Americans commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks

Large-scale 9/11 memorial events will be held across the U.S. on Saturday (local time), commemorating the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks. U.S. President Joe Biden will visit all three 9/11 memorial sites including Ground Zero in New York City, the Pentagon in Virginia, and the memorial outside Shanksville in Pennsylvania.

President Biden will visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum built on the site of Ground Zero at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. The names of the victims will be read by the bereaved families and a silent tribute will be paid to the victims at 8:46 a.m., the exact time when the first hijacked plane crashed into the northern façade of the World Trade Center’s North Tower 20 years ago.

In the afternoon, President Biden will visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, where the United Airlines Flight 93 crashed. After that, the president will attend a memorial ceremony at the Pentagon. President Biden is expected to offer a defense of his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and send a message to “end the Forever War” and move forward into the future while dealing with the threats of the 21st century. There will also be Tribute in Light event, where the twin beams reach into the sky from sunset to dawn on Sept. 11 every year. It is a commemorative event held at the World Trade Center, which was called the twin building.

A variety of events will be held across the country, including screenings of documentary film on terror attacks, commemorative concerts, and bell tolling at religious facilities. Former President George W. Bush, who was the president at the time of the attacks, will also visit Shanksville on a separate schedule to comfort the bereaved families. Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama will also attend the ceremony in New York.

The scars of the terror are still there. Even after 20 years, many Americans say that the 9/11 attacks have permanently changed their lives. There are all kinds of conspiracy theories on the attacks on the internet and the social media. This is part of the reason why President Biden recently signed an executive order that would release classified information about the attacks. The trials for the suspects of the attacks, who have been detained in Guantanamo, Cuba for 15 years, have not even begun. Some of the suspects have been imprisoned for a long time without clear evidence, causing a controversy on human rights abuse.


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