Key facts
- President Donald Trump honored victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks at a ceremony on the Ellipse.
- Trump vowed to "never forget" the victims.
- A 21-foot steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center's South Tower was showcased.
- The U.S. Coast Guard will commission a new fast-response cutter in honor of firefighter Jeffrey Palazzo.
- Welles Crowther, a young equities trader and volunteer firefighter, was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
President Donald Trump honored the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks at a ceremony on the Ellipse, vowing to "never forget" the events that "divide time into really what came before" and after.
The event, spearheaded by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, featured a 21-foot, 17,000-pound steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center's South Tower. This beam has been traveling across the country as part of the Steel Across America tour and will be part of a procession in New York on Friday.
During his remarks, Trump announced that the U.S. Coast Guard will commission a new fast-response cutter this weekend in New York in honor of firefighter Jeffrey Palazzo, a Coast Guard reservist who died in the attacks. Trump also posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, an equities trader and volunteer firefighter known as the "man in the red bandanna" for rescuing people during the attacks. Crowther's mother, Alison, and sister, Paige, accepted the award.
Attendees included Cabinet officials and members of Congress. Trump praised Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial firm housed at the World Trade Center, and lost his brother and many employees in the attacks. Lutnick has since rebuilt the firm and directed profits to victims' families.
Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and brother of firefighter Stephen Siller, stated that the steel beam represents the best of the country and highlighted the heroism of that day.