America remembers 9/11 20 years later: LIVE UPDATES
Twenty years after terrorists attacked U.S. soil, leaving thousands of Americans dead on Sept. 11, 2001, the nation reflects on everyone and everything lost, how it has changed the country and where America is now.
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The Taliban raised their flag over the Afghan presidential palace Saturday, a spokesman said, as the U.S. and the world marked the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The white banner, emblazoned with a Quranic verse, was hoisted by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the prime minister of the Taliban interim government, in a low-key ceremony, said Ahmadullah Muttaqi, multimedia branch chief of the Taliban’s cultural commission.
The flag-raising marked the official start of the work of the new government, he said. The composition of the all-male, all-Taliban government was announced earlier this week and was met with disappointment by the international community which had hoped the Taliban would make good on an earlier promise of an inclusive lineup.
Celebrities including Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Garner, and Ryan Reynolds took to social media to honor the victims of 9/11 on the 20th anniversary of the deadly attacks.
On Sept. 11, 2021, Americans showed that despite the years that have passed since the Twin Towers fell, the victims will never be forgotten.
Jacob deGrom stood next to Gerrit Cole along the first-base line, and Brandon Nimmo wedged between Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton on the other side.
Shoulder to shoulder and interspersed, players from the New York Mets and Yankees shared the diamond during the national anthem Saturday night at Citi Field with first responders, former players and a giant ribbon imprinted with the American flag.
"As one unified New York," said public address announcer Marysol Castro.
Pete Gersten, call sign Gunz, was trained to fly F16s. He spent most of the last two decades of his life hunting al Qaeda, and oversaw the air campaign against ISIS.
"I think 9/11 changed everybody," Gersten told Fox News on the eve of the 20th anniversary when asked how the September 11 attack, the largest terror attack the world had ever seen, changed him personally and how it changed the U.S. military and those who served.
Gersten was a Major in the Air Force one corridor away from where the plane hit the Pentagon. His commander told him to get back to work after the first plane hit the World Trade Center.
Former Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens spoke with Jon Scott about his experience following the September 11 terrorist attacks 20 years ago.
Clemens opened by remarking on his reaction to hearing many people’s accounts of the attacks on 9/11, especially the now-grown children of the victims.
"For me, just hearing from the 20-year-old kids that had lost their parents throughout all this has been really a treat for me to hear now that they are young adults, and it’s something we’ve got to continue to keep the younger generation aware of, like I said, so you never forget. Again, to hear their stories is remarkable," Clemens said.
There is a slow moving 9/11 developing here in Ukraine, a threat that if mishandled could produce death and destruction equal to or greater than what the United States endured, and the world witnessed in horrified shock and disbelief twenty years ago.
So concluded many participants at a gathering of former heads of state, current political leaders, historians, and journalists at a conference here in Kiev organized by Victor Pinchuk and the Yalta European Strategy (YES) group he founded 17 years ago.
References to 9/11 were often heard at this two-day gathering – one of the first such summits since Europe has slowly emerged from the protracted pandemic-induced lockdown that has put foreign travel off-limits to all but the vaccinated and concern about emerging new virus variants palpable.
Alan Jackson revealed the inspiration behind his hit song "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)" as the world marked 20 years since the attacks of 9/11.
The 62-year-old musician released the song in the months following the deadly terrorist attacks.
"Well, I don't know I think I was probably like most people that were impacted with that day and the months that followed," Jackson said in a video shared to Twitter.
Harrison Fields was only five years old when his mother, an NYPD detective serving in the Medical Examiner’s office, responded to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, an event that has left him and many others with a "feeling of fear" 20 years later.
"On that blue-sky morning, I remember St. Joseph's Catholic School going on lockdown and there being an immediate concern in the air. My teacher rolled a TV into the classroom, and before my eyes were two familiar structures on fire," Fields recalled in an opinion piece for Fox News.
While at the time he was "confused" about the situation, Fields said the "confusion soon turned into worry as I remembered that my mom worked near those smoking buildings."
