>> today, as you look over the walls of remembrance, we want to share with you the works of poet mary lee hall, who wrote, turn again to life. if i should die and leave you here a while be not like others sore undone who keep long vigil

by the silent dust for my sake turn again to life and smile nerving thy heart and trembling hands do something to comfort other hearts than thien complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine and i perchance may therein comfort you [ "amazing grace" ] ♪

♪

from the sad scene in new york, we take you to shanksville, pennsylvania where their only moment of silence has to do with the 10:03 impact of flight 93.

♪ oh beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain for purple mountains majesty above the fruited plain ♪ ♪ america america god shed his grace on thee ♪

♪ and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea ♪ ♪ america america the free ♪ [ applause ] ♪ let there be peace on earth

and let the peace begin with me ♪ ♪ let there be peace on earth let there be peace on earth ♪ >> remember all of the deaths on 9/11 were equal. it was all part of the largest mass murder we'd ever seen. some died being ordinary citizens. some died because they showed up to work early. some died because they went in to rescue others. others died as heroes folks who woke up that day with a business trip in mind, people who woke up that day and reported to work as pilots and flight attendants. and the families of 9/11 have made their way throughout american society in the years since. what we have for you next is part of a personal story for us

at nbc news, with the arrival of the summer interns this past summer of 2011. we got to know one very nice young man named charlie green. after getting to know him, someone took me aside and some others and said, you know charlie is a 9/11 kid. he lost his father, donald, on impact united airlines flight 93, in shanksville, pennsylvania. a short time ago we saw charlie do his time at the podium in shanksville. and earlier we sat down with charlie to hear the story of flight 93, his father, and his experience in his own words. >> my father, don green, was on united flight 93. flying was totally his thing. that's what he did for a living. his father was a pilot. he learned to fly when he was 14, before he had a driver's license. it was his passion. he was the one who could have

landed that plainne. and i know if he could have been up if that cockpit, he would have been and he would have landed that plane. we have also said that some of the individual passenger's impact is no greater than when they became one and took a tremendous risk. they acted when it's hard to tell if any of us would have done the same thing. we go to shanksville we have to deal with those 40 people who came together and did something so great. and then people wanting to memorialize that action. but we also have to deal with our individual loss. i lost my dad. throughout the past 10 years, i've tried to think more of these anniversaries as less of remembering a loss and more of remembering a life. when he was my age, he lost his mother.

shortly thereafter lost his father. so i have always seen his life as a source of courage for me. if he could do it if he got to where he was a man they looked so much up to, then i could get that too. i have always said that i would rather have him for the first 10 years of my life setting up the foundation of my life than anything else. and i consider myself so lucky to have had that for the amount of time i did. you know, one of the things i like to do as these anniversaries come and go is to think if he was still here, what would he think of where i am right now. that's something that has kept me strong, and hopefully he'd be proud of where i am and where my family is. and i think he would. >> again we met charlie greene this summer. there was his time today at the podium in shanksville. we knew him only as a bright well educated kid from greenwich, connecticut with a good work ethic. always had a smile. always willing to do anything the newsroom required. and then we learned the story of charlie greene and his loss on

9/11. back down to washington to the pentagon, where vice president joe biden is speaking. >> that we see come to the fore in our darkest hours an instinct that echoes through the iej ages, flight 93 to right here at the pentagon. those in this building that day knew what they were witnessing. it was a declaration of war by stateless actors bent on changing our way of life. who believed that these horrible acts, these horrible acts of terror directed against innocents, could buckle our knees, could bend our will could begin to break us. and break our resolve. but they did not know us.

instead, that same american instinct that sent all of you into the breach between the fourth and fifth corridors galvanized an entire new generation of patriots, the 9/11 generation. many of them were just kids on that bright september morning. but like their grandparents, on december 7, 1941 they courageously bore the burden that history had placed on their shoulders. and as they came of age, they showed up. they showed up to fight for their country. and they're still showing up. 2,800,000 of that 9/11 generation moved to join our military since the attacks on 9/11.

