Biden comforts Flight 93 families
On a bright, blue-sky morning reminiscent of Sept. 11, 2001, more than 1,000 people gathered at the Flight 93 National Memorial to mark the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Vice President Joe Biden said the nation will always remember the sacrifice of the 40 passengers and crew members who fought terrorists to thwart an attack on the nation's capital, bringing the jetliner down into a Somerset County field.
“They gave us our first glimpse of hope. They reminded us how to bind together and fight back,” said Patrick White, the cousin of passenger Louis J. Nacke II.
At memorials erected in the Somerset field, at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, thousands were gathered as the names were read of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks.
“Most of the Americans we lost that day had never considered the possibility that a small band of terrorists halfway around the world could do us such harm,” President Obama told a gathering at the Pentagon. “Most had never heard the name al-Qaida. And yet, it's because of that sacrifice that we've come together and dealt a crippling blow to the organization that brought evil to our shores.”
The president and first lady Michelle Obama attended a ceremony on the south lawn of the White House before laying a white wreath at the Pentagon.
In New York and Somerset, mourners traced fingers over the names of those lost, now engraved in memorial walls.
As bagpipes played, families holding balloons, flowers and photos bowed their heads in silence at 8:46 a.m., the moment the first hijacked jetliner hit the trade center's north tower.
At 10:03, the moment Flight 93 crashed, families read the victims' names.
Biden invoked the words of poet William Butler Yeats: “Pray I will and sing I must, And yet I weep ...”
“What they did is still etched in our minds — not only yours, but millions of Americans. It's so important that we always remember,” Biden told families of Flight 93 victims.
In the past year, more than 350,000 people have visited the crash site, according to Jeff Reinbold, superintendent of the National Park Service Western Pennsylvania,
“This is a place where Americans can celebrate the spirit of America and heroes who rose up and protected the United States of America,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told those gathered.
Jerry Bingham, father of passenger Mark Bingham, said he finds comfort when others pause to remember.
“That's the amazing thing. People care. It happened on Sept. 11, and it's still happening,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