CNN's Brian Stelter was ratioed for tweeting out a piece from the Associated Press claiming network TV anchors were "the closest thing that America had to national leaders on 9/11."
"Most Americans were guided through the unimaginable by one of three anchors: Tom Brokaw of NBC News, Peter Jennings of ABC and Dan Rather of CBS," AP writer David Bauder wrote.
Stelter added his own two cents that "political leaders were in bunkers or otherwise out of sight" during the terror attacks, which occurred 20 years ago on Saturday.
Stelter's critics, which included some prominent figures like Meghan McCain, hopped online to remind him of the heroics of first responders, and the decisive leadership of U.S. officials, most notably former President George W. Bush.
While it has been 20 years since the September 11 terror attacks, the images of the day are indelible on American memory.
First responders and New York City residents emerged from the area, covered in a thick gray soot that rained down on the site.
Of the nearly 3,000 people killed, the NYPD suffered 23 fatalities, 37 members of the PAPD were lost and 343 FDNY members were killed: the largest loss of life of any emergency response agency in history, according to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
The Associated Press Planner Twitter account deleted a tweet identifying September 11 as the anniversary of a Nickelback album, admitting it was in "poor taste."
On September 10, the account, which monitors upcoming significant events, sent out a tweet regarding September 11, 2021 as the 20th anniversary of the Canadian metal band Nickelback's third album.
"Tomorrow: 20th anniversary of Nickelback releasing album ‘Silver Side Up’ (11 Sep)," the AP Planner tweeted.
Fox Corporation announced it will be making a $1 million donation to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a non-profit organization that honors fallen firefighter Stephen Siller, who sacrificed himself to save others on Sept. 11, 2001. Saturday marked 20 years since the terror attacks that forever changed America.
The donation will support injured first responders, military heroes and their families.
Tunnel to Towers CEO Frank Siller, brother of the fallen 9/11 hero, joined "The Five" Saturday to remember Stephen's sacrifice.
Toby Keith honored 20 years since the attacks of 9/11 by encouraging fans to "never forget" the tragic day.
The 60-year-old musician shared a video Saturday on Twitter.
"On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, let's all gather our families together and pray that God will keep us safe for the rest of our lives and forever here in the great United States of America," Keith said in the video.
President Biden on Saturday again defended the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, arguing that the vast majority of Americans wanted to get out -- and asking "How else could you get out?"
Biden was speaking to reporters in Shanksville, Pa., on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and was asked about whether the withdrawal of the U.S. forces at the end of August marks a new phase for the country.
"If you had told anybody that we were going to spend $300 million a day for 20 years to try to unite the country after we got [Usama] bin Laden, after al Qaeda was wiped out there," he said. "Can al Qaeda come back? Yeh but guess what? It's already back in other places."
Police in Washington, D.C. detained two people following reports of a suspicious vehicle near the Tidal Basin on the National Mall.
On Saturday, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Metro Police Department confirmed to Fox News they are assisting the U.S. Park Police near the Tidal Basin conducting a sweep of a suspicious vehicle and one individual has been detained.
On the day marking 20 years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, St. Louis' Forest Park is paying tribute to the heroes who lost their lives that day, as well as the servicemen and women who went to war soon after, by displaying more than 7,500 American flags.
The tribute display revealed earlier this week, put on by Flags of Valor – a veteran-owned, veteran-operated, and veteran-made company – will remain on Art Hill in St. Louis through Sept. 12.
Attached to each flag is the name of a victim who lost their lives as a result of the attacks, whether on the ground in America or in the war overseas.
Those of us old enough to remember Sept. 11, 2001, will never forget it. We watched the horrific nightmare unfold in real time right before our eyes and stop our country in its tracks. Every detail of that day is forever etched in our memories.
An entire nation was brought to its knees in grief, but also – for however briefly – we were all united in love for one another and in a steadfast resolve.
Two decades later that date is now solidified in our kids’ history books as one of our generation’s darkest days in spite of the beautiful clear blue sky we woke up to that morning in New York and Washington, D.C.
