President Donald Trump (Screenshot)

(CNSNews.com) – President Donald Trump commemorated the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Tuesday recounting the final moments before 40 passengers and crew members on Flight 93 “rose up, defied the enemy, took control of their destiny and changed the course of history.”



The president said the 9/11 memorial in Shanksville, Pa., is “a message to the world” that “America will never, ever submit to tyranny.”





“On September 11th, 2001, a band of brave patriots turned the tide on our nation’s enemies and joined the immortal ranks of American heroes. At this memorial on this sacred earth in the field beyond this wall, and in the skies above our heads, we remember the moment when America fought back,” he said.



“We honor their sacrifice by pledging to never flinch in the face of evil and to do whatever it takes to keep America safe. Seventeen years ago, your loved ones were among the 40 of Flight 93 – the 40 passengers and crew members on board the 8am United Airlines flight from Newark to San Francisco. … They boarded the plane as strangers, and they entered eternity linked forever as true heroes,” Trump said.





He recounted the final moments of the passengers and crew:

“Soon after takeoff, Flight 93 was hijacked by evil men bent on terror and conquest. Passengers and crew members began using their phones to call home. They learned that two planes had already crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. Immediately, those on board Flight 93 started planning a response. Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and told him they were in the back of the plane preparing hot water to throw onto the hijackers. Passenger Jeremy Glick explained the plan to his wife and said, ‘Stay on the line. I’ll be back.’ The passengers and crew members came together, took a vote, and they decided to act. At that moment, they took their fate -- and America’s fate –- back into their own hands. In the last 20 minutes, many placed their final calls home, whispering those eternal words: ‘I love you.’ Some said the Lord’s Prayer, and then they bravely charged the cockpit. They attacked the enemy. They fought until the very end, and they stopped the forces of terror and defeated this wicked, horrible, evil plan,” the president said.

Trump said in the days that followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Virginia, and the Flight 93 hijacking in Pennsylvania, “there were prayer vigils, memorials, and charity drives all across our nation.”



“Here in Shanksville, many of you raised up the first memorial –- a wooden cross, a chain-linked fence, mementos and tributes pouring in, and dozens and dozens of American flags. A piece of America’s heart is buried on these grounds, but in its place has grown a new resolve to live our lives with the same grace and courage as the heroes of Flight 93. This field is now a monument to American defiance. This memorial is now a message to the world: America will never, ever submit to tyranny,” Trump said.