President Joe Biden marked the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, taking part in a sombre wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon held under steady rain and paying tribute to “extraordinary Americans” who gave their lives on one of the nation's darkest days.
Sunday's ceremony occurred a little more than a year after Biden ended the long and costly war in Afghanistan that the US and allies launched in response to the terror attacks.
Biden noted that even after the United States left Afghanistan that his administration continues to pursue those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Last month, Biden announced the US had killed Ayman al-Zawahri, the al-Qaida leader who helped plot the Sept. 11 attacks, in a clandestine operation.
“We will never forget, we will never give up,” Biden said. “Our commitment to preventing another attack on the United States is without end.”
The president was joined by family members of the fallen, first responders who had been at the Pentagon on the day of the attack, as well as Defense Department leadership for the annual moment of tribute carried out in New York City, the Pentagon and Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
The president also remembered the words of comfort Queen Elizabeth II, who died last week, sent to the American people soon after the 2001 attacks: “Grief is the price we pay for love." Biden said those words remain as poignant as they did 21 years ago but the weight of loss also remains heavy.
“On this day, when the price feels so great, Jill and I are holding all of you close to our hearts,” Biden said.
First lady Jill Biden spoke to a crowd at the Flight 93 National Memorial Observance in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where she recalled the concern she had about her sister Bonny Jacobs, a United Airlines flight attendant.
She said the attacks showed that “with courage and kindness we can be a light in that darkness.”
“It showed us that we are all connected to one another,” said Biden, who was joined by her sister in Shanksville for Sunday's commemoration. “So as we stand on this sacred and scarred earth, a record of our collective grief and a monument to the memories that live on each day, this is the legacy we much carry forward: Hope that defies hate.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband attended a commemoration ceremony at the National September 11th Memorial in New York.
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