to finish the war begun here that day. and they joined. they joined knowing in all likelihood they were going to be deployed in harm's way, and in many cases deployed multiple, multiple times in afghanistan and iraq. and other dangerous parts of the world. those of you who command this building, turned this generation, this 9/11 generation, into the finest group of warriors the world has ever known. over a decade of war they pioneered new tactics, mastered new language, developed and deployed advanced new technologies. they took on responsibilities once reserved only for those with considerably more seniority. responsibility that extended

beyond the base or the battlefield, to the politics of afghanistan, to the politics of iraq, to the economies of those countries and to the development task development to lay the ground work for us to leave behind stable countries that will not threaten us. and along with the challenges this community and the law enforcement community, they relentlessly took the fight to al qaeda and its affiliates. they were prepared to follow bin laden to hell's gate if necessary. and they got him. my god do we owe those special ops folks and intelligence guys who got him. many whom have subsequently lost their lives. but we will not stop. you will not stop until al qaeda is not only disrupted but

completely dismantled and ultimately destroyed. and one more thing about this 9/11 generation of warriors. never before in our history has america asked so much over such a sustained period of an all volunteer force. so i can say without fear of contradiction or being accused of exaggeration that the 9/11 generation ranks among the greatest our nation has ever produced, and it was born -- it was born right here on 9/11. [ applause ] and as the admiral said, that generation has paid an incredible price. 4,478 fallen in iraq. 1,648 in afghanistan.

and more than 40,000 wounded in both countries. some of who will require care and support the rest of their lives. having visited them multiple times like many of you i am awed not only by their capability but their sacrifices today and every day. the terrorists who attacked the pentagon as leon said, sought to weaken america by shattering this defining symbol of our military might and prowess. but they failed. and they also failed for another reason. not just physically failed. they failed because they continue to fundamentally misunderstand us as they misunderstood us on that day. for the true source of american power -- >> emotional speech by the vice president. we wanted to bring you as much of that as we could.

and of course we speaks from experience. his son bo having served as a reservist in the general's office in iraq. also at the pentagon, at this hour, david gregory is with author and presidential historian and friend of nbc news doris kearns goodwin. david? >> thanks, brian. also mom of that member of the 9/11 generation. we talked about it on "meet the press" last week. your son joseph who did feel compelled to enlist and served in both iraq and afghanistan. and you expressed that for you, there was that change. this was a new generation born after these attacks. >> no question. i think my son joe would say that however difficult those services were, in those two countries, it changed his wife in a fundamental way for the good. here is a kid growing up in affluent concord. saw a world he never would have

seen. brought 30 kids through safely. he said his proudest thing in his life is that his 30 platoon numbers got through that war without dying. how proud can you be as a person as i am of that kid? >> as you look at the broad history, not just as a mom but as a historian how do we define this decade? >> it's always easier as a hiss torrian to do it 40 years later, but i'll try to do it now. the starting is al qaeda. the ending is the killing of bin laden. there's a certain sense that the military, as the vice president was just saying, will be the most respected institution of this decade, and that's a terrific change from vietnam, where we didn't distinguish between the war and the warriors. even though the wars became controversial, we still respected, thank god, the military. there's also a sense of resilience that our country went through this and still remains strong. on the other hand, there are lost opportunities. i think historians will look at this decade, what might have been had we focused on involving

more people in this war so that these kids didn't have to do multiple duties. and there's a sense of recklessness about the decade. reckless home mortgages reckless bankers reckless government, and a sense of sadness about the decade. that's why this is such a good anniversary now to remember that moment of unity when things might have been possible that turned out not to be. >> moments of unity we are reminded this week. and we have the image of the members of congress coming together to sing on the steps of the capitol. that was such a moment of america's unity. god bless america. to see a democrat and a republican today 10 years later at ground zero. both of whom have had huge parts in our response to 9/11. historians deal with memory. why is memory important 10 years later? why is how we remember an event like this important? >> you know i think historical anniversaries are mostly about stories. they're about stories of events that happened in the past that

create the contours of the present. and we've got to hope that we the living can learn from the triumphs and failures of those stories. but even more fundamentally it's stories about people, people who died particularly on this particular day. to the extent we bring them back now, they live on in the memory of others. i think it's all of our hopes that somehow through the memories of our grandparents and our parents, we can make those people who died live on for our children and grandchildren. that's what history is about. that's why i love it so much. the idea that you really can recreate by telling stories that people who live before and learn from their example. >> isn't it interesting that after world war ii even, the notion of perpetual war is very difficult for people. and in our country, senator john mccain of arizona said to me, he can understand despite the needs we have overseas of the two wars we still have from 9/11, so many americans want to shift the focus back home because of what

