President Orders Flags to Half Staff to Honor Victims of 9/11

PATRIOT DAY AND NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE AND REMEMBRANCE, 2016

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Fifteen years ago, nearly 3,000 innocent lives men, women, and children who had been going about their normal routines were taken from us, depriving families and loved ones of a lifetime of precious moments. But the acts of terror of September 11, 2001, sought to do more than hurt our people and bring down buildings: They sought to break our spirit and destroy the enduring values that unite us as Americans. In the years that followed, our capacity to love and to hope has guided us forward as we worked to rebuild, more sound and resilient than ever before. With the hearts of those we lost held faithfully in our memories, we reaffirm the unwavering optimism and everlasting strength that brought us together in our darkest hour, and we resolve to give of ourselves in service to others in that same spirit.

*****

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2016, as Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance. I call upon all departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States to display the flag of the United States at half staff on Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance in honor of the individuals who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. I invite the Governors of the United States and its Territories and interested organizations and individuals to join in this observance. I call upon the people of the United States to participate in community service in honor of those our Nation lost, to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, including remembrance services, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to honor the innocent victims who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-first.

BARACK OBAMA

Use this link to read the complete proclamation.