Attorney General Eric Holder added the names of the Benghazi fallen to his short 9/11 remembrance speech at the Justice Department this morning, while President Obama mentioned the attack in his remarks at the Pentagon’s wreath-laying ceremony.
“Especially this morning, here at the United States Department of Justice, as we lift up the memories of those who were taken from us so suddenly, we must also renew our shared commitment to the uniquely American values that have always defined this great nation, and must guide this department’s work every single day,” Holder said in remarks to department staff.
“This is the only fitting legacy we can build for the innocent victims of that terrible morning. The public servants and the military personnel who lost their lives at the Pentagon. The workers who were struck down in their offices at the World Trade Center. The heroic passengers who brought down a hijacked airliner in a field in Pennsylvania. And so many first responders and ordinary, but really extraordinary, citizens who ran toward burning buildings and saved countless lives, as so many others were racing away,” the attorney general continued.
“We pay tribute to each of them, and to many others who have given their lives in the service of this country since 9/11, from the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have fought on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, to patriots, like Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith, and Ambassador Chris Stevens, who were taken from us just one year ago in Libya.”
Holder said “their valor reminds us of the quiet power of compassion.”
“And their inspiring stories and selfless actions reaffirm the fact that this annual observance has always been about much more than the pain that was inflicted and the buildings that were destroyed 12 years ago today,” he added. “It’s about the extraordinary life that binds us together. It’s about the work that remains before us, as we strive to make this nation not only safer, but stronger and more just in the face of evolving global threats.”
Obama opened his remarks with scripture and reflections on the victims of the attack on the Pentagon as well as those left behind.
“In your resilience, you’ve taught us all there’s no trouble we cannot endure and there’s no calamity we cannot overcome,” he said.
“We pray for all those who’ve stepped forward in those years of war, diplomats who serve in dangerous posts, as we saw this day last year in Benghazi, intelligence professionals, often unseen and unheralded, who protect us in every way, our men and women in uniform who defend this country that we love,” the president continued.
“Today, we remember not only those who died that September day, we pay solemn tribute to more than 6,700 patriots who have given their full measure since, military and civilians. We see their legacy in the friendships they forged, the attacks they prevented, the innocent lives they saved, and in their comrades in Afghanistan who are completing the mission and who, by the end of next year, will have helped to end this war.”
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