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Release Date: 09/11/04 00:00:00
Secretary Ridge lays a wreath at a remembrance service in Shanksville, PA, September 11, 2004
Shanksville, Pa.
September 11, 2004
(Remarks as Prepared)
Thank you for those moving words. We have both been most fortunate to serve this great state and the people of Pennsylvania. Our state has indeed seen its share of hardship and heartache, yet Pennsylvania has not been shaped by such events but by the character of the people who reside here. That is the underlying strength of this state and this country.
Three years ago, America came under attack and endured one of the most tragic days in our nation’s history. Yet even the most devastating of events could not change the fundamental nature of our nation.
Ever determined in the face of great difficulty, ever ready to answer the call to serve, ever committed to the cause of freedom. It has been the character of the American people, the character of the heroes of 9/11 that has sustained and steadied our course.
It has not been an easy road these past few years, and none of us have felt that more deeply than the families and friends of those who fell that fateful day. For those of you with us here, we know that no words, no memorials, nothing can take the place of all that you have lost.
And while we can not know the depths of your grief and sorrow, we do share in the sadness of your loss. And we draw hope and comfort from the courage and sacrifice the passengers of Flight 93 showed in their final moments.
In the long struggle in which we are now engaged, we must not grow weary, and we must never lose hope. While we face an enemy of immeasurable cruelty, we are a people of steely resolve. And while we face an enemy of ruthless calculation, we must remember that terrorists greatly underestimated the defiance and determination of free people.
The men and women of Flight 93 revealed these strengths when they rose up armed only with an overpowering resolve to protect the innocent and in doing so defeat the terrorists. And they did.
And it is because of their deeds that lives were saved, and heroes were made, over the skies of Shanksville.
Today let us look to the skies and remember. Let us call upon the story of Flight 93, the bravery and sacrifice of extraordinary citizens, and the images of heroism stamped firmly in our memory.
Across America today and in other parts of the world, similar memorial services are being held to honor the fallen and to remember loved ones lost--nearly 3,000 loved ones from more than 80 nations throughout the world.
We will never forget them, but we will long honor them. And pledge all we are and all we hope to be to their cause, freedom’s cause – the cause the men and women of Flight 93 championed in their last loving embrace to their nation.
God bless their souls, and God bless America.
Thank you.
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This page was last reviewed/modified on 09/11/04 00:00:00.