President Trump spoke at the Pentagon on Friday, marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
“Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names, a quarter of a century ago,” he said, declaring that the nation will “never, ever forget.”
He went on to declare that the date honors the depth of the American spirit. “On days like 9/11, we learned what a country is truly made of,” Trump said. “Americans are made of a goodness in spirit that can transcend any earthly force.”
“September 11 reminded us of the terrible power of hate. The 25 years since have shown us the even greater power of the American spirit to endure and prevail, and to win,” he stated. “And today, our country is stronger than it has ever been before. It has never been as strong as it is right now.”
“Because of that spirit, when future generations come here in 25, 100 or 250 years from now, they will stand in a nation that is free and unyielding in the face of evil, and they will still honor the heroes of 9/11, who no age will erase from the memory of time,” he added. “It will never, ever be forgotten. Will never be forgotten. And we can never forget. God bless our 911 families. God bless our unbelievable, brave and beautiful first responders. God bless the United States military and God bless America.”
Earlier this week, President Trump posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, a volunteer firefighter who saved up to 18 people’s lives during 9/11.
“He’s the man in the red bandana. He had found the only stairwell that barely survived. The stairwells were all knocked down. You couldn’t get by. Impassable,” Trump said. “He found an opening in one of the stairwells, and the impact was so great there was no other way down but this one little opening, this one little hole. And [he] traveled down from the 104th floor to look for those trapped and dying.”
Trump explained that Crowther “just did things that people said were not even imaginable because they knew they were dead. They said, ‘we’re goners.’ One guy was screaming, ‘We’re goners! We’re goners!’ He didn’t know those he helped and, nor who would have known, but he willingly made all of these trips up and down, up and down, up and down, over and over again, saving life after life.”