our economy is going through, because of what as a country are going through, in part because of how expensive it is in all manner lives and money to respond to these horrible events. >> one of the things that eleanor roosevelt said during world war ii, if we're going to fight for democracy abroad we have strengthen it at home. and one of the reasons that people feel such a sense of pride is we not only fought overseas but the home front became stronger as well. everybody participated in that war. and we became a stronger country. i think that's the difficulty now. not only is there no end result because the war keeps going on. you don't even have the end of the cold war value. we at least saw the wall come down, the soviet union fractured. there's no clear ending to this. and meantime we didn't strengthen our country at home. the end of world war ii, that pyramid cal structure was

overturned and we were strong. >> how important is it to grapple with what the reaction was, whether it was an overreaction to what we saw which is of course part of the debate now as it's been for at least five years? >> well, i mean, clearly one thing i think is that president bush has said and can continue to say is he saw his purpose of the presidency to protect america from another attack. we don't know what might have happened if the incredible changes in our intelligence and security structure had not produced the safety that we felt in the last 10 years. on the other hand, i know some of our friends in new york say we're used to these kind of things more than you are, and we've gone on with our lives in a way that we because we were so stunned by it, may have overreacted. but i hope we'll never know that since we don't know what was prevented from happening. >> and that's a big part of it. we have not been attacked on that order as we were 10 years ago today since that point. >> that's right. >> and we all live with the recognition that were it to happen, that in fact it could change the country once again.

doris, thank you very much. >> you're so welcome. >> brian, back to you in new york. >> david, there is something about hearing it from doris we all know the facts and we live the generation. and yet in her hands, and in her words, she's right and it all makes sense. david gregory with doris kearns goodwin down at the pentagon. thanks. yesterday afternoon, we flew down to washington and i spent some time with the president who entered the white house having just returned from something very solemn, part of his 9/11 duty, you might say. the president and the first lady went to a part of arlington national cemetery called section 60, where this nation's war dead as a result of our current dual wars are laid to rest. i talked to him about that, and about this event. i came from new york this

morning. this is the front page of "the post." and there's the unveiling of the memorial, the names and yet in front of it is a police officer with an automatic weapon. automatic weapons all over the city this weekend. >> right. >> does that kind of sum up where we are here 10 years later? >> well, there's no doubt we are safer now than we were 10 years ago. and that's thanks to the incredible work done by intelligence, by our military, by the sacrifices of the 9/11 generation that's served in garbage afghanistan and iraq. so as a consequence of more homeland security and taking the fight to al qaeda, we are in a much stronger position now than we were there then. and al qaeda is on the way out. we have taken out huge chunks. most notably osama bin laden. but there are still people out there who would try to hurt americans, who would try to strike at us. and we have to be constantly

vigilant. >> we have been told this threat we are under now is specific, credible, and unconfirmed. what must you choose not to act on of all the traffic you see and what are these three words supposed to mean when taken together? >> i think the most important thing for the american people to know is that for months we have been preparing for this 9/11 anniversary. obviously, each 9/11 we start seeing threat streams coming up. the fact that this is the 10th anniversary means that we're seeing more of these threat strings coming up. for months now, we have been preparing all the agencies, department of homeland security, the cia, all of our intelligence folks have been pulling threads, making sure that we understood what potential threats might be out there. one particular threat was specific enough and credible enough that we felt it necessary to inform state and local partners so that they could also be prepared. but all the work that's been

done over the last several months means that, you know we have done what we need to do in order to you know, take the greatest precaution in dealing with this type of potential threat. that doesn't mean, though that we shouldn't be vigilant. and what we want all americans to know is that although your government has prepared for it it's important for everybody to keep their eyes open. you should go about doing what you were planning to do on 9/11 anyway. we have to honor those who have fallen. but people should be on the lookout and make sure that if something suspicious is taking place that you're informing your local law enforcement. >> tell me about section 60 and what happens to you and mrs. o'bama when you're there. >> it's abouting. what is so powerful as you walk through section 60 for those who aren't aware that's primarily where our fallen from the iraq and afghanistan campaigns are buried in arlington. we're always struck by how young

everybody is there. i mean, these kids were in their 20s for the most part. and not only are you struck by the incredible sacrifice that were made by the fallen, but you also have the opportunity to thank directly young men and women who are still serving on our behalf, helping to make america more secure. it's a reminder that, you know our way of life is dependent on the incredible courage the incredible patriotism, of a whole host of people from all across the country every walk of life every ethnicity, every religion. it's a somber moment when you think about all of these young people who gave their lives so young. >> we caught the president yesterday in an emotional and reflective time. tom brokaw is here with us. and tom, we just heard it again. we're under full alert here and in washington. but go on about your business. last night in this part of the city, it was just police cars cruising either fast or slowly. there are people who just want

