden’s disastrous pull out from Afghanistan will erase twenty years of hard fought gains in the war on terror and put us at great risk once again.”
CANADA’S PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU
“As we reflect on the last 20 years, we remain committed to the Afghan people, and continue to promote and advocate for the protection of fundamental human rights in Afghanistan – particularly for women and girls. We will also continue to support active members and veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces, and the many public servants who served in Afghanistan. And we remember those who lost their lives defending peace, freedom, and democracy.”
BRITAIN’S QUEEN ELIZABETH
“[M]y thoughts and prayers – and those of my family and the entire nation – remain with the victims, survivors and families affected, as well as the first responders and rescue workers called to duty…as we honour those from many nations, faiths, and backgrounds who lost their lives, we also pay tribute to the resilience and determination of the communities who joined together to rebuild.”
UK PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON
“While the terrorists imposed their burden of grief and suffering, and while the threat persists today, we can now say with the perspective of 20 years that they failed to shake our belief in freedom and democracy. They failed to drive our nations apart, or cause us to abandon our values, or to live in permanent fear.”
DONALD TRUMP, 45th US PRESIDENT
“Congratulations to Rudy Giuliani (for the 20th time!), the greatest Mayor in the history of New York City, for having shown such leadership and doing such an incredible job during and after the attack on our Nation!”
– HEATHER TIMMONS, WLLIAM JAMES, Reuters
“We learned that bravery is more common than we imagined, emerging with sudden splendor in the face of death,” Bush said Saturday at a ceremony on the 20th anniversary of the attacks.
Bush, who was President during the attacks, commended the courage of the Flight 93 passengers and crew who are believed to have foiled an attack on the US Capitol by leading the plane to crash in rural Pennsylvania.
“The 33 passengers and seven crew of Flight 93 could have been any group of citizens selected by fate. In a sense, they stood in for us all,” Bush said. “The terrorists soon discovered that a random group of Americans is an exceptional group of people.”
He encouraged Americans to put aside their political differences in the spirit of what he saw after 9/11.
“So much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear and resentment,” Bush said. “On America’s day of trial and grief, I saw millions of people instinctively grab their neighbour’s hand and rally to the cause of one another.”
Vice President Kamala Harris began her remarks at the Flight 93 memorial with words for those who lost loved ones on 11th September.
“So many in our nation – too many in our nation – have deeply felt the passage of time these past 20 years,” she said. “Please know your nation sees you and we stand with you and we support you.”
President Biden placed a wreath at Memorial Plaza, home to the Wall of Names, where the names of the passengers and the crew from that flight are inscribed in marble.
The President and first lady Jill Biden then walked with relatives of the crash victims into the grassy field when the jet came to rest.
Biden made no public comments during his time at the memorial.
The President ended his day of remembrance by paying his respects at the National Pentagon 9/11 Memorial.
Biden and wife Jill took a moment of silence before a wreath studded with white, purple and red flowers on display in front of the memorial benches that mark the 184 victims of the attack on the Pentagon.
Vice President Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, also took a moment of silence at the memorial. All four listened as a uniformed bugler played taps.
In remarks at a Pentagon ceremony on Saturday marking the 20th anniversary of the 11 September attacks, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that “we remember not just who our fallen teammates were, but the mission that they shared.”
“We recall their common commitment to defend our republic…and to squarely face new dangers.’’
Austin noted that “almost a quarter of the citizens who we defend today were born after 9/11,” including many of the 13 American service members killed in the recent attack in Afghanistan.
He said that “as the years march on, we must ensure that all our fellow Americans know and understand what happened here on 9/11..and in Manhattan…and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.”
The Pentagon chief said that “it is our responsibility to remember. And it is our duty to defend our democracy.”
“We cannot know what the next 20 years will bring. We cannot know what new dangers they will carry…But we do know that America will always lead.”
And to the audience at the Pentagon commemoration, the defense secretary said, “We still work here. We still remember here. We still uphold our values here. With clear heads and fearless hearts.”
– With Reuters
