President Donald Trump spoke Friday near near Shanksville, Penn., at the site of the Flight 93 memorial.
“The heroes of Flight 93 are an everlasting reminder. No matter the danger, no matter the threat, no matter the odds, America will always rise up, stand tall and fight back,” Trump said, according to Breitbart News. On Sept. 11, 2001, passengers on the doomed flight fought back against terrorist hijackers after learning from loved ones about the earlier attacks in Washington, D.C. and New York City. Flight 93, which took off from Newark, N.J. bound for San Francisco, was believed to have been headed to either the U.S. Capitol building or the White House.
Passengers on the flight overtook the Islamic terrorist hijackers and the plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people onboard, including passengers, crew, and the terrorists. The flight was only 20 minutes away from its target.
On the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the president, joined by First Lady Melania Trump, recalled their heroic actions.
“The 40 on Flight 93 did the most American of things, they took a vote and they acted together,” Trump said. “They charged the cockpit. They confronted the pure evil and in their last act on this earth they saved our Capitol.”
“The only thing that stood between the enemy and a deadly strike at the heart of American democracy was the courage and resolve of American men and women,” he continued. “They whispered the immortal words, ‘I love you.’ Today those words ring out across these sacred grounds and shine down from heaven above.”
The president also recalled America’s unity following the attacks. “It was a unity based on love for our families, care for our neighbors, loyalty to our fellow citizens, pride in our great flag, gratitude for our police and first responders, faith in God, and a refusal to bend our will to the depraved forces of violence and intimidation, oppression and evil,” he said.
White House staff and members of Congress also held a moment of silence Friday morning, as American flags across the nation and world were lowered to half-mast. The president and his wife also observed a moment of silence aboard Air Force One beginning at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane struck the World Trade Center, reports the New York Post.
Vice President Mike Pence and Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden both visited Ground Zero and the World Trade Center memorial in New York City, where Pence addressed a crowd at a ceremony.
“In the memory of all those we lost on this day 19 years ago.”
VP Mike Pence recites the Bible’s Psalm 23 at an NYC Memorial ceremony near Ground Zero #September11th pic.twitter.com/Rml3nH4TeJ
— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) September 11, 2020
“Let us also remember that honoring them is also about reminding us of who we are as Americans,” Harris said. “Because in times of tragedy, in times of despair, in times of suffering and pain, we, by our very nature as who we are, stand together. We stand together.”