This morning, the Pentagon held a ceremony to honor those killed on 9/11. President Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey addressed the crowd about those who lost their lives 11 years ago and the role the military is taking to fight the war against terrorism.
The attack in Arlington, Va., just outside of Washington, D.C., killed 184 people on the morning of September 11, 2001. An hour after the first hijacked plane hit the World Trade Center in New York City, five hijackers flew American Airlines flight 77, which took off from Dulles International airport in Northern Virginia, into the Pentagon. At the time the plane made contact with the building, it was traveling at 530 miles per hour and carrying 10,000 gallons of fuel.
The damaged sections of the massive building were reconstructed, and the Pentagon memorial, which consists of a courtyard with a bench for each person killed, was dedicated on the 2008 anniversary of the attacks.
Later in the afternoon, the President travels to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and visit with wounded warriors and their families.