The body of a U.S. Marine killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan has returned home to Massachusetts on the 20th anniversary of the attacks that led to the war.
Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, was among the U.S. service members and Afghans killed in the Aug. 26 bombing near the Kabul airport.
Gov. Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Kim Janey and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey paid their respects to her family as the body arrived Saturday at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
Army football led a moment Saturday at Michie Stadium that would give you goosebumps.
The Black Knights came out of the tunnel each carrying an American flag to show support for the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks on the 20th anniversary. The team was getting set to play Western Kentucky in hopes of going 2-0 to start the 2021 season.
September 11, 2001 began as a glorious day in New York – crystal clear, with the crisp cool air of early autumn. I had just dropped off my two youngest children at school and was on a bus on my way to lower Manhattan.
As I looked out the window, I saw black smoke billowing from one of the Twin Towers. Within a few minutes I saw the second plane hit the other tower. I knew then this was no random accident of pilots getting off course and hitting the tallest buildings in the city. We were under attack.
My initial reaction, like so many New Yorkers, was to find my family. I tried calling their schools but cell phones weren’t working. The same thing happened when I called my husband’s office near Grand Central Terminal.
After Sept. 11, 2001, when President George W. Bush rallied the country from the top of that demolished fire truck with his megaphone and started a 20-year campaign in Afghanistan with the express purpose of seeking out the terrorists over there before they came over here to attack us, I criticized him for fear mongering, for using the politics of fear to bring the country into perpetual war. In fact, I based an entire chapter in my book "False Alarm: The Truth about the Epidemic of Fear" on this notion.
I was wrong, as the abrupt departure from Afghanistan is showing us. We feel vulnerable again behind a weak leader, vulnerable to mushrooming groups of terrorists, whereas Bush was strong and we felt protected by our military after that fateful day in late 2001.
Over the years, Bush showed me this strength in unexpected ways when he allowed me to ride along with the wounded war fighters over tough terrain (initially in Palo Duro Canyon in the 105 degree heat and later on his ranch in Crawford, Texas) from 2012 to 2019 during the Warrior 100K Mountain Bike rides. His strength and toughness were always personal, one on one with his vets.
As an Afghan American woman who experienced the fateful events of September 11th, 2001 firsthand while living in New York City, my heart has been full of anguish watching America’s longest war come to an end.
No one thought the United States would remain forever in Afghanistan but certainly no one imagined the tragic chaos that has ensued since Taliban forces rolled into Kabul and hoisted their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan flag above the Presidential Palace.
The newly established Taliban government features FBI-wanted criminal figures and senior Taliban leadership who are notorious for their deadly attacks against the U.S. and coalition forces. There are no women or moderate nominees among them. The ghost of Usama bin Laden is laughing from his watery grave.
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Twenty years after Queen Elizabeth II requested the Star-Spangled Banner be played outside Buckingham Palace in solidarity with the United States, a day after 9/11, the U.S. anthem played once again to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks.
The United States' national anthem was played outside Windsor Castle at the Changing of the Guard ceremony Saturday.
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NASCAR is set to honor the victims and first responders of 9/11 at its second-round playoff weekend in Virginia, with one driver praising NASCAR as the "most patriotic" sporting organization "in the world."
"It's an honor to be in a sport like NASCAR, that comes together and allows us to do these tributes," driver Garrett Smithley told Fox News on Saturday, as he made his way to the event. "I would say it’s the most patriotic major sporting organization, I would say, in the world."
Service member with Joint Combined Task Force - Horn of Africa, stand in formation during a Patriot’s Day ceremony at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Sept. 11, 2021, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Sergeant First Class Nathan Phelps reenlisted for service in the Combined Joint Task Force in eastern Africa this year, 20 years after the attack on Sept. 11.
New York City sits far away from Djibouti, but the city and the tragedy remain firmly in Phelps’ mind. On Saturday, the U.S. forces at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti on Africa’s east coast commemorated the attack on America that happened 20 years ago.
