Obama leads nation in silent 9/11 tribute

President and Mrs Obama mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. (Jason Reed/Reuters)The mournful tones of "Taps" fluttered over the South Lawn of the White House as President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama led America in a silent tribute to the victims of the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks. The crisp, clear day recalled the pleasant fall weather the morning of that national tragedy.

The Obamas walked somberly out of the residence of the White House and, flanked by hundreds of staff, bowed their heads at 8:46 a.m. ? 11 years after American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. The first couple placed their hands over their hearts as "Taps" played and a military color guard dipped its flags. Afterwards, they turned, clasped hands, and walked back into the presidential mansion.

The Obamas were to travel to the Pentagon for a 9/11 observance ceremony. And the president was to visit the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in the Washington suburb of Bethesda in the afternoon.

Vice President Joe Biden was traveling to Somerset County, Pennsylvania, to make remarks at a ceremony honoring the passengers and crew of Flight 93, which slammed into the ground killing all aboard after an insurrection against the hijackers.

In Washington, there were a few signs of some of the changes wrought by the attacks: A K-9 team outside a metro stop a few blocks from the White House, the dark silhouette of a military battery atop an office building overlooking the presidential mansion. And both Obama's campaign and Mitt Romney's suspended negative ads for a day.

The attacks saw extremists from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist network hijack four airliners to use as guided missiles, crashing into both towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Some 3,000 people were killed. America's response included the late-2001 invasion of Afghanistan, a war that is now the country's longest, and the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Osama bin Laden met his end at the hands of Navy SEAL commanders in a May 2011 raid on his compound in Pakistan.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-leads-nation-silent-9-11-tribute-131700570--election.html

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