9/11 remembered

Americans across the country Tuesday commemorated the 17th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Nearly 3,000 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 hijackers crashed four planes in New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Shanksville, Pa. Victim’s relatives, rescuers, and survivors attended a memorial ceremony at New York’s World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. Tuesday morning, the time when the first plane slammed into the center’s north tower. Less than 20 minutes later, another plane crashed into the south tower, in total killing 2,606 people. Volunteers Tuesday read the names of the victims aloud.

Vice President Mike Pence attended a ceremony in Washington at the Pentagon, telling family members of the 184 people killed at the Department of Defense headquarters that the nation still grieves with them. He recalled the heroism of service members and civilians and spoke about the importance of each new generation understanding what happened, saying the terrorists “hoped to break our spirit and they failed.”

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended a ceremony at a new memorial near Shanksville, Pa., where California-bound United Flight 93 crashed after 40 passengers and crew members learned that terrorists had taken over the plane and tried to storm the cockpit. Everyone on board was killed. The president called the fallen a “band of brave patriots” who “took control of their destiny and changed the course of history” by stopping a possible attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“A piece of America’s heart is buried on these grounds, but in its place has grown a new resolve to live our lives with the same grace and courage as the heroes of Flight 93,” Trump said. “This field is now a monument to American defiance. This memorial is now a message to the world: America will never, ever submit to tyranny.”