Mourners remember 9/11 in Pennsylvania, Washington
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Mournful ceremonies were held at the White House and the Pentagon to mark the 14th year since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
In Washington, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stepped out of the White House at 8:46 a.m. - when the first plane hit the north tower - to observe a moment of silence. Later Friday, President Obama was scheduled to observe the anniversary with a visit to Fort Meade, Maryland, in recognition of the military's work to protect the country.
This year's anniversary also comes as advocates for 9/11 responders and survivors are pushing Congress to extend two federal programs that promised billions of dollars in compensation and medical care. Both programs are set to expire next year.
In Washington, some members of Congress planned to spend part of the anniversary discussing federal funding for the ground zero memorial. The House Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a hearing Friday on a proposal to provide up to $25 million a year for the plaza. The federal government contributed heavily to building the institution; leaders have tried unsuccessfully for years to get Washington to chip in for annual costs, as well.
SEPT. 11 REMEMBERED AT GROUND ZERO IN NEW YORK
Army Sgt. Edwin Morales had those responders in mind as he attended the ground zero ceremony in remembrance of his cousin firefighter Ruben "Dave" Correa.
"People are still dying because of what happened," both on battlefields and from illnesses that some who responded to the attacks have developed after exposure to toxic dust, Morales said.
The Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville in western Pennsylvania was marking the completion of its $26 million visitor center, which opened to the public Thursday. The names of passengers and crew killed in the hijacking of United Flight 93 were read as bells tolled in their honor.
Hundreds gathered for a ceremony to honor the 33 passengers and seven crew members aboard the flight brought down at the site.
Flight 93 was headed from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco on Sept. 11, 2001, when it was hijacked with the likely goal of crashing it into the White House or Capitol. A passenger revolt ended with it going down in a Pennsylvania field.
Ben Mecham of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, brought his 7-year-old son, Parker. Mecham says children should not think of it as just "another plane crash."
Parker says he "can't believe" that people were so brave.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Ash Carter and other officials were joining in remembrances for victims' relatives and Pentagon employees. American Airlines Flight 77 was flying from Washington to Los Angeles with 64 people aboard when it was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon 14 years ago Friday.
Carter and Gen. Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were the featured speakers at this morning's annual 9/11 Pentagon remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial.
In brief remarks Carter offered his condolences to the several hundred 9/11 family members who gathered at the memorial. "We cannot fully appreciate how much your lives changed, or how much you lost on this morning 14 years ago," he said.
He also emphasized national resilience. "When terrorists attacked the Pentagon, they tore a hole in this building. They tore at places in your hearts that may never heal completely. But as you know better than anyone, they did not and could not take from us what defines us," he said during the ceremony.
Sacramento, California, was commemorating 9/11 in conjunction with a parade honoring three friends who tackled a heavily armed gunman on a Paris-bound high-speed train last month. Two tunnels in Idaho Springs, Colorado, were renamed the Veterans Memorial Tunnels, and a cross-shaped steel sculpture taken from the rubble of the World Trade Center went on display at Dallas Love Field airport.
Secretary of State John Kerry is honoring those who died in the terror attacks 14 years ago as well as the four Americans killed on Sept. 11, 2012, at a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya.
Kerry says each "was a brave and dedicated professional ... deeply committed to service" on America's behalf.
He says the anniversary should be a reminder to press on with American diplomacy. He says the United States will never be intimidated by terrorists.
The 2012 attack on a U.S. post in Benghazi killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, foreign service officer Sean Smith, and two CIA contractors, Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty.
The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.
