President Obama visited New York City today to mark the U.S. killing of Osama Bin Laden, laying a wreath at Ground Zero and meeting with police officers, firefighters and families of those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Washington Post reports that he told a group of firefighters that the successful raid showed, "When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say."
The president drew connections between the risks taken by the Navy SEALs who undertook the bin Laden mission and the Sept. 11 first responders: "It's some comfort, I hope, to all of you to know that when those guys took those extraordinary risks going into Pakistan, that they were doing it in part because of the sacrifices that were made in the States," Obama told the firefighters. "They were doing it in the name of your brothers that were lost."
At a police station, he told officers, "I am here basically to shake your hand and say how proud I am of all of you."
Making sure the visit wouldn't be interpreted as a political one, the president did not make public remarks at the wreath-laying ceremony. He really didn't need to, according to the White House: "He wants to lay a wreath to honor the victims, to honor the first responders who so courageously rushed to the scene and, in many cases, gave their own lives to try to save others; to honor the spirit of unity in America that we all felt in the wake of that terrible attack," Press Secretary Jay Carney said. "I think the power of that requires no words."
Read more at the Washington Post.
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