The president of the United States, Joe Biden, remembered this Monday the 2,977 victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and did so from the military base in Anchorage, Alaska, calling for the unity of all Americans and expressed gratitude to those who helped in the relief efforts.
Biden also talked about how the country recovered from a blow as strong as the other and did it by returning to his common message of “the soul of the United States”, as he has done on other occasions since the reign in 2021, which refers to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
“Terrorists stole over 2,000 lives from us that day, touched many families, marked the history of the country, but terrorists cannot touch what the enemy cannot touch… the soul of the United States ,” he said.
So Biden became the first president to celebrate September 11 in Alaska. He and his predecessors have almost always gone to one or the other center of the attack in the 22 years since the attack, although Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama sometimes commemorate the anniversary from White House lawn. Obama followed up one of those celebrations by recognizing the military with a visit to Fort Meade in Maryland.
President Biden assured that today the US intelligence community has determined that threats from Al Qaeda – the organization that claimed responsibility for the attacks – and terrorist groups are at their lowest point in history.
Chimes at Ground Zero
Bells tolled at Ground Zero and solemn tributes unfolded across the country as Americans on Monday remembered the horror and legacy of 9/11.
At ground zero, Vice President Kamala Harris joined other dignitaries at the memorial plaza for the attacks. Instead of speeches from political figures, the ceremony featured survivors reading the names of the deceased, accompanied by short personal messages.
Others include patriotic statements about American values ​​and thanks to first responders and the military. One praised the Navy SEAL commando who killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. Another called for peace and justice. One acknowledges the many lives lost in the “war on terror” launched after the attacks. Many shared personal reflections on how they miss their loved ones.
People gathered at memorials, fire stations, city halls, campuses and other places to mark the 22nd anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil. Nearly 3,000 people died when hijacked planes crashed into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the attack changed American foreign policy and domestic fears. .
“For those of us who lost people that day, that day still goes on. Everything goes on. And you find a way to move on, but that day always happens for you,” said Edward Edelman in the he arrived at ground zero to honor his brother-in-law who was killed, Daniel McGinley.
On that day “we are one nation, one nation, one people, as it should be. That’s the feeling: that we’re all pulling together and doing what we can, where we are, to try to help,” said Eddie Ferguson, Goochland County fire chief in Virginia.
Some communities across the country are honoring moments of silence, ringing bells, candlelight vigils and other activities. In Columbus, Indiana, 911 dispatchers broadcast a memorial message over radios to police, fire and emergency medical services throughout the city of 50,000, which also held a public memorial service.
As another way of commemorating the anniversary, many Americans volunteer on Congressional designated Patriot Day and the National Day of Service and Remembrance.
First lady Jill Biden laid a wreath at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon.
In Pennsylvania, where one of the hijacked planes crashed after passengers tried to storm the cockpit, a memorial service and wreath laying was held at the National Flight 93 Memorial in Stoystown, operated by the National Park Service.
