From left, former President Bill Clinton, former First Lady Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg’s partner Diana Taylor, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., stand for the national anthem during the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on Saturday, Sept. 11, in New York. PHOTO: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL PHOTO VIA AP
The terrorist attacks which remain the deadlist in human history involved the hijacking and crashing of four airliners at strategic locations in the States leading to the death of nearly 3,000 people and destruction of properties worth over $10 billion.
Two of the airplanes were crashed separately into the twin towers at the Word Trade Centre in New York City, the third one was crashed into the Pentagon, the U.S military headquarters at Arlington, Virginia while the last one went down at a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania while some heroic passengers fought with the hijackers in an attempt to regain the control of the aircraft.
As the Country marks 20 Years after the dastardly and highly unfortunate incident, President Joe Biden alongside other top U.S leaders on Saturday led Americans to the three memorials constructed at the crash sites in honour of the lost souls to take a pause and reflect on the day.
The first place to visit was the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Centre in New York City to pay tributes to the victims of the American Airlines Flight 11 and the United Airlines Flight 175 which crashed into the North and South Towers of the Centre respectively, leading to the collapse of the two buildings.
President Biden later from there headed to the United Airlines Flight 93 Memorial at Shanksville, Pennsylvania before returning to the Flight 77 memorial at Pentagon, the U.S military headquarters.
People killed in the attacks also included hundreds of fire fighters and scores of security officers who lost their lives at the Trade Centre in the course of rescue of operations.
Earlier on Friday evening in a Twitter video post, President Biden reflected on the 9/11 with a message on national unity.
"In the days that followed Sept. 11, 2001, we saw heroism everywhere, in places expected and unexpected. We also saw something all too rare: a true sense of national unity.
“In the battle for the soul of America, unity is our greatest strength. Unity doesn’t mean we have to believe the same thing, but we must have a fundamental respect and faith in each other and in this nation.
“The 9/11 generation is stepping up to serve and protect in the face of terror, to show everyone seeking to do harm to the America that we will hunt you down and we will make you pay", the President said.
Vice President Kamala Harris while honouring the 9/11 victims at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania remarked that they embodied heroism. She further noted that the experience reminded the Americans of the significance of their unity as a nation.
"In a time of outright terror, we turned toward each other. In the face of a stranger, we saw a neighbour and a friend. That reminded us of the significance and the strength of our unity as Americans", she said.
Former Republican President, George W. Bush in his remarks at the 9/11 20th anniversary in Shanksville Pennsylvania, also appealed for national unity.
"On America's day of trial and grief, I saw millions people instinctively grab for a neighbour's hand and rally to to the cause of one another. That is the America I know.
"There was horror at the scale of destruction and awe at the bravery and kindness that rose to meet it. There was shock at the audacity of of evil and gratitude for the heroism and decency that opposed it", George said.
The former president who hardly spent a year in office when the attacks took place added that the incident brought out the true American spirit.
"In the sacrifice of the first responders and the mutual aid of strength in solidarity of grief and grace, the actions of an enemy revealed the spirit of a people. We were proud of our wounded nation", he said.
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