Joe Biden’s decision to be absent from the traditional 9/11 memorial sites on the anniversary of the attacks has drawn criticism from some families of the victims.
This marks the first time in 22 years that a U.S. president has not spent the day either at one of the attack sites or the White House.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Donald Arias, whose brother Adam was lost in the attacks, remarked, “It’s no surprise to me that he’s not coming to Ground Zero or any of the 9/11 sites,” according to a Fox News report.
He continued, “And quite frankly, I prefer he stay away anyway. We will be spared one of his stories of how he can relate, like he did with the people of Lahaina, how he can relate because of a kitchen fire. We can do without that.”
President Biden recently returned to Washington, D.C., after an overseas trip to India and Vietnam.
He is scheduled to give an address later today at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris will be present at events at the National September 11 Memorial in New York City.
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that Biden “plans to honor the lives lost and the families of loved ones who still feel the pain of the terrible day.”
“This is something he feels is very important to do. We can only imagine the heartbreak and pain that the 9/11 families have felt every day for the past 22 years,” she added.
However, Terry Strada, who mourns the loss of her husband Tom in the World Trade Center tragedy, feels differently, the Fox report emphasized.
She said Biden’s choice signifies “the opposite of what we’ve all pledged to never forget.”
She further stated, “He is now just saying that flippantly that he doesn’t have to come to any of the sites and commemorate the loss with the families. That’s terrible.”
Strada currently chairs the 9/11 Families United coalition, which seeks full transparency surrounding the events of the tragic day and aims to preserve the memories of the victims.
Matt Bocchi, son of John Bocchi who perished in the 9/11 attacks, views Biden’s absence as a reflection of the broader sentiment in the country.
He said, “If our leader is so willing to not show up to the memorial service, it’s showing the message that Americans have forgotten and that it’s OK to forget. Unfortunately for myself and for all the other families and those joining with us this morning, we have no way of forgetting.”
He emphasized, “This is something that forever changed our lives and this is something that we’re going to live with forever, even if the rest of the country can let this be a day that they do forget.”
The fateful events of September 11 took the lives of 2,977 innocent souls.
This tragic day not only shattered countless families but also significantly reshaped the nation’s approach to national security and foreign policy in the ensuing decades.
