President Donald Trump opened a week of events marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks by honoring victims and first responders beside a massive World Trade Center steel beam and posthumously awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
President Donald Trump commemorated the victims and heroes of Sept. 11, 2001, at the Ellipse outside the White House on Tuesday, pledging that the United States would “never forget” as the nation approaches the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation organized the ceremony around a 21-foot, 16,900-pound steel beam recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The artifact has traveled more than 10,500 miles across the country as part of the foundation’s Steel Across America tour, which was created to connect communities with a physical piece of the World Trade Center ahead of Friday’s anniversary.
“This battered piece of steel here today on the Ellipse is a reminder that America is blessed with a strength no fire can consume, no evil can conquer and no terror can destroy,” Trump said.
Trump described Sept. 11 as one of the rare events in American history that “divide time into really what came before” and after, before focusing much of his address on individual stories of sacrifice.
Among those honored was New York City firefighter Jeffrey Palazzo, a Coast Guard reservist assigned to Staten Island’s Rescue Squad 5 who responded to the World Trade Center and died during the rescue effort.
Trump announced that the U.S. Coast Guard will commission a new Fast Response Cutter in Palazzo’s honor during events in New York this weekend.
The president also posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to Welles Crowther, the 24-year-old equities trader and volunteer firefighter remembered as the “man in the red bandanna.”
Crowther repeatedly entered dangerous areas of the South Tower to help trapped and injured people escape before the building collapsed. His mother, Alison Crowther, and sister, Paige, accepted the medal on his behalf during Tuesday’s ceremony.
Trump also recognized Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald when the attacks occurred. The financial firm occupied offices in the World Trade Center and lost more than 650 employees, including Lutnick’s younger brother, Gary.
“He’s done an amazing job,” Trump said of Lutnick. “He’s rebuilt Cantor Fitzgerald, and he’s given much of the profits to some of the families or the families of people who perished.”
About 150 first responders from New York, Washington and Pennsylvania attended the ceremony, according to Trump. Members of Congress and administration officials were also present, including Republican Reps. Mike Lawler of New York and Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania.
Trump briefly turned to politics during his remarks, warning about Americans moving toward a “communistic way,” before returning to the anniversary and the stories of those killed in New York, at the Pentagon and aboard Flight 93.
Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller, whose brother, firefighter Stephen Siller, was killed after running through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel toward the World Trade Center, said the steel represented the courage displayed by first responders and ordinary Americans that day.
“This steel beam represents the best of our country,” Siller said. “It’s important to recognize that the heroism that was exhibited that fateful day was nothing short of incredible.”
The beam will return to New York for a procession Friday that will retrace Stephen Siller’s final route before he reached the World Trade Center.
Tuesday’s Ellipse ceremony begins several days of commemorations surrounding the 25th anniversary. Trump is also scheduled to participate in Friday’s remembrance events, including a ceremony at the Pentagon.
Nearly a quarter century after nearly 3,000 people were killed in attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Flight 93, Trump framed the steel carried across the country as both a memorial to those lost and a symbol of the nation’s response to the attacks.
The president said the day remains “etched forever into the memories of Americans,” as families, first responders and communities across the country prepare to mark 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001.
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