Remembering 9/11

On a sunny, cloudless September 11 eight years ago, tragedy struck America.

The President paid tribute to those who lost their lives at the Pentagon Wreath-Laying Ceremony.

"We remember with reverence the lives we lost. We read their names. We press their photos to our hearts. And on this day that marks their death, we recall the beauty and meaning of their lives; men and women and children of every color and every creed, from across our nation and from more than 100 others. They were innocent. Harming no one, they went about their daily lives. Gone in a horrible instant, they now "dwell in the House of the Lord forever." (read the whole speech here)

(President Barack Obama pauses after placing a wreath during a ceremony at the Pentagon honoring those
who perished in the 2001 terror attack. Standing with the President are Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
and Chairman of the Joint Chief Adm. Michael Mullen, right. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

The Vice President spent the morning on this 8th Anniversary of the 9/11 tragedies at the ground zero reflecting pool in New York City. He read the poem entitled "Wild Geese" by American poet Mary Oliver:

Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting

You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

(read the full poem here)