Honor 9/11 Victims by Staying True to U.S. Values
(September 12, 2010) |
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| | WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2010 – President Barack Obama this
morning paid tribute to the 184 people who died in the
terrorist attack on the Pentagon nine years ago today,
saying America honors their sacrifice by holding firm to the
nation's ideals of unity and tolerance. |
“The perpetrators of this evil act didn't simply
attack America; they attacked the very idea of
America itself – all that we stand for and
represent in the world,” Obama told some 200
family members of 9/11 victims gathered at the
Pentagon Memorial. “And so the highest honor we
can pay those we lost -- indeed, our greatest
weapon in this ongoing war -- is to do what our
adversaries fear the most: to stay true to who
we are as Americans, to renew our sense of
common purpose, to say that we define the
character of our country and we will not let the
acts of some small band of murderers who
slaughter the innocent and cower in caves
distort who we are.”
Obama spoke at 9:34 a.m. at the same time and
place that the |
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Flanked by Defense
Secretary Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen,
President Barack Obama speaks at a Sept. 11,
2010, ceremony at the Pentagon Memorial marking
the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attack
that claimed the lives of 184 innocents at the
Pentagon. About 200 family members of victims
attended the private ceremony. DoD photo by R.D.
Ward |
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hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 slammed
into the Pentagon, and under strikingly similar
weather conditions: a cool, September morning
under a bright blue sky with the sun rising
brightly over the Pentagon roof to the south
side of the building. |
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Standing alongside Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Obama called the Sept. 11 anniversary a
reflection, unity and renewal.
“We gather to remember, at this sacred hour, on hallowed ground – at places
where we feel such grief and where our healing goes on,” he said.
While it's natural to dwell on the images of carnage from the attacks and the
final moments of the victims' lives, Obama told the families, “these memorials
and your presence today remind us to remember the fullness of their time on
Earth.
“They were fathers and mothers raising their families, brothers and sisters
pursuing their dreams, sons and daughters [with] their whole lives before them,”
he said. “They were civilians and servicemembers.”
Obama noted that the victims – nearly 3,000 from the attacks on the Pentagon, at
the World Trade Center in New York and aboard a hijacked plane that crashed in
Pennsylvania – were of all races and faiths. “They were Americans and people
from far corners of the world,” he said. “And they were snatched from us
senselessly and much too soon. But they lived well, and they live on through
you.”
The legacy of the 9/11 victims should be preserved by a renewed sense of common
purpose among Americans, and a conviction to not give in to an enemy that wants
to divide the nation, the president said.
“As Americans, we are not and never will be at war with Islam,” Obama said. “It
wasn't a religion that attacked us on that September day. It was al-Qaida – a
sorry band of men which perverts religion. And just as we condemn intolerance
and extremism abroad, so will we stay true to our traditions here at home as a
diverse and tolerant nation.”
In the past nine years, the United States has persevered, going on the offensive
to quash al-Qaida in Afghanistan, where the attacks were planned, Obama said.
“They may seek to strike fear in us, but they are no match for our resilience,”
he said.
“They may seek to exploit our freedoms, but we will not sacrifice the liberties
we cherish or hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust,” Obama said.
“Today we declare once more that we will never hand them that victory. As
Americans, we will keep alive the virtues and values that make us who we are and
who we must always be.” | |
By
Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010
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