to touch this event and be part of it. being held back because of the security. someone had the idea of a fireworks display over the hudson. and those concussions scared everyone in lower manhattan, and people went to their windows. it's an on edge environment 10 years later. >> well, it's a tough mix for ray kelly, our friend who is the police commissioner here. but he's done a remarkable job of allowing the city to get on with its daily life. occasions like this, people are not being stopped, but his big, big effort has been to put a massive amount of police on the streets. nonetheless, we've been very lucky. remember there was a car parked in the middle of times square by what turned out to be a clumsy bomber. a man who was trying to get back to pakistan. and see something, say something. a street vendor called the police because there was smoke coming out of that car.

what if that had been a clever bomber? and that's the big worry in intel now, is that you have the lone wolf, somebody who is depressed or not getting enough attention, and they want to be a part of this madness that is still going on in too many parts of the world. and how you can ever completely protect against that brian, is an enormous dilemma. >> and for a large part of last night, as you look at one of the many checkpoints and barricades, they are stopping cabs, they are stopping trucks, some cars randomly. all of the bridges and tunnels are protected. now for the final moment of silence, 10:28 marking the falling of the north tower. the first hit, second to fall. we'll go back to ground zero. below us.

the perspective that we need and have needed to get through

the last 10 years and the years that remain are best expressed by the words of god as inscribed in the book of ecclesiastes. to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. a time to be born, and a time to die. a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. a time to kill, and a time to heal. a time to weep and a time to laugh. a time to mourn and a time to dance. a time to castaway stones and a time to gather stones together. a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.

a time to win and a time to lose. a time to keep and a time to castaway. a time to rend and a time to sow. a time to keep silent and a time to speak. a time to love and a time to hate. a time of war and a time of peace. god bless every soul that we lost. god bless the family members who have to endure that loss. and god guide us to our reunion in heaven. and god bless the united states of america. [ applause ]

>> good morning. my name is deborah epps. it has been 10 years and it feels like it just happened yesterday. my brother christopher epps, worked on the 98th floor in the north tower. not one holiday birthday, has gone by that my four sisters and my brother and i don't think about him. our mother never takes off a necklace with his picture in it.

something i have learned over the past 10 years is that people come forward to help you in your time of need. and today, we thank you. the people of our great nation, family, friends, and neighbors. at work, christopher sat next to his good friend, wayne russo. the russo family has made a special request that their son's name be placed next to my brother's name. that meant so much to our family. what i know now is that the forces of good are not just in movies. it's all around us. people really do catch you when

you fall. it's been a blessing. christopher would have loved knowing that the love he freely gave to others was given back to us in his name. thank you, and i bid you god speed. [ applause ] ♪

♪ hello darkness my old friend i've come to talk with you again ♪ ♪ because a vision softly creeping left its seeds while i was sleeping ♪ ♪ and the vision that was planted in my brain still remains ♪ ♪ within the sound of silence ♪ ♪ in restless dreams i walked alone narrow streets of cobble stone

beneath the halo of a street lamp ♪ ♪ i turned my collar to the cold and damp when my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light that split the night and touched the sound of silence ♪ ♪ and in the naked light i saw 10,000 people maybe more people talking without speaking people hearing without listening ♪ ♪ people writing songs that voices never shared

and no one dared disturb the sound of silence ♪ ♪ fool, said i you do not know silence like a cancer grows hear my words that i might teach you take my arms that i might reach out to you ♪ ♪ but my words like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells of silence ♪ ♪ and the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they'd made ♪

♪ and the sign flashed its warning and the words that it was forming said the words of the prophets on the written on the subway walls and tinenement halls and whispered in the sound of silence ♪ [ applause ] >> kevin james hanniford sr. >> dana ray hannan. >> we are here with tom brokaw

listening to paul simon. if you don't think the emotion is still raw, that just kills me. >> well you hear from america's troub troubadours. paul simon and james tailor. this weekend, the mormon tab tabernacle choir will have its own tribute. music evokes memories, and speaks to us in ways that our everyday language cannot. that's a fireman's helmet. >> yeah from ladder 10, right across the way here. and these names, tom, the etchings, people just touching them, have become the subplot of today, as the families are just

getting their first exposure to make these rubbings, to have something to hold on to. >> you know, that concept really came out of the vietnam memorial. and it has become in many ways a template for other memorials. i know when i go there, where i have friends on that wall, i feel connected to them. and plainly these families do as well and will forever more. it's the most tangible evidence that they have of the presence of their lost loved ones at this site in so many instances because of the violence of the destruction. >> it's a debt of gratitude we owe the architect for this simplicity of the idea. our live coverage will continue after a break.

