Answer:
18 years later, America vows to 'never forget' 9/11Victims' relatives assembled at Ground Zero, where the observance began with a moment of silenceSep 11, 2019
By Karen Matthews and Jennifer Peltz
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Americans commemorated 9/11 with solemn ceremonies and vows Wednesday to "never forget" 18 years after the deadliest terror attack on American soil.
Victims' relatives assembled at ground zero, where the observance began with a moment of silence and the tolling of bells at 8:46 a.m. — the exact time a hijacked plane slammed into the World Trade Center's north tower.
A man holds a photo of a victim during a ceremony marking the 18th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, at the National September 11 Memorial, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
A man holds a photo of a victim during a ceremony marking the 18th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, at the National September 11 Memorial, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Deaths of 9/11 first responders from Ground Zero-related illnesses are on the rise
Returning the Ground Zero flag: How detectives solved the mystery of the missing Stars and Stripes
"As long as the city will gift us this moment, I will be here," Margie Miller, who lost her husband, Joel, said at the ceremony, which she attends every year. "I want people to remember."
After so many years of anniversaries, she has come to know other victims' relatives and to appreciate being with them.
"There's smiles in between the tears that say we didn't do this journey on our own, that we were here for each other," she said.
President Donald Trump laid a wreath at the Pentagon, telling victims' relatives there: "This is your anniversary of personal and permanent loss."
"It's the day that has replayed in your memory a thousand times over. The last kiss. The last phone call. The last time hearing those precious words, 'I love you,'" the president said.
Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to speak at the third crash site, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The nation is still grappling with the aftermath of 9/11. The effects are visible from airport security checkpoints to Afghanistan, where the post-9/11 U.S. invasion has become America's longest war.
Earlier this week, Trump called off a secret meeting at Camp David with Taliban and Afghan government leaders and declared the peace talks "dead." As the Sept. 11 anniversary began in Afghanistan, a rocket exploded at the U.S. Embassy just after midnight.
The political legacy of the 9/11 flowed into the ground zero ceremony, too.
After reading victims' names, Nicholas Haros Jr. used his turn at the podium to tear into Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota over her recent "Some people did something" reference to 9/11.
"Madam, objectively speaking, we know who and what was done," Haros, who lost his mother, Frances, said as he reminded the audience of the al-Qaida attackers.
"Our constitutional freedoms were attacked, and our nation's founding on Judeo-Christian values was attacked. That's what 'some people' did. Got that now?" he said to applause.
Omar, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, has said she didn't intend to minimize what happened on Sept. 11, and she accused critics of taking her words out of context.
Another relative at ground zero underscored that Muslims were among the dead. Zaheda Rahman called her uncle, Abul Chowdhury, a "proud Muslim-American man who lived his life with a carefree nature, a zeal for adventure and a tenacity which I emulate every single day."
Haros' remarks weren't the only political message to draw applause at ground zero. So did Debra Epps' plea for tighter gun laws.
"This country — in 18 years, you would think it had made changes to bring us to more peace. However, gun violence has gone rampant," said Epps, who lost her brother, Christopher.
The anniversary ceremonies center on remembering the nearly 3,000 people killed when hijacked planes slammed into the trade center, the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.
All those victims' names are read aloud at the ground zero ceremony by loved ones — now, quite often, ones so young they knew their slain relatives barely or not at all.
