Vice President Joe Biden marked the 14th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City by honoring firemen, families of first-responder victims and veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The vice president, along with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and singer Billy Joe, were on hand Friday afternoon for the 9/11 Memorial Motorcycle Ride Kickoff at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
“I’m here to basically just say thank you,” Biden said. “And for the families who are here, I just want to say thank you for raising such courageous sons and daughters.”
“You’re men and women of absolute courage,” he said, noting that real courage is when people know the danger involved in what they’re about to do, and they do it anyway.
Biden said the fathers, mothers, sons and daughters that family members lost that day are “irreplaceable.”
“No message over time heals the wounds,” he acknowledged. “But your physical presence here gives hope to thousands of people who are suffering enormous loss … they realize, maybe, maybe, I can make it.”
Before that appearance, Biden, Cuomo and Joel stopped by Rescue Company 1 fire station, which saw significant casualties on Sept. 11. According to the White House, Rescue 1 lost nearly half its members when it responded to the north tower of the World Trade Center.
The trio greeted the firefighters and shared hugs and handshakes with the families of the victims who died responding to the attacks on the twin towers.
At one point, Biden kissed a woman on the cheek, gave her a hug and said: “What people don’t understand is that anniversaries are bittersweet.”
He hugged another woman, saying, “People don’t know. These anniversaries don’t get any easier. It all comes back.”
All three briefly donned navy blue FDNY baseball caps they were given.
