Obama Exalts America's Endurance in Wake of 9/11 Attacks

By Amaani Lyle

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2014 - Thirteen years after the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, President Barack Obama spoke at an observance at the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial today to honor those who lost their lives and those who have persevered.

As combat missions in Afghanistan draw to a close in three months, Obama noted that America endures in the tenacity of its survivors and the memories of more than 6,800 American patriots who perished on and since Sept. 11, 2001.

"America endures in the strength of your families, who, through your anguish, kept living," Obama said. "You've kept alive a love that no act of terror could ever extinguish."

The president recounted that terrorists sought to do more than destroy buildings and murder thousands of innocent men, women and children on that fateful day. "They sought to break our spirit and to prove to the world that their power to destroy was greater than our power to persevere and to build," he said.

But America and its citizens proved them wrong, he added, as evidenced in the post-9/11 generation of those who serve in the military and as first responders.

"Because of these men and women, Americans now work in a gleaming Freedom Tower," Obama said. "We visit our great cities. We fill our stadiums and cheer for our teams. We carry on, because, as Americans, we do not give in to fear -- ever."

The president also lauded America and the "perennial optimism" that defines its people, who he said will shape the days to come.

"Beginning tomorrow there will be teenagers, young adults, who were born after 9/11," the president said. "While these young Americans did not know the horror of that day, their lives have been shaped by all the days since."

The president acknowledged difficult years since the attacks, but he praised the triumph of hope over fear as the nation continues to evolve.

"Generations from now, Americans will still build towers that reach toward the heavens, still serve in embassies that stand for freedom around the world, still wear the uniform and give meaning to those words written two centuries ago: land of the free, home of the brave," he said.