More than a decade after the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, President Obama on Thursday spoke at a dedication ceremony for the Sept. 11 Memorial Museum and said the courage of those who put their own lives on the line to save others will inspire future generations.
“Here we tell their story so that generations yet unborn will never forget — of coworkers who led other to safety. Passengers who stormed a cockpit. Men and women in uniform who rushed into an inferno. The first responders who charged up those stairs,” Mr. Obama said during brief remarks inside the museum. The president, first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton and others toured the memorial earlier in the morning.
“A generation of service members, our 9/11 generation, who have served with honor in more than a decade of war,” the president continued. “A nation that stands tall and united and unafraid because no act of terror can match the strength of the character of our country. Nothing can ever break us. Nothing can change who we are as Americans.”
The museum, at the site of Ground Zero in Manhattan, will open to the public May 21. It includes videos of the Twin Towers collapsing and other poignant tributes, as well as damaged New York City fire trucks and mementos from the heroes of that day.
Also on display are fragments of the planes that crashed into the towers, a teddy bear left at a makeshift memorial site in the days after the attack and information about the 19 hijackers.
The president and other speakers at Thursday’s ceremony said it can be difficult at times to relive the memories of Sept. 11, but the pain is overshadowed by the bravery of Americans and compassion of those from all over the world.
PHOTOS: National September 11 Museum dedication
“When you walk through this museum, what strikes you is how your emotions can feel sad at one moment and at the next moment you feel utterly astonished and grateful at how people from all over the world responded,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said. “It was as if the entire world came knocking on our door, cried with us and asked what they could do.”
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.