Trump marks anniversary of 9/11 by attending Flight 93 memorial

Ns News Online Desk: A somber President Trump marked the 17 years since the worst terrorist attack on US soil by visiting the Pennsylvania field that became a Sept. 11 memorial. “Some of you here today answered the call and raced to this field 17 years ago. You fill our hearts with pride, and I want to thank you on behalf of our country,” the president said at the service in Shanksville.

“Most importantly, to the family members of Flight 93, today, all of America wraps up and joins together. We close our arms to help you shoulder your pain and to carry your great, great sorrow. Your tears are not shed alone, for they are shared grief with an entire nation,” Trump said, speaking reverently in a unifying message.

“We grieve together for every mother and father, sister and brother, son and daughter, who was stolen from us at the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and here in this Pennsylvania field. We honor their sacrifice by pledging to never flinch in the face of evil and to do whatever it takes to keep America safe.” He also praised the heroic passengers who burst into the cabin, forcing the al Qaeda hijackers to crash the jet before it reached its target, believed to be the White House.

Nearly 3,000 people died on 9/11 when other airplanes were flown into New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in an attack planned by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Nearly a decade later, bin Laden was killed in May 2011 during a US military operation ordered by President Barack Obama. Trump, a New York native making his first appearance at the Shanksville site, was accompanied by first lady Melania Trump.