Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke Saturday at a ceremony at the Pentagon to commemorate 20 years since the Sept. 11 attacks. “Nearly a quarter of the citizens we defend today were born after 9/11.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin remembers “fallen comrades” 20 years after the Sept. 11 Pentagon attack
Austin says, “We remember not only who our fallen comrades were, but also the mission they shared. We remember their shared commitment to defend our republic and confront new dangers head-on.”
Austin noted that “nearly a quarter of the citizens we defend today were born after 9/11,” including many of the 13 U.S. military personnel killed in the recent attack in Afghanistan.
He says that “as the years go forward, we must ensure that all of our fellow Americans know and understand what happened here on 9/11.”
The Pentagon chief says “it is our responsibility to remember. And it is our duty to defend our democracy.”
He says, “We cannot know what the next 20 years will bring. We cannot know what new dangers they will bring. But we know that America will always lead.”
In New York City, three presidents and their wives stood somberly side by side Saturday at the National September 11 Memorial, sharing a moment of silence to commemorate the anniversary of the nation’s worst terrorist attack with a show of unity.
Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton gathered at the site where the World Trade Center towers fell two decades ago.
They each wore blue ribbons and covered their hearts with their hands as a procession of flags paraded past the memorial, watched by hundreds of Americans gathered for remembrance.
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