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Obama completes 9/11 wreath-laying at Pentagon

Other News Materials 12 September 2011 03:33 (UTC +04:00)
US President Barack Obama on Sunday completed his round of 10th-anniversary wreath-laying at the 9/11 terrorist attack sites, putting into place a large arrangement at the Pentagon memorial to the 184 people who were killed there in 2001, dpa reported.
Obama completes 9/11 wreath-laying at Pentagon

US President Barack Obama on Sunday completed his round of 10th-anniversary wreath-laying at the 9/11 terrorist attack sites, putting into place a large arrangement at the Pentagon memorial to the 184 people who were killed there in 2001, dpa reported.

But by the time he got there, the mood was notably lightened after the sombre tone of formal ceremonies earlier in the day at the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania that took place without him.

Given the timing of the attacks - four planes hijacked and crashed within little more than an hour on that day - Obama was only "on time" for the ceremony at New York's destroyed World Trade Center, where most of the 3,000 lives were lost.

The sombre New York ceremony started promptly at 8:46 am (1246), the time the first plane hit the first trade centre tower.

It took Obama another seven hours to get to his other stops at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed at 10:03 am after passengers are believed to have fought with the hijackers, and at the Pentagon, where 184 people were killed by the American Airlines Flight 77 crash at 9:37 am..

Thus, by the time Obama got there belatedly, he was greeted by a notably lightened, almost festive, mood.

At the Shanksville memorial, the waiting crowd of family members shouted "USA, USA!" Obama and First Lady Michelle waded into the crowd shaking hands, posing for pictures, and laughing with family members.

Likewise, at the Pentagon, Obama was greeted by a cheering crowd, spent a solemn moment laying the wreath, then went right to shaking hands, joking with family members, along with Michelle.

Obama is to speak at 8 pm (0000 GMT) at the Kennedy Center, where he is expected to deliver his first speech of the day. In New York, he only read a Biblical Psalm. At the other two sites, he did not speak.

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