White House proclaims remembrance day for 9/11 victims

President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on Tuesday declaring Sept. 11, 2024, "Patriot Day and the National Day of Service and Remembrance" for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Biden called on governors and the people of the U.S. to join in the observance Wednesday.

"Today, we honor the brave Americans who met the terror of September 11 with extraordinary acts of courage and sacrifice," the White House press release reads. "In our darkest hour — when terrorists believed they could bring our country to its knees — those Americans proved that our Nation’s unbreakable spirit would prevail."

Biden praised first responders and civilians who "ran into the inferno of jet fuel and debris at Ground Zero [in lower Manhattan], risking their own lives to save the lives of others" or who "rushed into the fiery breach at the Pentagon again and again to rescue their colleagues."

The president said the passengers who fought the Flight 93 hijackers and kept a fourth plane from reaching its target "made the ultimate sacrifice to prevent their plane from being used to take more innocent souls." 

Biden also praised the "hundreds of thousands of American" people who volunteered to serve in the armed forces after the attacks.

"We owe these patriots of the 9/11 Generation a debt of gratitude that we can never fully repay," Biden said of the volunteers.