NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — Joe and Jill Biden, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton were all in attendance at the 9/11 20th anniversary commemoration ceremony… but they would not take the podium.
The few people who offered remarks today came out of the sea of tear-streaked faces gathered around the reflecting pools of the 9/11 memorial.
Mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers of those lost 20 years ago.
There were musical performances, and six moments of silence, observed at the exact moments when the planes struck the two world trade center towers, the moments when those towers collapsed, and the moments when the planes struck the pentagon and crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
But as it has every year, the ceremony consisted mainly of reading the names of the victims aloud.
Political speeches were not necessary, however sincere they might be.
20 years later, there are not many words of wisdom or comfort left to offer.
It is just the act of gathering, the act of honoring the loved ones lost that gives comfort to the families now.
"This is where they are," said Sue Snyder who lost a relative and her best friend on 9/11. "This is their being."
Colleen Stack, who was chosen to read a number of names during the ceremony said, "This is not a political day... It's about everyone's families, it's about coming together as a community."
And although the 20th is a milestone anniversary, nothing ends here.
"We'll never forget him," said Michal Stack, who lost his father on 9/11. "I think about him every day.
There will be a 21st anniversary, and a 22nd and more.
And each year on September 11th, the families of those lost will gather here at the memorial once again, to hear their loved one's name read aloud.
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