the tragedy of september 11 united our country. this year, as we open the 9/11 memorial in new york city we ask that you join us to honor, remember, and reunite. to learn more or to reserve your visit, go to 911memorial.org.

we're back as our coverage of this sad anniversary day continues. this part of lower manhattan we've been speaking of it as an event but also as a landmark. it's a neighborhood, of course, where people live and work. and it was a terrible day here 10 years ago, a terrible day for children who go to school near here 10 years ago today. rehema ellis covers education for us and she is here with a look back and really a look forward for these kids. >> about 9,000 children were in separate schools around here on the day of the attacks. so many of them are all grown up now, but they still have vivid memories of the tragedy that unfolded just outside their classrooms. >> reporter: back to school at

new york city's ps 234, a school marked by being in the shadow of history. >> we heard the boom. we heard the plane crash. and then our too mucher said, it's probably construction. >> over the years national geographic kids has documented what happens to these children. >> it's september 11, 2001. >> teacher pat carney's classroom was just four blocks from the world trade center. september 11 was a day seared in the memories of ian and his fellow fourth graders. >> for them, the events didn't happen at ground zero. they happened in their neighborhood. >> hanna remembered her mother, very upset suddenly came to take her out of school. >> she was still crying when we sat down on the train. so i had a sweater and i started wiping the makeup off her face. >> what happened just a few blocks from here on september 11 profoundly impacted students' lives and helped shape who they have become.

hanna and ian, children of 9/11, are young adults today. >> i remember we were sitting right there. >> hanna is a college sophomore majoring in journalism and documentary film making. >> on 9/11, my mother turned to me and she said you have to look at this, because this is history. from that point on i really understood that when things happen you have to stop and pay attention. >> ian, also in college, is concentrating on environmental studies. >> i have to say, every time i hear a plane going over me, no plaert where matter where it is, i look and stare at the plane for maybe 10 seconds. or if i hear a really loud sound, i have to take a moment to think about what that might be. >> contrary to what some might expect he says september 11 made him more tolerant. >> i have grown and learned from 9/11, especially in the ways that i think about other people. >> pat carney is still teaching at ps 234 and is proud of the young adults her fourth graders have become.

>> i think back on how scary it was for them but how strong the kids were at the time about it how matter of fact they were about it. you know, and i see them now, and they seem to have gotten through it. >> it definitely put a big before and after in our lives. >> for hanna and ian, even though 10 years have passed they say there's no such thing as closure, at least not yet. but still both say they now have learned to live without fear. and ian told me that 10 years ago when he was still a child, all he could think about was running and not looking back. but now like so many others, brian, he says it's important to remember and take stock of where we are as a country. >> amazing to see they grew up ok, and they are resilient. >> they were very resilient then and now. >> and i'm with him. the airplane thing has changed forever. rehema ellis thank you for your report. we're back with more right after this.

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we're back here from the 10th anniversary ceremonies ground zero in new york. there are so many stories we could bring you. there's a story walking around with every person visiting here today. one we did want to highlight, a man named richard cabo. he works for the new york city parks department, and he tells the story today about a survivor, down here on the

plaza, often overlooked by people visiting the city. but no less important to new yorkers. >> my name is richey cabo, and i'm the director of the citywide nursery nursery for the new york city of parks. the tree was called the 9/11 survivor tree. the tree was found by the workers when they were cleaning up around ground zero, and it was about a month after the attacks that it was first noticed. there was nothing left of the tree. it was only like one or two branchs and a few leaves. when i first saw the tree i didn't think that the tree was going to make it. it looked like a wounded soldier. it just looked like it had been through a war. and it was just very intense moment, you know. i think for all new yorkers it was a very touchy time. we wouldn't have any way of knowing if the tree was going to make it until the following spring. when the spring came, we noticed the buds coming out, and we knew the tree was still alive, and that was a good feeling. the tree was with us for nine years. and i am getting emotional just thinking about it. when people would come up to see it, they would feel a lot of emotion. the other thing about the tree, i guess you could compare to

