Tags : 9/11
Nation Honors 9/11 Victims With Memorial Events; Obama Speaks At Pentagon
Washington, D.C. (AHN) – The United States marks the anniversary of 9/11 on Friday with ceremonies in New York, Virginia and Washington. President Barack Obama leads an event at the Pentagon Memorial, while Vice President Joe Biden will attend the annual event in New York City. September 11th has been designated as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.
The President and First Lady Michelle Obama will observe a moment of silence at the White House at 8:46 am ET, the exact time eight years ago when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. They then both travel to Arlington, where the President will lay a wreath and deliver remarks at the Pentagon Memorial.
The $22 million memorial was built near the west wall of the Pentagon, where Flight 77 crashed, killing all 59 people on board and 125 military and civilian personnel at the Pentagon. It consists of 184 stainless steel benches, each inscribed with a name of a victim and constructed over a small pool of water.
In New York, Biden and Second Lady Jill Biden will take part in the city’s September 11th Commemoration Ceremony at Zuccotti Park. Names of the victims at the World Trade Center will be read following tradition, but this year the reading will be done by family members paired with volunteers to commemorate the day as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.
Four moments of silence will be observed to mark the times when each tower was hit, when each structure collapsed.
In Pennsylvania, where 40 people died after Flight 93 was thwarted by passengers from hitting the U.S. Capitol and instead crashed on Skyline Road in Shanksville, the National Park Service and family members of hold a morning service. There will be tolling of the Bells of Remembrance and speakers include former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Homeland Security Sec. Tom Ridge, and Gen. Tommy Franks, former commander of the U.S. Central Command.
Four planes hijacked by terrorists crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001. A total of 2,973 people died. The United States launched its War on Terror and invaded Afghanistan the next month in pursuit of al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
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