President Joe Biden is set to visit three sites that were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, on the 20th anniversary of the tragic day that took at least 2,977 lives and injured thousands more.
According to a release from the White House, Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will start the day in New York in a commemoration ceremony at the National September 11th Memorial, the site where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood before attacks that caused them to collapse.
From there, the Bidens will travel to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial, the site where United Flight 93 crashed into a field after passengers thwarted hijackers’ plans to hit another target.
Finally, the president and the first lady will join Vice President Kamala Harris and the Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon, the symbol of the U.S. military, the western façade of which was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
Biden is not scheduled to deliver a live address at any of the three sites. The president released a video late Friday, expressing hope for national unity and honoring the memories of the victims.
“In the days that followed September 11th, 2001, we saw heroism everywhere, in places expected and unexpected. We also saw something all too rare—a true sense of national unity,” Biden said in his recorded address.
“Unity is what makes us who we are. America at its best. To me, that’s the central lesson of September 11 … unity is our greatest strength,” he said later, adding, “Unity doesn’t mean we have to believe the same thing. But we must have a fundamental respect and faith in each other and in this nation.”
“May God bless you all. May God bless the lives lost on September 11th, 2001, and their loved ones who were left behind.”