Phelps, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, was in the 9th grade when he saw on the news that planes had crashed into the Twin Towers. The tragedy became a "call" to serve in the military.
September 11, 2001 will be forever etched in the hearts and minds of Americans, but for former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, the day after terror and tragedy struck will also remain a most vivid memory.
As one of former President George W. Bush's right hand aides, Fleischer had one of the most unique perspectives of what transpired in the hours after the 9/11 terror attacks. He's shared those remembrances every year in a captivating Twitter thread, tweeting out gripping photos of scenes on Air Force One, snippets of Bush's conversations with his aides, and other surreal behind-the-scenes moments of the day that united Americans in their grief and shock. And later, in their determination.
He's still surprised how much an impact his tweets have had on his followers, he recently told Fox News.
September 11 marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most devastating tragedies in American history.
Today we remember the 2,977 lives that were tragically lost in New York City, Washington D.C., and Somerset County, Pennsylvania at the hands of 19 al-Qaeda terrorists. When the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001, the terrorists were not only attacking our homeland, but the very heart of our nation.
President Bush will speak shortly in Shanksville as he reflects on the events of 20 years ago.
Bush was visiting the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, when he learned that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. He had originally planned to talk about the No Child Left Behind Act.
A few minutes later, Bush’s meeting with the children ended and he went to another room where he addressed the school and the nation, explaining that there had been "an apparent terrorist attack" on U.S. soil.
A bell rang at Ground Zero at 10:28 a.m. to mark the moment that the North Tower collapsed 20 years ago.
The family who founded the now-famous Tunnel 2 Towers Foundation to honor their youngest brother has dedicated their life to doing just that: raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the loved ones of wounded or fallen first responders in memory of their youngest sibling, Stephen Siller.
It has been 20 years since Siller lost his life while responding to the New York City terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, yet his remains are among those of the more than 1,000 people who have still not been positively identified, his older brother, Frank, told Fox News. Despite this, his family has forged ahead now more than ever to support fallen first responders in his honor.
He and his five other siblings did not want to "stay in that black hole and wallow," he said. He added: "That’s not what my brother Stephen would want us to do."
The ceremony at Shanksville, Pennsylvania commenced shortly before 10 a.m. with a number of current and former officials in attendance.
Former President George W. Bush, along with First Lady Laura Bush and Former Vice President Dick Cheney, joined Vice President Kamala Harris in honoring those who died aboard United Airlines Flight 93.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf also attended the ceremony.
A bell rang at Ground Zero shortly before 10 a.m. to mark the moment that the South Tower collapsed 20 years ago.
President Biden departs Ground Zero as he heads for Shanksville and Pentagon.
The president plans to visit the site of each crash to pay tribute to everyone who lost their lives 20 years ago today.
20 years after the September 11 terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 men, women and children, NASA is remembering the day, sharing images and memories.
In a satellite image provided by the agency, billowing smoke over the Manhattan area can be seen from space after two of the hijacked planes crashed into the towers of New York City's World Trade Center.
See the images and read more here.
At 9:37 a.m., a lone trumpet played at the Pentagon to mark the moment that American Airlines Flight 77 struck the building.
Gen. Mark A. Milley then spoke to the officers and people gathered to remember those who died.
Former President Donald Trump released a video honoring the Americans who died on 9/11 on the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
"This is a very sad day. September 11 represents great sorrow for our country. Many things were displayed that day, including most importantly the bravery of our police, fire and first responders of every kind. The job they did was truly unbelievable. We love them and we thank them," Trump said in a video message Saturday.
See the video here.
Frank Siller, the philanthropic brother of a fallen 9/11 first responder, finished his 537-mile journey on Saturday from Washington D.C. to New York City in honor of the thousands who lost their lives in the attacks 20 years ago.
Siller walked through six states in six weeks, beginning at the Pentagon, the scene of one of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, then making his way into Shanksville, Pennsylvania. He book-ended the "Never Forget Walk" on Saturday morning "retracing his brother’s final footsteps," according to a press release from the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which Siller and his siblings founded in honor of the fallen.
