September 12, 2022 20:23 PM
U.S. President Joe Biden held a ceremony to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the “9·11” terrorist attack at the Pentagon on the 11th local time.
[China News Agency]US President Biden said at the 21st anniversary ceremony of the “9.11” terrorist attack held at the Pentagon on the 11th local time that the 20-year war in Afghanistan has passed, but the United States is not afraid of another terrorist attack. Commitment has no deadline.
This is the first time Biden has attended the “9.11” anniversary ceremony at the Pentagon as president. According to convention, the president and vice president of the United States will rotate every year to attend official commemorative activities in New York, the Pentagon or Pennsylvania on the “9.11” anniversary. On the same day, US First Lady Jill Biden went to Shanksville, Pennsylvania to attend a commemorative event, and Vice President Harris went to New York World Trade Center Heritage Square to attend the memorial.
The Pentagon’s memorial service was held in the rain. Biden first came to the “9.11” Memorial Park on the southwest side of the Pentagon and laid a wreath at the memorial to the victims. Twenty-one years ago, terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and attempted to ram into the Pentagon, eventually killing 184 people, including 59 passengers on board, and damaging the southwest wing of the Pentagon.
At the beginning of the memorial ceremony, the soldiers of honor read out the names of each of the victims one by one, and rang the bells in condolences.
At 9:37 on September 11, 2001, the impact of the plane caused the corridor connecting the southwest corner of the Pentagon to collapse and burst into flames, and smoke billowed from the room. Secretary of Defense Austin told the story of a survivor who struggled to rescue a colleague at the memorial service. “Climb on my back and I’ll carry you out: that’s the spirit of the Pentagon, and that’s how everyone at the scene reacted.”
Biden then delivered a speech expressing his determination to continue fighting terrorism. He said that in the past 21 years, everything has changed, but the determination of the United States to protect its own security has never wavered, and the determination to bring terrorists to justice has never wavered.