US President: America possesses strength that "evil cannot overcome"

U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States “possesses a strength that fire cannot consume, evil cannot overcome, and terrorism cannot destroy.” This statement came during a speech delivered by the president on Tuesday at an event held in the Ellipse, located south of the White House fence in Washington, D.C., to honor one of the first responders to the September 11, 2001, attacks and to celebrate the presentation of a steel beam salvaged from the rubble of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York for display in the park.

Trump said, “On September 11, we lost nearly 3,000 precious lives, taken by evil terrorists at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and aboard Flight 93.” He added, “After all these years, we gather on another Tuesday morning in September to reaffirm the sacred covenant we made a quarter-century ago. We will never forget.”

Regarding the steel beam to be displayed in the Ellipse, the U.S. president said, “This 16,000-pound steel beam, salvaged from the rubble of the South Tower, will stand forever as a testament to the courage, resilience, and spirit of a city and a nation that was struck, whose towers were destroyed, yet rose again stronger, more determined, and more united.” He emphasized that “this damaged piece of steel, present here today in the Ellipse, serves as a reminder that America possesses a strength that fire cannot consume, evil cannot overcome, and terrorism cannot destroy.”

During the event, Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the family of the late volunteer firefighter Willes Crowther, who was 24 years old at the time and also known as the “Man with the Red Bandana.” Crowther helped save the lives of up to 18 victims of the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center.

The U.S. president said, “The Man with the Red Bandana found the only remaining staircase, as the others had been completely destroyed and passage through them was no longer possible. He found an opening in one of the staircases. Due to the severity of the destruction, there was no way down except through that small opening. He carved his way down from the 104th floor in search of those trapped, facing death.”

He added, “He performed acts that people described as unbelievable, as they believed those individuals had perished. He did not know the people he helped. Yet, he willingly made countless trips up and down to save one life after another.”

The September 11 attacks, which claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people in 2001, occurred when 19 members of the al-Qaeda network hijacked four passenger planes operated by two U.S. airlines. Two of the planes, flights 11 and 175, crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City.

The third plane, flight 77, crashed into the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters (the Pentagon) in Arlington County, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., causing partial collapse of the building’s western side.

The fourth plane, flight 93, was heading toward Washington, D.C., but crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers fought back against the hijackers.