As part of a program to commemorate 9/11, a small number of musicians have lined up to perform at Ground Zero.
Following a moment of silence for when the second plane struck the Twin Towers, Bruce Springsteen performed his song “I’ll See You in My Dreams."
Kelli O’Hara, Randall Goosby and Chris Jackson will also perform, with some accompanying musicians, across the morning.
At 9:03 a.m., a bell was rung at Ground Zero to mark the moment that United Airlines Flight 175 hit the second tower.
At 8:46 a.m., a bell was rung at Ground Zero to mark the moment that American Airlines Flight 11 hit the first tower.
President Joe Biden in a pre-recorded video address on 9/11
In a video released Friday, President Biden reflected on the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in America, insisting that "national unity" is America's "greatest strength.
"Biden opened the video by discussing his friend Davis, whom Biden said he "grew up with in Delaware."
"On this day, 20 years ago, he and his family had just passed the first year without their youngest of three sons, Teddy, who died in a boating accident at age 15," Biden said as he began to describe one family's horror on that day. "His eldest son, Davis Jr., was just six days into a new job on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center."
See the video here.
President Biden arrived in New York City Friday night ahead of ceremonies to commemorate 9/11.
His motorcade departed at around 7:45 a.m. Saturday to head downtown to visit Ground Zero. He arrived at Ground Zero shortly after 8 a.m.
Former President Barack Obama has issued a statement marking 20 years since nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, in acts of terrorism in New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
At the time of the attacks, Obama was serving as a state senator in Illinois but he became most directly linked to the 9/11 story during his first term as present when, in May 2011, he gave the order for U.S. forces to conduct a covert operation to capture or kill Usama bin Laden, the Saudi Arabian founder of al-Qaeda, the terror organization that carried out the 2001 attacks.
The operation resulted in bin Laden’s death at age 54 in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Read the full statement here.
Lt. Col. Dana Born could see the flames and smoke from across the Potomac River. She immediately got on the phone with her husband, who was already on his way to rescue their two children from the Pentagon's day care center. They were 3 years old and 4 months old, respectively.
"I don't know if my husband called me or I called him, but we got on the phone," the Air Force officer told Fox News. "The only thing I said was, ‘The Pentagon's been hit.’"
"He said, ‘I'm on my way,’ which told me he was going to look after figuring out how to get the kids," she continued. "And then I went into commander mode along with my team to do what we had trained to do."
Darryl Worley penned his song "Have You Forgotten?" almost 20 years ago after reflecting on the terror attacks of September 11.
The singer/songwriter wrote the memorial song with Wynn Varble and it was released in March 2003. "Have You Forgotten?" was a number one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for seven weeks, and also reached No. 22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
The country star spoke to Fox News about what the song means to him still, his emotions behind the ballad, and why we should never forget the men and women who tragically lost their lives.
Barbara Olson, a conservative commentator and lawyer, wasn't panicked when hijackers took over her flight on Sept. 11, 2001, from Washington Dulles airport to Los Angeles, where she was heading for an appearance on Bill Maher's TV show.
She managed to call her solicitor general husband, Ted Olson, twice from the back of the plane where the terrorists, armed with knives and box cutters, herded the passengers. She reported the hijacking aboard American Airlines Flight 77 and asked what she could convey to the captain.
According to the 9/11 Commission report, Olson was one of only two people who was able to make phone calls to loved ones from the plane, aside from flight attendant Renee May. Twenty years later, Barbara's husband still marvels at her bravery and calm in the final moments of her life.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, reflecting on Sept. 11, 2001, told Fox News on Friday that the "failings" of the Biden administration in Afghanistan "cannot diminish the heroism and service" of U.S. military men and women, saying the security of the United States in the last 20 years is a "tribute to the sacrifice" of this "generation of heroes."
During an exclusive interview with Fox News, the former vice president shared a message to military families who have lost loved ones, as well as active duty and veteran members of the U.S. armed forces.
