Almost 13-years after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum is being dedicated in New York City and will serve as a reminder of the events that forever changed the world on that tragic day. Dignitaries, including former New York City Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, victims’ families , and first responders who were present on 9/11/01, were invited to take part in the dedication ceremony, which was led by President Obama.
President @BarackObama speaking at the #911Museum Dedication Ceremony. #Honor911 pic.twitter.com/dQuT1ZThyh — 9/11 Memorial (@Sept11Memorial) May 15, 2014
During his speech at the 9/11 Memorial dedication, President Obama honored the victims, praised the heroes, and resolved to never let such an event happen again:
“No act of terror can match the strength or the character of our country. Like the great wall and bedrock that embrace us today, nothing can ever break us. Nothing can change who we are as Americans.”
The mood was somber as family members finally saw the realization of 13 long years of roadblocks and politics getting in the way of building the Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum in honor of their loved ones, who were the focus of the day. The ceremony took place 70-feet below ground where the Sept. 11 Memorial is located and also included speeches from some of the firefighters who rushed to the Twin Towers on that terrible Tuesday morning in 2001.
#FDNY members who were at the #WTC on 9/11 speak at the #911Museum Dedication Ceremony. #Honor911 pic.twitter.com/Sdmiv4Apob — 9/11 Memorial (@Sept11Memorial) May 15, 2014
Those who were not one of the 700 guests invited for the ceremony were able to watch the proceedings on one of the many giant screens that were placed around the surrounding area.
Visitors watch the #911Museum Dedication Ceremony via screens on the #911Memorial plaza. #Honor911 pic.twitter.com/I0baFgp1q3 — 9/11 Memorial (@Sept11Memorial) May 15, 2014
The most moving moments of the dedication of the Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum occurred when family members of those lost in the worst terrorist attack to take place on US soil took the stage and remembered the last moments of their loved ones’ lives.
One such story was that of Welles Crowther, 24, who after the planes struck the towers put on a red bandana and spent his last hours saving others. His identity was unknown until many months later, when his mother, Alison Crowther — who spoke at the Sept. 11 Memorial ceremony — recognized him in an article about the “mysterious man in the red bandana.”
9/11 survivor Ling Young & Welles Crowther’s mother Alison remembers Welles at the #911Museum Dedication Ceremony. pic.twitter.com/QudsCx25ro — 9/11 Memorial (@Sept11Memorial) May 15, 2014
Only one of thousands of stories of bravery and the American spirit, which was very much present in 2001 and remembered in 2014 at the dedication ceremony for the Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City .
[Image via Sept11Memorial/Twitter ]