A memorial service was held at the US Department of Defense (Pentagon), one of the structures attacked, on the 21st anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The ceremony was attended by US President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, families of those killed in the attack and senior officers.
Biden, in his speech at the ceremony, the Queen of England, who died on September 8, II. It reminded me of the message Elizabeth sent to the American people on the day of the September 11 attacks.
Joe Biden said, “It was 9/11 (Queen Elizabeth’s) Ambassador read that message at a mass prayer at St. Thomas Church in New York City. Here he reminded us of a meaningful quote, ‘grief is the price we pay for love’. Grief, “It’s the price we pay for love, and you’ve all experienced grief. You feel that price deeply.”
Reminding that hundreds of thousands of US soldiers fought in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 21 years after the September 11 attacks, Biden said that 10 years after the attack, they killed Osama bin Laden, the ringleader of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, who was held responsible for September 11, and that they killed bin Laden during the attack last summer. He stated that they killed Eymen ez-Zawahiri, who was the deputy of the group and later the leader of al-Qaeda.
Reminding that they ended the 20-year occupation of Afghanistan, Biden said that they did not give up the fight against terrorism and that they were determined against any focus that could threaten the American people.
“We will continue to monitor and prevent these terrorist activities wherever they may be found, and we will never hesitate to do what is necessary to defend the American people. Whatever was destroyed, we repaired. We strengthened the threatened. The indomitable spirit that was attacked has never been shaken,” Biden said.
General Milley, the Chief of Staff of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that the families of those who lost their lives in the September 11 attack or the counter-terrorism activities after the attack made a great sacrifice.
Mark Milley noted:
- Terrorists believed that they could destroy us, that they would destroy our values that bind this nation together, and they were wrong. Terror will never destroy us. They will never be able to destroy this idea. This idea is America. They will never be able to dispel the idea that we are all American, regardless of where we come from, what our last name is, what color our skin is, or what religion we belong to.
In his speech, US Secretary of Defense Austin reminded that where they were found 21 years ago was covered in smoke, fire and ruins and that those who managed to survive there made great sacrifices to help those who were under the ruins.
Expressing that the USA ended its war in Afghanistan last year, Austin stated that his country will continue to fight terrorism with determination.
WHAT HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001?
On the morning of September 11, New York, the heart of the American financial system, awoke to the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers.
After the hijacking of 4 passenger planes taking off from Newark, Boston and Washington to San Francisco and Los Angeles, the hijacked passenger plane of American Airlines bound for Los Angeles crashed into the northern building of the Twin Towers at 08:46 local time. While the north tower was in flames, another hijacked plane belonging to United Airlines crashed into the south tower on live broadcast, exactly 17 minutes after the first attack.
After the attacks, which both the USA and the whole world watched live, the twin towers collapsed in front of millions of people within minutes and Manhattan Island was covered with dust clouds.
Another plane hijacked after the attacks on the Twin Towers crashed into the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) building.
The last hijacked plane was shot down by F-16s in rural Pennsylvania.
A total of 2,977 people lost their lives in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, excluding 19 attackers who hijacked the planes as a result of the September 11 attacks.
Immediately after the attacks, the USA invaded Afghanistan first and then Iraq. Within the scope of the global war against terrorism initiated by the USA, more than 1 million people lost their lives, tens of thousands of people from different countries were arrested and tortured by the USA.
The US army withdrew from occupied Iraq in 2011 and from Afghanistan in 2021.