"We are going to mark tomorrow, 20 years to the day since 9/11, without having had a major terrorist attack on American soil," Pence said. "That is owing, entirely, to the men and women who stepped forward to defend freedom in Afghanistan and in the War on Terror."
Ret. Army Gen. Jack Keane on Friday described his experience inside the Pentagon on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, as the U.S. approaches 20 years since the attack.
The retired four-star general and chairman of the Institute for the Study of War was working as the Army's vice chief of staff under President Bush at the time and was in a meeting when he heard news that two planes had crashed into both towers at the World Trade Center.
"I knew it was a terrorist attack," Keane told Fox News. "…I was getting a report from the chief of my operations center — a two-star general — and we were talking about an airplane that had come up I-95 and had come close to Washington, D.C., and then back to the east and went south. He was monitoring the FAA NAS, and this plane."
Visitors walk through the Flight 93 Memorial.
On September 11, 2001, 33 passengers, five flight attendants and two pilots aboard United Airlines Flight 93 were killed after four members of the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda crashed the plane in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
While the plane’s target is still not definitively known, it is believed that the terrorists were potentially targeting the White House or the U.S. Capitol.
Now, twenty years later, Vice President Kamala Harris, former president George W. Bush, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and many others will visit the site to observe the day and honor the fallen heroes.
While 9/11 ripped so many loved ones apart, it brought Houston couple Nick and Diane Marson together in the strangest way.
The pair were flying separately on a U.S.-bound international flight on Sept. 11, 2001, when their plane was diverted to New Foundland, Canada, following the attacks and after U.S. airspace had closed, according to FOX 26 Houston.
"I noticed the flight attendant was extremely nervous and almost visibly shaking and I thought she’s really not cut out for this job," Nick, 73, told the station. "Little did I realize she was probably walking around the plane looking for other people that might have been terrorists."
Click here to read more on Fox News.
Queen Elizabeth II marked 20 years since the 9/11 attacks by offering her sympathies to the victims, survivors and families affected by the atrocity.
In a message to U.S. President Joe Biden, the British monarch remembered the “terrible attacks" on New York and Washington, D.C.
“My thoughts and prayers — and those of my family and the entire nation — remain with the victims, survivors and families affected, as well as the first responders and rescue workers called to duty,’’ she said.
“My visit to the site of the World Trade Center in 2010 is held fast in my memory. It reminds me that as we honor those from many nations, faiths and backgrounds who lost their lives, we also pay tribute to the resilience and determination of the communities who joined together to rebuild.''
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also remembered the attacks, issuing a statement ahead of the anniversary saying that the terrorists had failed to “shake our belief in freedom and democracy."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lanterns are carried during a candlelight memorial to the passengers and crew of United Flight 93, at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa, at sunset on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, as the nation prepares to mark 20 years since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Hundreds of people lined the road to the Flight 93 Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Friday night as 40 people carried lanterns, representing the passengers and crew who defeated the terrorist hijackers on the plane before it went down in a field, according to a report.
The luminaria ceremony is a yearly tradition at the memorial but had weighted significance after 20 years since the 9/11.
“We need this,” Gordon Felt, who lost his brother on the flight that day, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Our country and the world needs places like the Flight 93 National Memorial because it reminds us of who we are, who we became and perhaps who we could once again become — a healing.”
In a video released Friday, President Biden reflected on the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in America, insisting that "national unity" is America's "greatest strength."
Biden opened the video by discussing his friend Davis, whom Biden said he "grew up with in Delaware."
"On this day, 20 years ago, he and his family had just passed the first year without their youngest of three sons, Teddy, who died in a boating accident at age 15," Biden said as he began to describe one family's horror on that day.
"His eldest son, Davis Jr., was just six days into a new job on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center."
Click here to read more on Fox News.
A beam of light is visible from the Washington Monument, the day before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as part of the Towers of Light Tribute near the Pentagon, Friday Sept. 10, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The U.S. is set to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on Saturday with commemorations at New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The milestone anniversary takes place just weeks after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the return to power of the Taliban, the faction that sheltered the Muslim militant group founded by Osama bin Laden that carried out the attacks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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