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             Obama, Families of Sept. 11 Victims Pause to Remember

   by Reuters

   Politicians, dignitaries and victims' relatives were gathering in New
   York, Washington and Pennsylvania on Thursday to commemorate the nearly
   3,000 people killed in al-Qaida's attack on the United States 13 years
   ago on September 11.

   In what has become an annual ritual, the names of the victims are being
   read aloud at a ceremony in lower Manhattan, punctuated by moments of
   silence to mark the times when each of the four hijacked airliners
   crashed and the World Trade Center's twin towers fell.

   President Barack Obama spoke at the Pentagon during a private ceremony
   for relatives of the 184 people killed in the attack on the
   headquarters of the U.S. Defense Department outside Washington in
   Arlington, Virginia.

   He laid a wreath of white lilies and mums, and kept his hand on his
   heart as "Taps" played.

   "Thirteen years after small, hateful minds conspired to break us,
   America stands tall and America stands proud," Obama said, telling the
   victims' relatives their love was "the ultimate rebuke to the hatred of
   those who attacked us that bright, blue morning."

   National September 11 memorial

   In New York City, it is the first commemoration ceremony since the
   opening of the museum at the National September 11 Memorial, along with
   the adjoining repository for unidentified victims' remains.

   The area, a smoldering grave and an off-limits construction site for
   more than a decade, is now increasingly reconnected with the
   surrounding streets as rebuilding at the site nears completion.

   "For the first time this year, because the museum opened in May, family
   members will be able to visit the museum as part of the commemoration,"
   said Michael Frazier, a memorial spokesman.

   Although the reconstruction has been plagued by delays, two of the new
   skyscrapers built around the site of the fallen twin towers are now
   open, while 1 World Trade Center, the tallest skyscraper in the Western
   hemisphere, is due to open later this year.

   Ongoing battle

   While lower Manhattan may look and feel different this year, the
   external threat to the United States represented by the Sept. 11
   attacks still weighs.

   The United States and its allies see Islamic State, a group that began
   as an offshoot of al-Qaida, as an increasing danger. On Wednesday,
   Obama outlined plans to attack the group, which has seized large parts
   of Iraq and Syria and released videos of beheadings of two American
   hostages.

   The only ceremony open to the general public is at the Flight 93
   National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, which marks the field
   where one of the four hijacked airliners crashed.

   The Congressional Gold Medal honoring the flight's passengers and crew
   will go on public display for the first time, the National Park Service
   said.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-families-of-september-eleven-vi
   ctims-pause-to-remember/2446271.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-families-of-september-eleven-victims-pause-to-remember/2446271.html