everybody, is when you look at the tree from one side, it looks perfect and beautiful. if you're standing far away. but if you stand on the other side, you can see the scars and the new growth. you can see the struggle to survive. you know, it's just like us. we just keep growing but it wasn't easy. is symbolized how new york was so tough and was able to bounce back. it symbolized how america is still struggling to bounce back, even today. but we're still doing it and we're bouncing back and we don't give up. >> so just like some of the people who lived through what happened here, the tree had to go away to get better and is now back, just as so many people have come back touching this some of them for the first time. tom brokaw with me in new york. david gregory down at the pentagon. and tom, starting with you, 10 years ago right now, we had lost both buildings. we really didn't have our arms yet around the size of the

tragedy or the disaster. >> you know, people forget -- i certainly remember we thought there may be as many as 30,000 people still left in those buildings. they did a remarkable job getting as many people out as they did. i remember saying on the air that this is going to be a different country from now on. i had no kind of clear vision about where we were going to but i knew this would profoundly change us. and it has not just in the wars in afghanistan and iraq, but meantime china has become the second most powerful economy in the world. we're competing in a different economic environment now. we've had a big transition politically, first african-american president was elected. he now has found his own difficulties with the american economy. we're trying to decide what our future is in the 21st century. it's a very robust debate going on here. so the chain reaction as i said at the beginning this morning continues. i do hope that this ceremony and

the speeches that we've heard, the wonderful moving music of paul simon will give us all pause to think about how can we come together again and more broadly speaking to get on with what we know are the big challenges of the 21st century. >> and david gregory, as you point out there where you are you have a building that bore the scar of one prong of this attack. and a building where as it was still smoldering, inside the confines of the e-ring of the pentagon they were planning the military action that has become our nation's longest conflict. >> and it's remarkable to think, brian, just how prepared our nation's armed forces were at that moment. before they were esteemed in the same way that i think they have been since 9/11 and on everyone's lips, we had a volunteer force that was ready to go, ready to serve, ready to

deploy and they are still deploying. and how our armed forces have changed ohso remarkably in the past decade. how they train differently, how they are fighting wars differently, engaging the enemy and allies differently. and i think that's a profound part of this as well as we move forward. and i just want to pick up on one other thing. you know, to me there's a symbol in my own life. my oldest son is 9. and asks me about 9/11. and he knows about it. there are details that we share, but yet more to come. and i think that's a big part of it. we continue to elevate the victims, elevate their lives. we talk about it we learn more. but we grapple with it. we reckon with our response over the last decade. and i think that's part of that process of moving on. >> tom, david gregory talks about the fact that our force was ready. but let's be candid. we didn't always give them what they deserved. they were driving around iraq and afghanistan without the armor they needed, without the

force protection that this incredible volunteer army deserved. >> well, they were not prepared for the kind of war we had to play. we had big aircraft carriers and nuclear weapons, but we were fighting a guerrilla war in afghanistan and in iraq. and the ied was something that was not on anyone's vocabulary, even in the pentagon, before that. the improvised explosive device, which became a terribly lethal weapon over there. and. and something else that needs to be said the national guard is in no way a second class military installment. it's made the guard a much stronger unit and a place where people want to go to to become actively involved in the military. there has been as david said a real reconfiguration of everything, and it's a reminder to this country that for all of our power we have to be

constantly in a state of renewal of our values, of our institutions, of our security. it's a much smaller planet now. and there are many more people. and we have to be aware of where we fit in. >> tom brokaw, david gregory thank you, partner. i appreciate it. it has clouded up here over ground zero. that's probably a good thing, because we didn't need yet another reminder of a september 11 here 10 years later. it all sadly started here, and it all continues today as we look back on 10 years. we want to just take a moment and look back at our coverage of today, of what we've seen unfold. as we leave you, some of the sights and sounds of this morning. ♪

♪ o say can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly ♪ ♪ >> we will not fear. >> but i cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. >> and my father james patrick burger. >> bruce douglas vaughn.

>> richard edward basco. >> claus bota. >> we love you dad. me, nick, allen, and mom will never forget you. ♪ amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪ ♪ that saved a wretch like me ♪ >> every soul that we lost. god bless the family members who have to endure that loss. and god guide us to our reunion in heaven. and god bless the united states of america.

i'm chris jansing. after attending the ceremony in new york, president obama is now on his way to shanksville pennsylvania, where he will visit with the families of flight 93. later, he will visit the pentagon. right now, we are going to bring you an msnbc living history event, coverage from msnbc's "today show" the day of the attacks as it unfolded minute-by-minute, 10 years ago today. here now the msnbc special as it happened. >> we have a breaking news story to tell you about. apparently, a plane has just crashed into the world trade center here in new york city. it happened just a few moments ago apparently. we have very little information available at this point in time. but on the phone we do