US President Joe Biden on Sunday led his countrymen in remembering the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks 21 years ago.

“I hope we’ll remember that amidst those dark days, we dug deep, we cared for each other, and we came together,” Biden said in his address to the nation from the Pentagon memorial, which was one of the sites of attacks of the Al-Qaeda terrorists on this day 21 years ago in addition to the twin towers in New York.

Joined by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Biden participated in the wreath laying ceremony at the Pentagon Memorial.
Commemorating the 21st anniversary of the deadliest attack, Biden quoted from the message of the Queen Elizabeth II, who died early this week, immediately after the terrorist attack that killed almost 3,000 people including several Indian Americans.

“Grief is the price we pay for love,” Biden said. This is a day not only to remember, but a day of renewal and resolve, he said, amidst pouring rain at the Pentagon.

“I know for all those of you who have lost someone, 21 years is both a lifetime and no time at all,” Biden said at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

Biden in his speech referred to the recent killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri who was killed in a drone strike earlier this year in Afghanistan. The US “will not rest, we’ll never forget, we will never give up,” he said. And now Zawahiri can never again threaten the American people,” he added.