US President Joe Biden will visit each of the locations where hijacked planes crashed in 2001 on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The anniversary comes only a few months after the end of the US-led war in Afghanistan, which began 20 years ago to eradicate al Qaeda, which was responsible for 9/11.
Biden will start the day in New York, where he will attend a ceremony at 8:30 a.m. EDT at the site where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood before they were destroyed. Biden’s next stop will be Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Flight 93 crashed into a field after passengers overpowered the hijackers and prevented another target from being attacked.
Finally, Biden will travel to Washington to pay a visit to the Pentagon, a symbol of American military strength that was pierced by one of the aircraft used as missiles that day.
Biden is not slated to speak at any of the memorials, but he did release a video on Friday expressing his sympathies to the victims’ families and highlighting the national unity that arose, at least initially, in the aftermath of 9/11.
“It’s so hard. Whether it’s the first year or the 20th, children have grown up without parents and parents have suffered without children… No matter how much time has passed, and these commemorations bring everything painfully back, as if you just got the news a few seconds ago.” Biden said.
On the anniversary of 9/11, US presidents frequently visit one of the three attack sites, although it is uncommon for them to visit all three on the same day. After also enduring devastating family losses, Biden is at ease in the position of consoling those who have lost loved ones in the tragic attack.
Many relatives of 9/11 victims requested Biden to avoid 20th-anniversary commemorations unless he disclosed papers they believe indicate Saudi Arabian leaders were complicit in the attacks. The president ordered the Justice Department to evaluate records from the FBI investigation into the attacks for declassification and publication last week.
