In the presence of US President Joe Biden, New York commemorated the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on Saturday. Biden had previously called for national unity.
At 8:46 am (local time) the memorial ceremony began with the national anthem and a minute’s silence at “Ground Zero” – exactly at the time when Islamist terrorists drove the first of four hijacked aircraft into the north tower of the World Trade Center in south Manhattan 20 years ago had. In total, almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks.
Memory of “normal people”
After the minute’s silence, relatives began reading out the names of all victims. The attacks should not be remembered with numbers or dates, but “normal people” should be thought of, said Mike Low, whose daughter Sara had worked as a flight attendant on one of the planes. “For the past 20 years my family has experienced incredible suffering at the thought of lives that could no longer be lived.”
Low also recalled that people, especially rescue workers, “outgrown themselves” at that time. The reading of the names was interrupted by a second minute of silence – exactly at the time when a second plane had flown into the south tower on that September day 2001. Then the US musician Bruce Springsteen sang his song “I’ll See You In My Dreams”.
Biden’s call for national unity US President Joe Biden called for national unity in the run-up to the commemoration. That is the greatest strength of the United States in the face of need, he said in a pre-recorded address. Biden referred to the “darker forces of human nature – fear and anger, resentment and violence against Muslim Americans, against true and loyal followers of a peaceful religion”. This bent American unity, but did not break it. “For me, this is the central lesson of September 11th, that when we are most vulnerable (…) in the fight for the soul of America, unity is our greatest strength,” said Biden. “Unity does not mean that we have to believe the same thing. We have to have a fundamental respect for and trust in one another and in this nation.”
Biden paid tribute to those killed and injured in the attacks, as well as the firefighters, nurses and many other helpers who risked and in some cases lost their lives during rescue operations.
In addition to the President and First Lady Jill Biden, numerous relatives of the victims and survivors came to the memorial service at today’s memorial. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton were also present with their wives.
Another plane crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center during the attacks. Both towers then collapsed. A third machine directed the terrorists into the southwestern part of the US Department of Defense near Washington. Plane number four crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers resisted the hijackers. The mastermind behind the attacks, Osama bin Laden, was killed by US special forces in 2011.
dpa ka
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