9/11 memorial news: Biden lays wreath at Pentagon as Trump teases 2024 run
Family members of victims read the names of those who died during the attacks
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Your support makes all the difference.Joe Biden visited the Pentagon to attend a wreath laying ceremony with First Lady Jill Biden. The president spent the majority of Saturday attending memorials, first at Ground Zero in New York, then at the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and finally at the Pentagon in Washington DC.
Mr Biden praised former President George W Bush’s speech during an unannounced stop at a Shanksville, Pennsylvania fire department. Mr Biden commended Mr Bush for encouraging American unity, calling it “a genuinely good speech, about who we are, we’re not.” He went on to say that “he core of who we are is not divided, it’s just this notion of, I don’t know how to explain it.”
Former President Donald Trump did not visit Ground Zero Saturday to attend the 20th anniversary ceremony commemorating the 9/11 terror attacks. He did release a video earlier in the day attacking Joe Biden for the Afghanistan troop withdrawal, and later visited an NYPD precinct where he visited with police officers. During his visit to the police precinct he hinted that he would run for president again in 2024.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President George W Bush addressed families at the United Airlines Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a memorial recognises passengers who brought down the plane after learning two others had been used to attack the World Trade Center in New York on 11 September, 2001.
An earlier ceremony at the site of the World Trade Center collapse in New York City recognised the victims who were killed, as the names of the nearly 3,000 victims were read aloud over several hours. Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton also attended the ceremony.
Joe Biden praises George W Bush’s speech on American unity
During a stop at a fire department in Shanksville, Pennsylvania - the site where Flight 93 was brought down by its passengers in an attempt to stop the 9/11 hijackers from using it as a weapon - Joe Biden praised former President George W Bush’s speech encouraging American unity.
“I thought President Bush made a really good speech today, a genuinely good speech, about who we are, we’re not—the core of who we are is not divided, it’s just this notion of, I don’t know how to explain it,” Mr Biden said.
Mr Bush also warned of the dangers of extremism, both foreign and “from within.” Many commentators have taken his speech as a condemnation of right-wing extremists like those that stormed the Capitol on 6 January, though he was not explicit in his speech.
Video of Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech at Flight 93 memorial
Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Flight 93 memorial on Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
During her visit she encouraged Americans to look to the unity of the past for inspiration, but noted that Americans must also “look to the future” to preserve the nation. Watch her speech below.
Survivors and family members of those lost on 9/11 recall the attacks
The Independent’s Josh Marcus spoke with survivors and family members of those who died on 9/11, recounting their tales of the past 20 years living in the shadow of the attack.
“On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, or the 20th commemoration as some prefer to call it, The Independent spoke with some of these survivors and family members. Their experiences are a mosaic, not a monolith,” he writes.
Read their stories below...
‘It’s still resonating’: 9/11 families on the last 20 unimaginable years
For those who lived through it, 9/11 remains an event too great for closure, writes Josh Marcus
9/11: 20 years of conflict and terror on Independent TV
Tune into Independent TV for a 20 year retrospective on the 9/11 terror attacks and the ensuing violence that resulted after the US went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Watch: 20 years of conflict and terror since 9/11
The 11 September, 2001 terror attacks spawned 20 years of international conflict and terrorism across much of the West and Middle East. The wars launched in Afghanistan and Iraq following 9/11 caused fragility in the region. The ensuing Arab Spring, Syrian civil war and rise of Isis exacerbated the bloodshed and chaos. The recent withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and subsequent swift takeover of the country by the Taliban has ensured that trouble in the region is far from over.
A look back on The Independent’s coverage of 9/11
The Independent’s Nathan Place examines the paper’s coverage of the 9/11 terror attacks 20 years ago, examining how reporters and columnists at made sense of the world-shaking event at the time.
“If I ever need to imagine what a nuclear hell must look like, I have seen it today. Hollywood could never conjure this. Thick smoke continues to fill the area, fed by fires on what was the No 7 building in the World Trade complex, a 40-storey block that collapsed later on Tuesday afternoon. Occasionally, the smoke clears to reveal the remains of the towers. Segments of what used to be the steel sheathing of the towers are standing, pointing upwards towards the sky like snapped-off teeth. Otherwise, nothing is recognisable.”
Read Nathan’s piece below...
A look back at how The Independent covered 9/11’s chilling aftermath
‘If I ever need to imagine what a nuclear hell must look like, I have seen it today,’ David Usborne wrote of Ground Zero in September 2001
Donald Trump suggests a 2024 presidential run is in the works as he visits NYPD officers on the 20th anniversary of 9/11
Though former President Donald Trump did not attend a memorial ceremony at Ground Zero on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, he did visit an NYPD precinct, where he told officers that they will be “very happy” if they are hoping to see him run for office again in 2024.
The Independent’s Alex Woodward examines Mr Trump’s not-so-subtle hint at his political future in the story below...
Trump hints at 2024 White House run after skipping 9/11 memorial
Former president is not expected to attend any formal memorial services as nation mourns thousands of lives on 20th anniversary
Joe Biden attends Pentagon wreath laying ceremony in Washington DC
Joe Biden is attending a wreath laying ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington DC, the third site struck by the 9/11 hijackers 20 years ago.
He is joined at the ceremony by Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
Read the incredible story of the “brothers for life” who were the only two people above the 175th floor of the World Trade Centre to survive
Brian Clark and Stanley Praimnath were the only people above the 175th floor of the World Trade Centre - the floor where one of the hijacked planes impacted the building - to survive on 9/11.
The Independent’s Nathan Place recounts the tale of how one of the men saved the other’s life and became “brothers for life” as they made their escape from the crumbling tower.
Businessman who escaped Twin Towers on 9/11 saved a life as he fled his office
Brian Clark was at work on the 84th floor of the World Trade Center when an airplane hit his office. Incredibly, he survived – and saved another man’s life
9/11 remembrance in photos
Biden lays wreath at Pentagon during 9/11 memorial
Joe Biden attended a memorial service at the Pentagon on Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Mr Biden was joined by his wife, First Lady Jill Biden as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
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