President Obama memorializes 9/11 by celebrating America's love, service, and diversity

President Obama speaks at a 9/11 memorial service at the Pentagon

(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images)

last updated 11 September 2016

President Obama joined Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Joseph Dunford in speaking at a memorial service held at the Pentagon Sunday to mark the 15th anniversary of September 11, 2001.

In his remarks, Obama described the occasion as "a day that is still difficult but reveals the love and faithfulness ... in the hearts of our nation," quoting from the biblical book of Proverbs in his encouragement to the families of those who were killed in the attacks. He also praised first responders, law enforcement, and members of the military who have served to minimize the damage of terrorism on 9/11 and in the years since.

"Groups like al Qaeda, like [the Islamic State], know they will never be able to defeat a country as great, as strong as America," Obama continued, "so instead they try to terrorize, in hopes that they can stoke enough fear so we turn on each other and change who we are and how we live." Rejecting the notion that such efforts could succeed, the president celebrated the United States' "patchwork heritage" as one of the strengths which preserve America in the face of adversity.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

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