Trump, Biden Mark 19th Anniversary of September 11 Attacks | Your World Daily

(Sept. 11) Americans commemorated 9/11 on Friday as a new national crisis — the coronavirus pandemic — reconfigured anniversary ceremonies and a presidential campaign carved a path through the observances.

In New York, victims’ relatives gathered Friday morning for split-screen remembrances, one at the Sept. 11 memorial plaza at the World Trade Center and another on a nearby corner, set up by a separate organization.

The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation objected to the memorial’s decision to forgo a longstanding tradition of having relatives read the names of the dead, often adding poignant tributes. Memorial leaders said they made the change as a coronavirus-safety precaution on the 19th anniversary of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil.

Kathy Swift arrived early at the alternative ceremony a few blocks away, wearing a T-shirt honoring her slain brother, Thomas Swift, who worked in finance.

“We still have to remember,” said Swift, 61. “The whole country’s going downhill. It’s one thing after another, and now with the COVID. I’m glad they’re still having this, though.”

President Donald Trump addressed a ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pause for a moment of silence on Air Force One as he arrives at the airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on his way to speak at the Flight 93 National Memorial (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“The heroes of Flight 93 are an everlasting reminder that no matter the danger, no matter the threat, no matter the odds, America will always rise up, stand tall, and fight back,” the Republican president said, recalling how the plane’s crew and passengers tried to storm the cockpit as the hijackers as headed for Washington.

Biden planned to pay respects at the election battleground state’s Flight 93 memorial in the afternoon. Earlier, he attended the observance at the 9/11 memorial in New York, exchanging an elbow bump with Vice President Mike Pence before the ceremony began with the usual tolling of a bell.

Mounted police officers sit outside the Visitor's Center at the Flight 93 National Memorial (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Biden offered condolences to a woman he spotted crying in the crowd of hundreds, Amanda Barreto, who lost her aunt and godmother in the attacks. Barreto, 27, said Biden “wanted to let me know to keep the faith” and “wanted me to say strong,” telling her he understood what it meant to lose a loved one. His first wife and their daughter died in a 1972 car crash, and his son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015.

Biden didn’t speak at the ceremony, which has a longstanding custom of not allowing politicians to make remarks.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden greets Vice President Mike Pence at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York (Amr Alfiky/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Pence went on to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation ceremony, where he read the Bible’s 23rd Psalm, and his wife, Karen, read a passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes.

“For the families of the lost and friends they left behind, I pray these ancient words will comfort your heart and others,” said the vice president, drawing applause from the crowd of hundreds.

In short, the anniversary of 9/11 is a complicated occasion in a maelstrom of a year, as the U.S. grapples with a health crisis, searches its soul over racial injustice and prepares to choose a leader to chart a path forward.

Still, families say it’s important for the nation to pause and remember the hijacked-plane attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people at the trade center, at the Pentagon in Washington and near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001 — shaping American policy, perceptions of safety and daily life in places from airports to office buildings.

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