Shanksville Pa

Shanksville Pa

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. - Bells tolled for the 40 victims of Flight 93 at the western Pennsylvania site where the plane crashed eight years ago. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and retired General Tommy R. Franks are among those gathered at the site to remember those who died during the Sept. 11 attacks. Flight 93 was traveling from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco when hijackers took it over with the likely goal of crashing it into the White House or Capitol. The official 9/11 Commission report says the hijackers crashed the plane as passengers tried to wrest control of the cockpit. Eight years after the 9/11 attacks, President Barack Obama said the nation "will never falter" in its pursuit of al Qaeda and its allies. Mr. Obama placed a wreath under rainy skies at the Pentagon Friday in memory of those who died there on Sept. 11, 2001, as ceremonies marked the eighth anniversary of the terror attacks that killed in Washington, New York City and in a field in Shanksville, Pa.

"Eight Septembers have come and gone. Nearly 3,000 days have passed; almost one for each of those taken from us," the president said. "But no turning of the season can diminish the pain and the loss of that day. No passage of time and no dark skies can ever dull the meaning of this moment. So on this solemn day, at this sacred hour, once more we pause, once more we pray, as a nation and as a people." President Obama said the nation came together as one after the terror attacks, "united not only in our grief but in our resolve to stand up for the country we love." He said that renewal of common purpose is the strongest rebuke against the terrorist attackers. "Today we honor the dead and speak to the survivors and loved ones whose lives are irrevocably changed on that terrible day eight years ago. "Because of the great pinnacle of their sacrifice and because of the sacrifice of thousands more since that day we remain a strong and free nation," he said.