America Remembers Terror Victims, Honors 9/11

Carrying flags and photographs of loved ones, family members honored the memories of those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks a decade ago as the nation marked the solemn occasion with a set of ceremonies both patriotic and deeply personal.

At Ground Zero in lower Manhattan and at the Pentagon outside Washington, moments of silence were observed to commemorate when Al Qaeda inflicted a day of terror on America at those sites. U.S. officials and family members of victims afterward devoted remarks to remembering those who died, while honoring the first responders who saved lives that day and the members of the U.S. military still fighting.

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The U.S. flag is unfurled at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Sept. 11.

"The true legacy of 9/11 is that our spirit is mightier," Vice President Biden said outside the Pentagon, the flag draped over the wall behind him. He said the attacks galvanized a "9/11 generation of warriors" to fight back.

At the three sites where hijacked planes crashed and at countless smaller ceremonies across the country, Americans found a way to remember the tragedy. At Ground Zero in lower Manhattan, family members read aloud the names of loved ones. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg invoked the moment of silence citywide at 8:46 a.m. ET, when Flight 11 struck the North Tower a decade ago. After a reading by President Obama from Psalm 46, family members of victims walked in pairs to a podium at Ground Zero to read their names -- more than 300 people will step to the podium throughout the day to remember loved ones.

"Ten years have passed since a perfect blue sky morning turned into the blackest of nights," Bloomberg said Sunday morning. "Since then, we've lived in sunshine and in shadow."

The heart-wrenching ceremony was punctuated by remarks from family members. Peter Negron devoted a few minutes to honoring the memory of his father, Pete, who died in the World Trade Center attacks. "I wish my dad had been there to teach me how to drive, ask a girl out on a date, and see me graduate from high school," he said. "I miss you so much, dad."

Former President George W. Bush also read from a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to a Civil War widow 150 years ago.

At the Pentagon, the American flag was unfurled over the side of the building at dawn. It will stay there until sunset. Dignitaries observed a moment of silence at 9:37 a.m. ET, the time when that building was hit.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the attacks proved that while America's enemies could kill its citizens, they "could not kill our citizenship." He praised the 2 million men and women who have deployed since the attacks.

"All of them have remained dedicated to making sure a day like that never happens again," Mullen said.

In what Biden described as a "stark and vivid reminder this war continues," a Taliban truck bomb struck a U.S. base in Afghanistan on the eve of the anniversary, wounding nearly 80 American soldiers and killing two Afghan civilians. Amid the chaos, coalition forces were conducting a memorial service in Afghanistan Sunday morning.

From New York, the president will travel to Shanksville, Pa., where airline passengers fought back against hijackers and drove a plane into the ground. It was believed the hijackers intended to fly the jet into the White House or the Capitol.

Obama also plans to lay a wreath at the Pentagon and speak at a Sunday evening service at the Kennedy Center.

At the dedication of the Flight 93 National Memorial near the town of Shanksville on Saturday, former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and Biden joined the families of the 40 passengers and crew aboard the jet who fought back against their hijackers.

"The moment America's democracy was under attack our citizens defied their captors by holding a vote," Bush said.

Their choice cost them their lives.

The passengers and crew gave "the entire country an incalculable gift: They saved the Capitol from attack," an untold amount of lives and denied Al Qaeda the symbolic victory of "smashing the center of American government," Clinton said.

On Saturday, the president stopped at Arlington National Cemetery to visit graves of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the two long wars he inherited and is beginning to wind down. He also spent time with his family working at a soup kitchen, and called on other Americans also to participate in a day of service.

Throughout the day, the president and his national security team tracked a tip about a possible attack being planned by Al Qaeda for New York or Washington to coincide with the anniversary, but U.S. intelligence did not find evidence that terrorists had been sneaked into the country to carry out such a strike.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: FoxNews.com