UNITED STATES—President Donald Trump gave a memorial speech at the Pentagon Observance Ceremony, and Vice President Mike Pence gave a speech at Flight 93 Observance in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, September 11.
“Today our Nation honors and mourns the nearly 3,000 lives that were stolen from us on September 11, 2001. On these grounds, 184 people were murdered when al Qaeda terrorists overtook Flight 77 and crashed into the Pentagon. For every American who lived through that day, the September 11th attack is seared into our soul. It is a day filled with Shock, horror, sorrow, and righteous fury,” said President Trump.
“I vividly remember when I first heard the news,” the President added. “I was sitting at home watching a major business television show early that morning. Jack Welch, the legendary head of General Electric was about to be interviewed when all of a sudden they cut away. At first, there were different reports: It was a boiler fire, but I knew, boilers weren’t on top of the building. It was a kitchen explosion in Windows on the World. Nobody really knew what happened. There was great confusion.”
“I was looking out of a window in a building in Midtown, Manhattan directly at the World Trade Center, when I saw a second plane, at a tremendous speed, go into the second tower. It was then that I realized that the world was going to change. I was no longer going to be-and it could never, ever be that innocent place that I thought it was,” President Trump reflected.
“I went down to Ground Zero with some men who worked for me to try and help any little way that we could. We were not alone the President noted. So many others were scattered around trying to do the same. They were all trying to help,” Trump added.
“When they took off at 8:42 a.m., their day must have seemed like any other,” said Vice President Pence.
“They had no way of knowing that within 4 minutes, Flight 11 would hit the North Tower, within 21 minutes, United Flight 175 would hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center, and within 46 minutes, their own flight would be hijacked by terrorists determined to strike a 3rd attack on the Nation’s Capital,” Pence added.
“Passengers began calling their family members and reciting prayers and Bible verses before saying, ‘We have to do something’ and they sprang into action. At 10:03 a.m. Flight 93 plummeted to Earth, right here,” said Pence.
“Here at this Memorial, the names of 40 men and women are etched in marble. But I want to assure their precious families they are also carved into the hearts and memories of the American people,” added Pence.
