[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 127, 113th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 9014--SEPT. 6, 2013

Proclamation 9014 of September 6, 2013
National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, 2013
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
This week, Americans come together to mark the 12th anniversary of a day
that shook our country to its core. Where two towers once cast a shadow,
men and women gather in the early light to pay their respects. In a
Pennsylvania field once scarred by debris, bells ring out and fingers
trace over names etched in white marble. At the Pentagon, where a single
stone still bears the scars of fire, a Nation honors souls who now know
peace.
On this anniversary, images of darkness are never far from our thoughts.
We remember planes cutting through a clear September sky, black smoke
rising from the ruins below. These images will never leave us. But
Scripture teaches us that light shines even in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome it.
When the first calls for help reached squad cars, ambulances, and ladder
companies, there was no hesitation. First responders rushed to the
scene. They stormed up the stairs and into the flames. Aboard Flight 93,
heroic passengers and crew members gave everything they had to prevent
even more devastation.
Their legacy lives on in those they saved and in the memories we keep.
Most of all, it lives on in the spirit they embodied: compassion,




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resilience, unity. Many of those we lost set aside their own well-being
in the hope they could save someone they would never know.
That selflessness shows the best of who we are as a people. And for more
than a decade, that same selflessness has summoned a new generation to
serve in our Armed Forces. These solemn days also call upon us to
reflect on their extraordinary service and sacrifice and to rededicate
ourselves to showing our troops, our veterans, and their families the
fullest support of a grateful Nation.
Finally, as we honor those who have borne so much since 9/11, let us
turn our thoughts once again toward renewal. When shock and confusion
could have torn us apart, we chose instead to move forward together, as
one people. We have proven our resilience. We have recovered and
rebuilt, better and brighter. We have kept faith with our oldest
American beliefs. Years from now, these acts will reveal the true legacy
of that day--of a safer world, a stronger Nation, and a country more
united than ever before.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Friday, September 6
through Sunday, September 8, 2013, as National Days of Prayer and
Remembrance. I ask that the people of the United States honor and
remember the victims of September 11, 2001, and their loved ones through
prayer, contemplation, memorial services, the visiting of memorials, the
ringing of bells, evening candlelight remembrance vigils, and other
appropriate ceremonies and activities. I invite people around the world
to participate in this commemoration.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of
September, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
eighth.
BARACK OBAMA